Wearables are getting smarter every year, but most still depend on your smartphone to handle the heavy processing, which might change soon.
Researchers from Tsinghua University and Peking University created a flexible AI chip thinner than a human hair. You can fold it thousands of times without breaking it.
The chip is called FLEXI. It could let future wearables run artificial intelligence on their own, without sending data to your phone or the cloud constantly.
This matters because current smartwatches and fitness trackers need your phone nearby to work properly. They send data back and forth, which drains battery life and creates privacy concerns. A chip like FLEXI could process everything locally on your wrist or in your earbuds.
The flexibility is key. Traditional chips are rigid and break easily when bent. Wearables need components that can bend with your body movements. FLEXI handles that challenge while still providing enough computing power to run AI tasks.
FLEXI: The Flexible Chip
FLEXI stands out because of its physical design, and not just because of its computing power. According to the research paper, the chip is built as a thin plastic film. It uses low-temperature polycrystalline silicon circuits on a flexible base.
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The entire system sits on this bendable surface. You can bend, stretch, twist, or even crumple the chip without damaging the AI circuits inside. This makes it perfect for wearables such as smart patches or health monitors that need to fit closely against your skin.
The research team put FLEXI through extreme durability tests. The chip survived more than 40,000 bending cycles. It could fold down to a radius of just 1 mm without losing performance. That’s impressive for any electronic component, especially one running AI.
FLEXI also performed well in real-world tests. When monitoring heart health, it identified irregular heartbeats with 99.2% accuracy. It tracked daily activities like walking and cycling with 97.4% accuracy.
Energy efficiency is another good point. The chip uses less than 1% of the energy that conventional chips consume. TechXplore reports that mass production would cost under $1 per unit, making it affordable for widespread use in consumer devices.
FLEXI: Flexible AI chip that could change what wearables can do
The researchers plan to add more sensors to the chip and increase its complexity. This would bring flexible AI wearables closer to everyday consumer products.
FLEXI could power more than just medical devices. Audio wearables could process sound and voice commands on their own without your phone. Lightweight AR glasses could handle visuals and gestures independently with the FLEXI.
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The technology could also speed up progress in mobile and wireless devices. Engineers are already exploring similar innovations.
Some are working on chips that use controlled surface vibrations to make phones thinner and faster. Others are testing synthetic diamond to improve cooling and performance in next-generation hardware.
The combination of flexibility, low cost, and AI processing makes FLEXI different from current wearable technology. Most smartwatches today need a constant connection to your phone. They drain the battery quickly because they send data back and forth. FLEXI could change that by doing all the processing locally on your body.
The $1 production cost matters too. Affordable components make it easier for companies to build these features into budget devices, not just premium products.
You might see this technology in fitness trackers, medical patches, and smart clothing within the next few years.
