Wearables are in this year, and tech makers show no signs of slowing down on releasing thelatest smartwatches and futuristic headgear. But one of the main problems they all share is battery life – they’re yet another gadget to remember to charge every few days. That could soon be fixed however, and for good: a team from the Korea Advanced Institute ofScience and Technology
have come up with a light and flexible thermoelectric generator that can produce electricity just from the heat of the human body, meaning you might not ever have to recharge your smartwatch ever again. Fancy that?
have come up with a light and flexible thermoelectric generator that can produce electricity just from the heat of the human body, meaning you might not ever have to recharge your smartwatch ever again. Fancy that?
A team of researchers from KAIST have come up with a solution to the main problem that wearable tech faces, and it relies on your body heat: the team have developed a glass fabric-based thermoelectric generator that can be worn like a watch and it can produce electricity just from the heat output of your body. The generator is flexible enough to be bent around your arm, and that won’t affect the performance of the wearable generator at all – in fact, it still outputs the same amount of electricity for up to 120 cycles no matter how much it’s flexed.
of the wearable generator at all – in fact, it still outputs the same amount of electricity for up to 120 cycles no matter how much it’s flexed.
Typically, body-heat absorbing generators
that are made up from inorganic materials have a higher output than those made from organic substances, and they’re usually larger and much more bulky, making this wearable generator the first to beat out both of those problems – and as it’s made from glass fabric that also reduces heat loss and makes full use of the output. This could be the first step to taking wearables to the next level, but much like with Apple’s idea for using the sun to power its iWatch, we might not see it used in a real smartwatch for a few years – we’ve got our fingers crossed it arrives sooner, rather than later, as we can only dream of a smartwatch that never runs out of juice.
that are made up from inorganic materials have a higher output than those made from organic substances, and they’re usually larger and much more bulky, making this wearable generator the first to beat out both of those problems – and as it’s made from glass fabric that also reduces heat loss and makes full use of the output. This could be the first step to taking wearables to the next level, but much like with Apple’s idea for using the sun to power its iWatch, we might not see it used in a real smartwatch for a few years – we’ve got our fingers crossed it arrives sooner, rather than later, as we can only dream of a smartwatch that never runs out of juice.
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