augmented reality

Augmented reality (AR) tyrannosauruses towered on-screen as I interacted with the creatures in a mix of prehistoric and cutting edge. Or, rather, my AR double was doing the playacting. Minutes later, virtual doppelgangers of a small lineup of chip industry executives cut the ceremonial ribbon. Seemingly sweeping away the winter chill, the opening of SEMICON Japan 2019 dazzled with smart technology and the promise of lives, cities and workplaces transformed, with uber-intelligent applications in full display at Tokyo Big Sight. But what resources does the industry need to harness to drive the next era of innovation? The semiconductor industry’s unwavering passion and young talent are key, said Hiroshi Imano, Chairperson of the SEMICON Japan Initiatives Committee, in his opening keynote. And hardly any region of the world is in a better position to help realize that future than Japan, Imano said. The region supplies one third of the equipment and more than half of all materials to the global semiconductor manufacturing industry.Talent was also top of mind for SEMICON Japan 2019 keynote speaker Makiko Eda, Japan's Chief Representative Officer at the World Economic Forum (WEF). Serving as a platform for public-private partnerships, the organization's mandate is to tackle global issues such as climate change and geopolitical strife in making world more resilient to risk and, by extension, more sustainable.Spanning ecology, economy, technology, society, geopolitics and industry, that mission includes reskilling and upskilling a billion people over the next decade, a high priority for WEF, which hosts a conference every January in Davos, Switzerland. The theme of this month's conference – Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World – reflects the vital importance of building the international partnerships and global consensus necessary to achieving WEF's goals.One key to that sustainability will be technology and Arm, a global chip design company, will play a key role, with the company’s chips touching over 70 percent of the world’s population, Arm president Yuzuru Utsumi said in his keynote. Today, Arm is driving toward an ambitious goal: Ship 100 billion chips from 2017 to 2021 – the same number produced over the previous quarter century – by powering advances in mobile computing, server and networking infrastructures, and automotive applications.Arm’s innovation ecosystem of more than 1,000 partners will deliver these chips as they continue to work together to develop differentiated technology. Arm plans to increase investments not only in its primary processor business to accelerate market share gains but in the company’s new IoT business to create new revenue streams. The goal: Deliver long-term sustainable growth, Utsumi said. SEMICON Japan 2019 showcases SMART manufacturing and transportation Billed as a showcase of smart technologies, SEMICON Japan 2019 delivered with an array of eye-grabbing exhibitions in the popular SMART Applications Zone. In the SMART Transportation area, the automatic operation pavilion featured a car equipped with open-source software for autonomous driving. The exhibitor, Tier IV, aims to help lead the early commercialization of self-driving vehicles through the adoption of its software, Autoware, which makes it easier to develop self-driving vehicle prototypes using low-power platforms.Sony Semiconductor Solutions demonstrated a vision sensing processor designed to guide autonomous drones. Using two cameras, the processor measured the changing distance between visitors moving about the exhibit and stationary objects in real time, indicating proximity in hues of red (nearby) and blue (at a distance). Many visitors were wowed, describing the multichromatic display as futuristic.Others rode a simple wooden swing hanging by two ropes, but from dizzying heights thanks to Solidray’s Duo-Sight, a virtual reality (VR) system that projects 3D images stretching from wall to floor for immersive experiences. One visitor thrilled at how riding the swing, suspended only a few feet from the floor, felt like soaring on a flying trapeze. Target applications for the technology include virtual rides at amusement parks and presenting interior design options to homeowners.In the SMART Manufacturing area, one highlight was the demonstration by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) of a remote-controlled Minimal Fab System designed for low-volume, high-mix chip production with little staffing. Designed to increase production efficiency, the system allows a circuit designer to manufacture a semiconductor by singlehandedly operating equipment up and down the production line. Controlling nearly 50 pieces of equipment, the Minimal Fab System on display manufactured chips that were verified for functional operation and exhibited afterwards.On the SMART Applications stage, exhibitors DENSO and Toyota Motor Corporation announced a new joint venture to conduct research and advanced development of the next-generation in-vehicle semiconductors critical to electric and autonomous vehicle innovation. The venture, operating as MIRISE Technologies, will combine Toyota’s mobility expertise with DENSO’s in-vehicle component prowess. The goal is to build a rapid, competitive development system by 2030, said Yoshifumi Kato, executive director of the DENSO Research and Development Center, and president and representative director of the venture. On track to begin work this year, MIRISE will span three fields of technology development: power electronics, sensing and SoC (System-on-a-Chip). The name MIRISE combines word the Japanese word "mirai" (future) with "rise."Business Continuity PlanningNatural disasters and other