A Wearable NFC Antenna Sewn on Leather Substrate for Immersive IoT Applications

The Internet of Things (IoT) is considered a promising realm of innovation and revenue generation for the forthcoming years, revolutionizing the way we interact with objects, other people and the world. With an unprecedented but realistic target of trillions of interconnected devices, the IoT calls for technological innovations that lie in the heart of rapid, low-energy and user-friendly communication between people and things. In this respect, the Near Field Communication (NFC) protocol offers advanced efficiency and applicability with low energy consumption, ease of use, flexibility, and increased payload. NFC tags may be embedded in everyday objects, including clothing and apparel, offering an immersive user experience. Wearable NFC antennas and NFC tags embedded in clothing have been presented in the past; nonetheless, in this paper we present, to the best of our knowledge, the first reported development of a NFC antenna on leather substrate. The proposed antenna is sewn using stainless steel thread and operates at the 13.56 MHz frequency range. It may be used alongside with NFC tags in leather apparel like clothing, shoes, accessories, etc., thus extending the possible use cases and applications of the NFC technology and offering an all the more immersive experience for the end user.