On/off body detection is about detecting whether a device is worn on the human body or not. This function can be implemented with Sensirion’s SHTW2 humidity sensors (see Xplained Pro Dual Humidity and Temperature Extension Board for Atmel) and offers various new use cases. The propagation of smart features like noise cancelling, wireless connectivity and fitness tracking functions into headphones and other wearables alike is a hot topic in the industry.

The information if a headphone is taken off while connected, allows the smartphone to pause the music and put on a loud ringtone rather than just ringing via headphones. Furthermore it enables smarter battery management according to the user’s individual needs. Besides headphones, the on/off body detection feature is also applicable for other battery-driven devices like VR goggles, smart watches, fitness trackers or wearable medical devices.

On Sensirion’s developer website you are able to purchase the new Xplained Pro Dual Humidity and Temperature Extension Board for Atmel allowing to test on/off body detection applications easily. Furthermore we published tutorials, implementation instructions as well as sample code allowing you to build your own on/off body detection system. Get inspired by visiting developer.sensirion.com/onoffbody. Get started by visiting our Atmel tutorial for on/off body detection at developer.sensirion.com/atmel-getting-started. To implement the on/off body detection into headphones, we have published tutorials on how to create a headphone form factor prototype, and connecting it to the Atmel Xplained Pro board: developer.sensirion.com/atmel-onoffbody-build-prototype.