emergencies are an ongoing threat to uninterrupted business operations across the semiconductor manufacturing supply chain and particularly in earthquake-prone Japan. To better prepare for business disruptions and restore normal operations as soon as possible after disaster strikes, more companies are teaming on Business Continuity Planning (BCP).THK's Seismic Isolation Experience Car demonstrated one technology designed to help – a seismic isolation device. The car shakes like an earthquake to give people inside a taste of how a building heaves and sways during a quake with and without the device deployed. Visitors were struck by how much the isolator dampens tremors to prevent or minimize damage. In the BCP seminar, representatives from Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing, THK, DISCO and Team Engineering Consulting shared lessons learned from actual disasters and discussed the critical importance of daily disaster drills. Yukihide Keigo, Executive Engineer in charge of Products and Development at Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing, recounted how the company’s Kumamoto Prefecture plant struggled for 96 days to restore full operations after the facility sustained heavy damage in the 2016 earthquake. Keigo said the plant lacked the structural reinforcements necessary to withstand the impact and fell prey to poor planning and accountability. The Kumamoto plant has since implemented measures – structural and procedural improvements – that more accurately account for seismic risks to ensure full recovery within 56 days. The plant’s new procedures include emergency drills for staff including night-shift workers.Innovation abounds at six SuperTHEATER forumsSEMICON Japan 2019 was held in the West and South Halls of Tokyo Big Sight as organizers of the Tokyo Olympics occupied the East Hall, the exhibition's usual home at the venue, to prepare for the 2020 games. For the first time, the main stage, SuperTHEATER, was set up in the cavernous arena near the main entrance. The SuperTHEATER featured six forums over three days. Semiconductor Executive Forum – View by Top Two in the Era of Digitalization with thought leaders from IHS Markit and Sony Semiconductor Solutions SMART Connectivity Forum – Infinite World Brought by 5G Innovation with experts from Softbank and Nokia Solutions Networks SMART Transportation Forum I – Front-line of Automated Driving featuring speakers from Intel and DENSO SMART Transportation Forum II – Revolution of Sky Transportation, supported by the U.S. Commercial Service in Japan, with presenters from Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Subaru and Bell Helicopter Manufacturing Innovation Summit – Issues and Innovation: What will Drive Growth to 2030 featuring thought leaders from VLSI Research, Applied Materials, KLA, Nikon and Tokyo Electron Mirai Vision Forum – Future Relation of Technology and Body 2.0 with speakers from Leave a Nest, Ory Lab and Autonomous Control Systems Laboratory The Mirai Vision Forum highlighted advanced technologies that could lead to societal improvements. One presenter, Kentaro Yoshifuji, CEO at Ory Lab, recalled how, as a child, he once stayed home from school while recovering from an illness. His imagination in full flight, the youngster imagined having a clone that could attend school and be with his classmates. The experience eventually inspired him to develop OriHime, a robot that gives socially isolated people a way to communicate with friends or colleagues remotely. Originally developed for physically impaired people, OriHime today is used to help the able-bodied. The robot is situated with the companion and the user operates OriHime remotely. A camera and monitor in OriHime’s face provide the visual and audio connection and the user controls the device with a smartphone or tablet or, for those who are paralyzed, through eye movement. One potential application: With OriHime stationed at a business office, working mothers could use OriHime to telecommute to better balance their careers with their parenting responsibilities at home. The robot would be a mother’s go-between, enabling her to communicate directly with colleagues.The next generation of innovators also took the stage as five teams presented innovative business ideas in friendly competition. The top prize in The TECH CAMP Hackathon went to the group that hatched an ingenious plan to develop a jacket that trains users to move their bodies in preprogrammed ways. For example, legendary Japanese professional baseball player Shigeo Nagashima could wear the gear while batting to program the device, then give the jacket to someone who’s never swung a baseball bat. The jacket would help the user replicate Nagashima’s swing. Now comes the real work of any innovator – executing on the vision.And then came two soccer-playing artificial intelligence (AI) robots that squared off and ... Scored! The demonstration by the Toyota National College of Technology started as a research project by Toyota National College students in 2002. The young innovators designed and developed all the robotic hardware and software from scratch. Looking ahead to SEMICON Japan 2020!SEMICON Japan 2019 not only gathered leading Japanese semiconductor materials and manufacturing equipment providers to demonstrate their latest innovations. The premiere regional event also provided insights on key trends critical to the entire electronics manufacturing supply chain. This year’s event drew more than 51,000 visitors and 695 exhibitors from 15 regions filling more than 1,700 booths.SEMICON Japan 2020 returns to East Hall at Tokyo Big Sight in December 2020. I look forward to seeing you there!Jim Hamajima is president of SEMI Japan.

