With less than a month to go before the completion of MicroChip4Age, the ASIA research group at the University of Jaén has obtained the official industrial design registration for its smart wristband and BLE beacon—one of the most important milestones of the project.

Jaén, November 2025. – The MicroChip4Age project, coordinated by the ASIA Research Group at the University of Jaén, celebrates one of its most significant achievements: the official granting of industrial design registrations for the smart wristband and BLE beacon developed within the initiative.

The certificates, issued by the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM), represent a decisive step in the project’s path toward technological maturity, protection, and future transfer.

Functional, ethical and human-centred design

The two registered devices embody the project’s vision:
• A smart wristband, lightweight and ergonomic, equipped with BLE technology.
• A configurable BLE beacon, designed to optimise indoor localisation through dynamic signal control and energy efficiency.

Both designs combine engineering, aesthetics and usability, while maintaining the project’s ethical and social commitment to users’ privacy and autonomy.

A collaboration to create technology that cares without invading

The design of both devices was carried out in collaboration with renowned industrial designer Eli Gutiérrez, whose international portfolio includes collaborations with GAN, Haworth, Chevalier Édition and Cider Editions. Her approach—combining technology, functionality and aesthetic sensitivity—has enabled the MicroChip4Age vision to be translated into everyday objects that are discreet, accessible and elegant.

The joint process between the MicroChip4Age team and Eli Gutiérrez covered more than a year of work, from early conceptualisation, form definition and ergonomics to user-experience development, prototyping, iterative adjustments and the final preparation of the models submitted to the OEPM.

This collaboration has been guided by a shared objective: to create technology that cares without intruding, respecting the intimacy and daily life of older adults and chronic patients.

A milestone of special relevance in the final stage of the project

With only a few weeks left until the official completion of MicroChip4Age, this achievement crowns more than a year of interdisciplinary work, technical development and validation.

The formal protection of the industrial designs recognises the team’s creative and technological effort, and strengthens the project’s capacity to progress toward future exploitation, scaling and continuity beyond its execution period.

Protected innovation to go even further

This milestone adds to recent achievements—such as the Sensors publication on the devices’ technical development and the completion of the project’s ethical and legal advisory report—positioning MicroChip4Age as a national reference in technology for active ageing and digital care.

With industrial protection secured, the project approaches its conclusion with a solid foundation for future transfer, scaling and long-term impact.