In the face of an ageing population, smart technology will play a vital role in improving elder individuals’ quality of life and dignity, Henkel Qhesive Solutions (Düsseldorf, Germany) have demonstrated how innovation will be helping to address the challenge of caring for those affected by incontinence: A long term trial of Smart Adult Care recently run in a nursing home in Italy has shown that digital diapers can improve the patient’s wellbeing through more timely changes, while allowing staff to focus on delivering better care.

At the 2022 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, imec (Leuven, Belgium), a world-leading research and innovation centre in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, presented a piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasound Transducer (pMUT) array that is compatible with flat-panel-displays (FPD) process technologies. The array demonstrates acoustic pressures in mid-air above 1kPa, a pressure level relevant for enabling mid-air haptics and directed sound. Moving from wafer-based to FPD-compatible processes prepares the pMUT technology for the integration of future mid-air applications, such as vibro-haptics, time-of-flight (3D) sensing or gesture recognition, in novel form factors like smartphones and car dashboards. This technology can be used to create touchless, interactive, screens in automotive and consumer applications, or used in gaming.