Have you ever wondered if you could “feel” what it’s like to revisit your favorite vacation spot while sitting on a couch in your living room? How about walk through a restaurant overlooking the water’s edge as you enjoy a savory dish, while still sitting on that couch?If you follow trends in consumer electronics, you probably imagined a virtual reality (VR) headset that uses a visual interface to simulate the ambiance of the restaurant as you use a voice interface to scroll through the restaurant’s menu. While the tech world has made great progress in evolving the visual and voice interfaces of VR, immersive virtual food-tasting also requires a digital interface that supports a sense of smell and taste. In fact, the National University of Singapore is conducting research on the topic (see the video), and Project Nourished claims to enable “eating and drinking in a whole new way – by hacking vision, gustation, olfaction, audition and touch – with or without caloric intake” – through VR.We’ve already come a long way in our quest to replicate human senses such as touch, vision (via biometric authentication) and voice to build user interfaces to interact with the digital devices around us. In fact, every invention that permanently changed the consumer electronics landscape in the last few decades has in turn brought to life one of these user interfaces (UI). For example, smartphones proliferated touch, video games such as Nintendo Wii and Sony Xbox brought gesture, and most recently, smart speakers and VR headsets have increased the adaptation of voice and vision.Complexities of UI DesignUI design is a complicated task that builds upon years of research in neuroscience, cognitive thinking and engineering. It must also account for individuality because users interact differently with their digital devices. Some, like me, use their left hand predominantly when interacting with a gaming console. Some have a heavy accent, which can make speech recognition difficult, while those with a hearing disability may prefer touch over voice as a user interface. Application, context and proximity of the device to the user also affect UI. For example, a user interacting with a smartphone at home has the option to touch or speak to the device whereas voice is the safest means to communicate with a car’s infotainment system while driving.Consumers often bring their digital devices wherever they go, but still expect a consistent user experience. Therefore, a natural user experience is the key to UI adoption. A multi-sensory approach combining voice, vision and/or touch could prove the most practical solution. For example, if I were to access my account at a bank ATM, I would prefer visual- or touch-interface authentication for security reasons, but I would still want to use a hands-free voice interaction to switch between the different menus on the machine. In this case, a combination of UIs could provide a more natural multi-sensory experience, albeit one that needs a careful design.UI technology development and adoption are largely influenced by the top four players in the consumer electronics industry – Apple, Amazon, Google and Samsung. Apple pioneered the touch interface with the invention of keyboard-less smartphones, and the rest of the industry followed suit. The introduction of Google Glass kickstarted the VR/augmented reality (AR) segment and opened new applications in the gaming and multimedia entertainment segments. While VR headsets work for gaming – and more recently for selling products and experiences – they are large and cumbersome devices that are uncomfortable to wear for extended periods. These are major hurdles for designers to solve. Voice, on the other hand, offers a hands-free user interface that is a more natural and frictionless compared to alternative UIs.A voice UI needs nothing but a voice command to interact with digital devices. However, it comes with its own complexity of varying user speech characteristics such as accent or volume. More importantly, the need to suppress various background noises for efficient use of voice UIs is critical. While edge computing and/or cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) are critical technologies to enable battery life and performance of smart home devices, the overarching goal of conversational AI is still far from reality.From a business standpoint, the winner of the race for voice UIs must improve AI capabilities while supporting a strong ecosystem of partners. Amazon, for example, is king of this strategy. The e-commerce giant is building an Alexa Voice Service (AVS) ecosystem by way of its Alexa Fund companies and third-party integrations (partners) to realize its goal of proliferating voice everywhere. These partnerships enable the ecosystem to build end-to-end