Press Releases

CAP-XX Thinline supercapacitors power vibration alerts in Spire Health Tag

January 8, 2018

Posted by: Zenobia Hegde

CAP-XX, developer of supercapacitors that deliver peak power to support or replace batteries, announced that Spire has incorporated CAP-XX Thinline supercapacitors into the new Spire Health Tag to provide the peak power needed for delivering real-time wellness vibration alerts to consumers.

Offloading this peak power role to the thin, flat supercapacitor allows Spire to keep the battery small to achieve the ultra-thin form factor of its new wearable fitness biosensor that attaches to clothes once, can be washed as normal, and needs no charging. Spire will demonstrate its Spire Health Tag at CES booth #43706.

The tag’s 3V coin cell battery continuously trickle charges the CAP-XX Thinline HA114 supercapacitor (0.8mm thin, 120 millifarads, 130 milli-Ohms), which then provides the peak power (100 milliamps initially, dropping to 40 milliamps for 400 milliseconds) for driving the motor that delivers vibration alerts that consumers can set to help manage stress or monitor their heart rate.

Spire Health Tag aims to disappear unless it has something important to say in the moment. The tags use advanced algorithms, deep learning and proprietary respiratory sensors to provide personalised, real-time health guidance for sleep, stress and daily activity by continuously analysing breath and heart rate inflection points.

Users set their goals in the accompanying mobile app’s stay active, reduce stress, sleep better, get fit, stay calm and heart health programs. Spire’s Health Insights Engine monitors patterns and then suggests actions to help users toward their goals, either on the app, or via physical vibration alerts for monitoring more critical situations like an athlete’s heart rate or potential panic attacks. Users set their own thresholds and frequencies for their vibration alerts. If Spire detects bio-signals related to stress or another specific health variable in the user’s breathing pattern, it sends a vibration alert.

The CAP-XX supercapacitor handles the peak power role to keep the Spire Health Tag battery small and form factor ultra thin.

The CAP-XX supercapacitor handles the peak power role to keep the Spire Health Tag battery small and form factor ultra thin.

The supercapacitor’s low leakage current (< 1µA) helps maximise the non-replaceable coin cell battery’s life, which will last about 18 months. Users can return expired tags to Spire and get a discount on replacements, and Spire will recycle and reuse all components and materials. The tags are to ship in March and are available for pre-order at $99 (€82.54) (three pack), $199 (€165.92) (eight pack), or $299 (€249.30) (15 pack).

About CAP-XX Thinline Supercapacitors:

“We developed Thinline to address the size, weight and cost challenges of designing thin, sometimes disposable electronic IoT devices like wearables and portables,” said Anthony Kongats, CAP-XX CEO. “They help manufacturers add peak-power features, extend battery life, avoid oversized batteries, or even replace batteries when paired with an energy harvester.”

Thinline supports power requirements including wireless communication (Bluetooth, Bluetooth Smart, Zigbee, Z-Wave, Ant, active RFID), electronic paper and OLED displays, haptic or tactile feedback, vibration alerts, GPS acquisition, and injection or inhalation system delivery. The supercapacitors work with thin-film, solid-state, and other low-power batteries such as coin cells/button cells, energy harvesting modules (solar, vibration/kinetic, RF, and other ambient energy sources), as well as inductive/wireless and cable/cradle fast-charging systems.

Key features include: 

Suggested retail price starts at less than US$1 (€0.83) in large volumes.

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