(Image courtesy of Oscar Wong via Getty Images)
Your body could serve as a power source for wearable gadgets thanks to advances in harnessing energy from 6G wireless networks.
Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have confirmed that excess radio frequency (RF) energy from visible light communication (VLC) can be collected using compact, inexpensive copper coils and transmitted to power other devices through the human body. 6G is a promising wireless communication technology that is currently in development and is expected to be implemented by the end of the decade.
According to a 2022 study, the key to this process is VLC — which transmits data using extremely fast flashes of visible light from sources such as LEDs. VLC is one way 6G signals could be transmitted in the future. However, LEDs also emit side signals of radio frequency (RF) as energy leakage. The researchers found that this energy could be harvested using a coiled copper wire, which is more efficient when in contact with human skin.
According to the study, skin contact increased the efficiency by up to 10 times compared to using the coil alone. The human body also proved more effective in enhancing the coil's ability to collect leaked radio energy compared to wood, plastic, cardboard or steel.
Batteries for the body
Based on this discovery, the scientists developed the “Bracelet+,” a simple coil of copper wire that can be worn as a mount on the upper forearm. The design can also be adapted to be worn as a necklace, ankle bracelet, belt, or ring, although the researchers noted that the bracelet best balances energy collection and wearer comfort.
“The design is inexpensive — less than fifty cents,” the study’s authors wrote in a statement. “Yet, the Bracelet+ can generate microwatts, which is enough to power a variety of sensors, such as health monitoring devices, which require minimal power due to their low sampling rate and long sleep mode.”
With that in mind, this technology could solve the problem of limited battery life in wearables. Even highly regarded smartwatches like the Apple Watch typically require charging almost every day, which can reduce their usefulness unless charging is part of a daily routine. And with the growing popularity of smart rings, there are even more devices that require regular charging.
Thus, the energy harvesting technology implemented in the Bracelet+ could become a kind of local charger for next-generation wearable devices, provided that such devices can receive energy from the bracelet.
Of course, this depends on 6G networks using VLC, which are currently far from being deployed, let alone widely adopted and integrated into consumer or industrial devices.
But this could be the beginning of the human body becoming something like a power source for technology, only in a more harmonious form than what was shown in The Matrix.
“Ultimately,” said lead study author Jie Xiong, a professor of information and computer science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, “we want to be able to harvest waste energy from a variety of sources to power future technologies.”
TOPICS wearable technologies
Roland Moore-ColyerSocial Links Navigation
Sourse: www.livescience.com