speech systems that can literally take voice interface products everywhere and promote, among other things, hardware startups that are disrupting the MEMS market with products such as environmentally robust piezoelectric microphones.Energy harvesting near-zero-power always-listening microphones, used in partnership with the AVS ecosystem, are enabling voice UI products to expand into battery-operated applications such as hands-free TV remotes, smart garbage cans, Bluetooth speakers, headsets, hardware appliances and automobiles. A good example of a unique voice UI launched at CES 2019: Housewares designer simplehuman’s voice-activated smart garbage can uses Vesper microphones and AVS. Watch the video.While the future might bring additional digital interfaces, along with multisensory experiences using vision, gesture and touch, voice UI is at the forefront of current technological innovation. Soon, Alexa might help cook dinner without intervention, even turning off the stove when food is burning through the use of a scent-detection sensor integrated with a microphone array. Voice UI continues to astound us with its possibilities, and we’re excited for the journey ahead.With more than 12 years of experience working in speech and voice applications for wireless devices, Udaynag Pisipati is a senior field applications engineer at Vesper. He holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from University of Missouri and an MBA from Santa Clara University. A firm believer in speech as a natural user interface for human-machine interaction, Pisipati’s areas of interest include everything related to speech processing, including microphones/speakers, signal processing and machine learning.Vesper is a member of MEMS Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), SEMI technology community.

The 3D optical sensing market is once again surging – and it’s all thanks to Apple. What will we see in the next wave of end products enhanced by this technology, how will other market segments approach – and eventually use – 3D optical sensing, and which suppliers stand to gain the most from this very vital technology?Although 3D sensing, facial recognition and optical authentication systems have become only recently hot topics in the consumer electronics market, these mechanisms first made their appearance nearly a decade ago in November 2010. Following that debut, Microsoft soon launched the Kinect system in its Xbox 360 gaming console, marking a milestone as significant as Nintendo’s launch of its Nintendo Wii remote controller in 2010, which catapulted MEMS motion sensors into the high-volume consumer market.The Kinect system used a triangulation-based camera that Israeli developer PrimeSense Ltd. created and then licensed to Microsoft; Apple liked the technology so much that it acquired PrimeSense in 2013. The first version of Kinect applied the Structured Light (SL) method, a depth-sensing principle featuring an infrared (IR) laser projecting dots onto the scene, with a monochrome CMOS sensor measuring the differences in the acquired pattern. The second version of Kinect used the Time-of-Flight (ToF) principle.Kinect for Xbox360 was not only a successful consumer product; it also sparked a new market, thanks to the relatively low cost of the 3D sensing solution. By using the same hardware for Xbox 360 as in its first version of Kinect, Microsoft allowed developers to design their pet projects in the Kinect environment. Adding hand gestures controls to a PC, creating a user-controlled virtual dynamic light (see Kimchi and Chips’ demo), and developing an inexpensive hologram generator (see “Princess Leia” video from the MIT Media Lab) are just a few examples of ecosystem developers and DIYers applying their creativity to Kinect.Apple Goes 3D with Face ID3D optical sensing has expanded from gaming consoles to the smartphone. In 2017 Apple presented its Face ID camera system for the iPhone X, which they launched to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the iPhone. Face ID is the result of a longer term strategy for Apple, the byproduct of several company acquisitions to expand know-how in 3D sensing and augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR). Between 2015 and 2018, Apple acquired the camera-module maker LinX (2015), the AR startup Vrvana and the imaging sensor firm InVisage Tech (both in 2017), and AR glasses’ designer Akonia Holographics (2018).For a company that has always innovated on its own terms, Apple’s idiosyncratic approach called for deployment of the Structured Light method combined with a ToF device. The result is an amalgamation that utilizes the best features of the two mechanisms, even if the combination is one that is expensive. Apple’s addition of a near-infrared illuminator to its ToF