IEC 63203-101-1:2021

IEC 63203-101-1 ®
Edition 1.0 2021-06
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Wearable electronic devices and technologies –
Part 101-1: Terminology
Technologies et dispositifs électroniques prêts-à-porter –
Partie 101-1: Terminologie
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IEC 63203-101-1 ®
Edition 1.0 2021-06
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Wearable electronic devices and technologies –

Part 101-1: Terminology
Technologies et dispositifs électroniques prêts-à-porter –

Partie 101-1: Terminologie
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
INTERNATIONALE
ICS 01.040.31; 59.080.80 ISBN 978-2-8322-9918-0

– 2 – IEC 63203-101-1:2021 © IEC 2021
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms and definitions . 5
Bibliography . 9

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
WEARABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICES AND TECHNOLOGIES –

Part 101-1: Terminology
FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote international
co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To this end and
in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications, Technical Reports,
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Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by agreement between the two organizations.
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rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
International Standard IEC 63203-101-1 has been prepared by TC 124: Wearable electronic
devices and technologies.
The text of this International Standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
124/144/FDIS 124/147/RVD
Full information on the voting for its approval can be found in the report on voting indicated in
the above table.
The language used for the development of this International Standard is English.
A list of all parts in the IEC 63203 series, published under the general title Wearable electronic
devices and technologies, can be found on the IEC website.

– 4 – IEC 63203-101-1:2021 © IEC 2021
This document was drafted in accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, and developed in
accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 and ISO/IEC Directives, IEC Supplement, available
at www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs. The main document types developed by IEC are
described in greater detail at www.iec.ch/standardsdev/publications.
The committee has decided that the contents of this document will remain unchanged until the
stability date indicated on the IEC website under webstore.iec.ch in the data related to the
specific document. At this date, the document will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
WEARABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICES AND TECHNOLOGIES –

Part 101-1: Terminology
1 Scope
This document provides terminology frequently used in literature related to wearable electronic
devices and technologies in the IEC 63203 series. This list includes wearable electronic devices
and technologies, near-body wearable electronics, on-body wearable electronics, in-body
wearable electronics, and electronic textiles.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following
addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp
3.1
wearable electronic device
electronic device intended to be located near to, on, or in, a human body
3.1.1
near-body wearable electronic device
near-body wearable electronics
wearable electronic device intended to be located near a human body but which does not make
direct contact with its external surface
Note 1 to entry: Equipment that is not wearable (e.g. that operates in close proximity to the human body) is not
considered to be near-body wearable electronics.
3.1.2
on-body wearable electronic device
on-body wearable electronics
wearable electronic device intended to be located on the external surface of a human body and
which makes direct contact with it
Note 1 to entry: Portable equipment that is held in hand during use is not considered to be on-body wearable
electronics.
3.1.3
in-body wearable electronic device
in-body wearable electronics
wearable electronic device intended to be located inside a human body

– 6 – IEC 63203-101-1:2021 © IEC 2021
3.2
wearable electronic technology
technology related to the development of wearable electronic devices
Note 1 to entry: Examples: materials, applications, devices, components, systems or network.
3.3
electronic skin
wearable electronic device attached on human skin, the physical behaviour of which is close to
that of human skin (i.e. flexible and elastic)
Note 1 to entry: Some electronic skins might mimic certain functionalities of human skin.
3.4
patchable electronics
wearable electronic device or component that can be attached to the human body
3.5
biodegradable electronics
electronic device and component that naturally dissolve after proper functioning
Note 1 to entry: Examples of functions: body monitoring, wound healing, therapy delivery.
3.6
ingestible electronics
in-body electronic device or component that is ingested orally
3.7
conformable wearable electronic device
wearable electronic device able to change form or shape in response to the external
environment
3.8
stretchable electronic device
electronic device able to operate under stretched conditions and having an elastic behaviour
3.9
(electric) sensor
device which, when excited by a physical phenomenon, produces an electric signal
characterizing the physical phenomenon
Note 1 to entry: Sensors such as touch sensors, temperature sensors, motion sensors, vital-voltage sensors, or
electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors are specific types of sensors used in w
...