Who would’ve thought that the future of wearable technology will make the human body as a battery for its working!
How does the technology work?
As per a report, wearable technology has been developed by researchers at the University of Colorado boulder. It uses thermoelectric generators, thus, converting the body’s internal temperature to electricity to power the device.
The wearable uses thermoelectric chips, liquid metal wires, and a stretchy material called polyamine which makes it easy to wear on the wrist as well as on the fingers.
Their findings are published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances, managed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Whenever you use a battery, you’re depleting that battery and will, eventually, need to replace it. The nice thing about our thermoelectric device is that you can wear it, and it provides you with constant power.
Jianliang Xiao, senior author of the paper and associate professor in the university’s department of mechanical engineering
Researchers say the wearable can generate about one volt of energy for every square centimeter of skin space, which is less than most existing batteries but enough to power a wearable device. Xiao predicts the devices could hit the market in five to 10 years.
In an email to USA TODAY, Xiao said he sees the technology as potentially replacing batteries on wearable devices.