device enhances the system’s effectiveness under most light conditions while also improving the reliability of Face ID; the overall outcome is a more satisfying user experience. The ToF component, which STMicrolectronics supplies, makes use of so-called single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) receivers that can work with any target material and color, although a higher target illumination is required to obtain good accuracy.The other core components of the Face ID system are the Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL, from Lumentum) and a dot projector (from ams/Heptagon), assembled together in an optical package. Apple’s expensive but reliable approach explains the company’s inclusion of the Face ID system in its latest smartphone and tablet offerings – across the iPhone Xs, Xs Pro and Xr as well as in the latest iPad Pro models. Apple’s Face ID uses facial recognition for authentication on a range of iPhone and iPad Pro models. Image courtesy of Apple. Chinese Phone Makers Get into the GameMeanwhile, other mobile handset manufacturers are rumored to be working on Face ID-like systems or have already presented similar solutions, albeit through a variety of approaches. Some have chosen to use standard ToF devices while others have adopted an SL tactic. In many of these designs, which happen to target Android systems, OEMs generally include a fingerprint sensor as a fallback biometric option to their own nascent 3D facial recognition systems. The fingerprint sensor operates in either standalone mode or integrates into the display.Chinese handset maker Oppo, for instance, uses the SL method on its Find X model with algorithms coming from Megvii. Oppo claims its equivalent of Apple Face ID is faster. I have heard that Vivo has been working on a ToF camera since mid-2018, which it claims provides greater accuracy and security in end-applications such as secure payments and unlocking the phone.Chinese technology giant Huawei’s first 3D facial sensor appeared in its Mate 20 Pro flagship mobile phone. Aside from providing facial biometrics, the front-facing 3D sensor doubles as a 3D scanner, enabling users to digitize live objects that they can then manipulate in 3D AR applications. While still a novelty, the application highlights the use of 3D light sensors beyond that of biometrics. Xiaomi’s Mi Explorer Edition smartphone features a complex SL 3D module to enable 3D facial scanning although it looks like a clone of the Apple solution.Overall, the importance of facial recognition is no longer a matter of dispute, given that Apple’s rivals are now developing counterpart offerings of their own. Leaked code from the next revision of the Android operating system (revision Q), now under development by Google, has confirmed as much. Big and Getting BiggerIHS Markit forecasts that global revenue for ToF sensors in the 3D optical sensing market will surpass $500 million in 2019, up from $370 million last year. We also predict that the ToF market will grow in the coming years, spurred by combo solutions integrated with other light sensors in the same package. This will lead to a cheaper bill of materials (BOM) compared to the BOM for the SL method.At the same time, IHS Markit forecasts that the total market potential for light sensors will be worth much more, reaching $1.5 billion by year 2022. That’s because after a solid start with gaming consoles, 3D sensing has matured and consolidated in the massive smartphone arena.A segment of 3D Sensing’s future growth will come from other use cases and applications that are emerging outside consumer electronics and mobile. These include people-counting and -tracking in consumer and industrial applications, landing-aid and obstacle-avoidance functions in drones, and car-trunk (boot) opening with foot gestures, as well as gesture recognition and passenger detection in automotive. IHS Markit predicts steady growth for ToF and other light sensors. All told, the ToF approach appears to have a greater chance than the SL method in gaining a larger market share, leading to a cheaper and smaller BOM along with reduced integration costs in system assembly and calibration.Sometime this year, Apple and other handset OEMs may include a ToF-based 3D camera on the back of the iPhone to support more immersive gaming experiences and new AR/VR applications. This will further boost the 3D sensing market.To be sure, other mature technologies are available as valid alternatives to optical 3D sensing, including ultrasonic, mmWave and radar. These alternative technologies may gain part of the total market now commanded by 3D sensing, in use cases such as obstacle-avoidance or in-cabin presence detection.To learn about 3D Optical Sensing and Light Sensors from IHS Markit, go to: https://technology.ihs.com/606483/light-sensors-for-consumer-mobile-report-2018Manuel Tagliavini, a principal research analyst at IHS Markit, covers MEMS and sensors technology.Manuel Tagliavini joined IHS Markit in 2017. His key areas of focus are MEMS and sensors for mobile and consumer technologies. He is responsible for the tracking of sensors in handsets, tablets, laptops, and sports and fitness products.Prior to IHS Markit, he spent over 10 years with STMicroelectronics, working in various roles including product engineering, program management, and marketing and business development in the company's MEMS division.Tagliavini earned an Executive Master of Business Administration at SDA Bocconi School of Management and a Master of Science in Electronic Engineering from the University of Parma, both in Italy.Stay tuned with the technological advances and market trends in the MEMS Sensors ecosystem. Join MEMS Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), the SEMI technology community that connects the MEMS and sensors supply network in established and emerging markets, allowing members to grow and prosper.

As group vice president of the Analog MEMS Group and general manager of the MEMS Sensor division at STMicroelectronics, Andrea Onetti brings nearly three decades of experience in MEMS, sensors and audio systems to his leadership role at one of the world’s most successful electronics and semiconductor manufacturers. During his keynote at FLEX and MEMS Sensors Technical Congress 2019, February 18-21 in Monterey, Calif., Onetti will address the criticality of sensor accuracy in advancing automotive, industrial and consumer applications. SEMI’s Maria Vetrano spoke with Onetti recently to give FLEX/MSTC attendees a preview of his presentation. SEMI: What are some promising advancements in sensors for autonomous cars? Onetti: The avionics industry is already successfully applying sensors for autonomous operationl. Inertial navigation systems (INS) support the operation of planes during flight, both after takeoff and before landing. Unfortunately, the technology in these navigation systems is expensive and not scalable, and they are hampered by reliability limitations in an automotive environment.Following the steady progress that we have made with MEMS inertial sensors in consumer applications, we are on the cusp of realizing greater accuracy in temperature and time – finally delivering the performance required for autonomous driving. Because we can scale in production – we’re now manufacturing more than a billion units a year – we can select the cream of this production crop for adoption in cars. Consequently, we should see Level 3 and Level 4 autonomous driving for consumers very soon.SEMI: How are companies using sensors to monitor and track their assets in industrial applications? Onetti: Predictive maintenance and asset tracking are the two main verticals in Smart Industry. The adoption of multiple sensors for condition monitoring is helping to detect the faulty operation of equipment and to detect early signs of issues that are otherwise difficult to capture. Ultrasonic microphones can detect leaks in a pipe at an early stage, accelerometers with high bandwidth can act as micrometers, and accurate temperature sensors can catch overheating. Similarly, in asset tracking, we use temperature monitoring in combination with inertial sensors to detect problems during the transport of goods. Shock sensors with extremely high full scale (up to 8000g) can tell whether a lightweight envelop has been dropped. Pressure sensors can switch off a radio system when a cargo plane takes off and can mute smart trackers in compliance with flight regulations. We really can do almost anything! A full slate of ST sensors and microcontroller units (MCUs) enable WEG’s small but powerful motor sensor, which listens to a motor, feels its pain, and shares that information with engineers, operators and others to diagnose problems before they happen. Image courtesy of STMicroelectronics. High-accuracy motion, environmental and proximity sensors are crucial to VR/AR. Image courtesy of STMicroelectronics. SEMI: How will sensors advance user experiences in consumer electronics, such as VR/AR systems?Onetti: Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are great examples of promising consumer technologies that will become pervasive as performance of inertial sensors improves. First, we need super accuracy in time and temperature to provide the right experience to users. To achieve this level of accuracy, we need a major step forward in performance, and that includes power consumption and miniaturization. Fortunately, we are constantly making progress in the high-accuracy motion, environmental and proximity sensors that are critical to these systems. While the scale is vastly different between VR/AR and automotive, the requirements for AR/VR systems are pretty similar to those that will enable autonomous cars. A growing variety of sensors (environmental, microphone, proximity, motion) – combined with a sensor hub in an MCU – are central to VR controllers (above) and VR head mounted displays (below). Images courtesy of STMicroelectronics. SEMI: We don’t hear much about the criticality of higher accuracy in sensors. Why is improving accuracy in sensors especially important – and what role do calibration routines play in achieving higher accuracy?Onetti: A sensor is more than just the performance of the relevant function. It is also the intrinsic accuracy that it brings. This accuracy is tuned by calibration, which is typically an expensive process done at the end of product manufacturing or – better still – during earlier stages of manufacturing.Today more applications require sensors with higher accuracy, which necessitates investing more time in calibration, leading to higher cost.MEMS technology can help by offering solutions with intrinsic higher accuracy, which reduces the cost of calibration for product manufacturers. This naturally delivers major benefits to OEMs and, ultimately, their customers.SEMI: What would you like FLEX and MSTC attendees to take away from your presentation?Onetti: As attendees explore the wide variety of available sensor solutions for their end products, I would ask them to prioritize the role of accuracy in sensor selection – because improved accuracy means higher quality data, and higher quality data means better decisions with reduced need for data processing.While designers understand the role of calibration routines in qualifying individual components for specific applications, it is the continuous evolution of MEMS technology that offers the best possibility of breakthrough reductions in time and cost of these calibration routines. This makes MEMS sensors more attractive and affordable than similar sensor components based on different technologies. Andrea Onetti will present Accuracy Enables MEMS Sensor Pervasion at FLEX/MSTC on Tuesday, February 19 at 11:00 am.Register today to connect with him at the event. To learn more about STMicroelectronics, click here. Maria Vetrano is a public relations consultant at SEMI.MSTC FLEX 2019 is organized by MEMS Sensors Industry Group (MSIG) and FlexTech.Maria Vetrano is a public relations consultant at SEMI.

Do you email your doctor when you have a tickle in your throat? Wear a fitness tracker or use an app to monitor your sugar levels, exercise or nutrition? If so, congratulations! You are a part of the rapid growth of digital medicine.Since you’re on the leading edge of this trend to enhance the efficiency of healthcare delivery, you might enjoy learning more about how the medical industry is transforming healthcare in this collection of podcast episodes and video. These are my top picks and just the tip of the proverbial iceberg in how modern medicine is taking today’s technology and applying it to best practices for remote patient monitoring, medical diagnosis, rural healthcare and more.Enjoy! And let me know if you find any others worth the listen!1. Inside Angle: 3M Health Information Systems - Telemedicine: Enhancing Access to Improve OutcomesAccess to healthcare can be a matter of life or death. For some patients, this may mean taking a day off work and driving for hours because services are not available in their hometown.Inside Angle host Dr. Gordon Moore interviews Barb Johnston, co-founder and CEO of HealthLinkNow, about the implementation of telemedicine programs. They discuss how technology impacts telemedicine adoption and related regulations and benefits clinicians and patients in the telepsychiatry and mental health industry. 2. NPR’s The Salt: What’s On Your Plate – This Chef Lost 50 Pounds and Reversed Prediabetes With A Digital ProgramThis short audio clip and article dives into lifestyle and wellness apps designed to motivate users to eat healthier, exercise more and – in some cases – save them from a preventable disease, like diabetes.Wellness apps like Omada Health rely on smartphones, e-coaching, electronic nudging and other methods to encourage users to make and, more importantly, stick to changes that can improve their health. And it’s catching on as other organizations, such as The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recognize the difference lifestyle-change programs designed to prevent diabetes are making. 3. Red Hot Healthcare: Episode 57 - Bluer Skies for TelemedicineLast year alone, venture capitalists poured $7 billion into telemedicine. As an emerging concept, telemedicine has a long road ahead until it’s fully integrated and adopted into modern medical practices. Nathaniel Lacktman, partner and health care lawyer with Foley Lardner LLP, discusses legal issues and hurdles surrounding telemedicine today with Red Hot Healthcare host Dr. Steve Ambrose.Lacktman pointed to healthcare providers such as Mercy Virtual Care Center, Mayo Clinic and MDLive that are likely to lead the telemedicine race. This podcast episode is a great listen for entrepreneurs and medical professionals who are interested in learning about compliance and business considerations for the implementation of telemedicine. 4. Digital Health Today: Episode 56 – Eren Bali on Building the World’s Largest Connected Care NetworkEren Bali, CEO and co-founder of Carbon Health, is out to change our fragmented traditional healthcare system with his aim to build the world’s largest connected care network.For Bali, it all started with his sister’s experience consolidating his mother’s health records – scattered over 20 different systems. And from that challenge, his idea to create a universal network that aggregates patient medical records was born.Bali and Digital Health Today host Dan Kendall discuss Bali’s launch of Carbon Health, the new medical records system’s first implementation in a San Francisco primary care clinic, and how providers and patients can get on board with this model. 5. Digital Health Today: Episode 58 – Brennan Spiegel Gets Real About Virtual RealityThis episode of Digital Health Today centers on how Virtual Reality (VR) is being used to enhance patient care. Host Dan Kendall speaks with Dr. Brennan Spiegel, Director of Health Services Research at Cedars-Sinai Health System and Professor of Medicine and Public Health at UCLA, about how immersive technology like VR and Augmented Reality (AR) can improve patients’ experience as well as alleviate pain, anxiety, depression, addiction and more. In a particularly interesting segment, Dr. Spiegel calls the hospital a biopsychosocial jail cell and underscores its importance in not just treating physical ailments but, more wholistically, also addressing the psychological and social wellbeing of patients. 6. TED2017: Raj Panjabi – No one should die because they live too far from a doctor What do you do when access to a doctor means rowing a boat for hours? Millions of people around the world lack access to health care because they live in a remote town or village.In this TED talk, Raj Panjabi, physician in the Division of Global Health Equity at Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and co-founder of Last Mile Health, offers a solution to the problem of healthcare access in the form of the Community Health Academy, a global platform to train and connect community health workers by leveraging devices like smartphones to bring preventative healthcare to even the most far-flung regions of the world. 7. GeekWire’s Health Tech Podcast: How AI is making humans the ‘fundamental thing in the internet of things’Can AI predict which patients are at risk for chronic diseases using their old medical records? This episode of Health Tech Podcast dives deep into the future of healthcare with a look at the potential for AI -- “augmented intelligence” or “assistive intelligence” – to improve patient outcomes, the focus of Ankur Teredesai, a data scientist at the University of Washington and co-founder and CTO of health AI startup KenSci.Clare McGrane, host of GeekWire’s Health Tech Podcast, speaks with numerous experts in this field. They compare precision health to a modern car constantly monitored by microprocessors. The minute something is wrong, you get a warning to take the car to a shop to resolve the issue. The same concept can be applied to humans and deliver big healthcare impacts as research in AI and machine learning continues to evolve. 8. NPR’s Shots: Can Home Health Visits Help Keep People Out Of The ER?In Washington D.C., the city with the highest per capita 911 call volume in all of the U.S., Mary’s Center is piloting a program to provide primary care telemedicine to patients who cannot, or in some cases, do not want to visit the clinic. NPR covers the story of Medicaid patient Dennis Lebron Dolman, who is currently receiving a mix of home visits and virtual treatment.Besides providing healthcare access to rural regions, telemedicine has the potential to reduce emergency room visits in cities as well as improve the health of patients in the long run. Learn more at SEMICON West’s Smart MedTech TechXPOT on Digital Medicine and Remote Patient Monitoring. Hosted by NBMC on July 12, 2018, from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM, the event will feature healthcare industry leaders exploring state-of-the-art healthcare practices and the future of medical technology. Registration is now open!Amy Ly is a Technical Programs Marketing Coordinator at SEMI.