Wearable Devices: Utilizing Energy from the Human Body

Did you know that our physical bodies are capable of generating energy during simple actions such as walking, jogging, and even sweating? Scientists and researchers have come up with a range of new wearable electronic devices that have the ability to harness energy from the human body.

A group of scientists from the National University of Singapore has created skin-interfaced wearable devices that can harness energy from one source and transfer it to another using the human body as the transmission medium. Apart from using the human body itself as a medium for power transmission, the team’s novel concept has an additional advantage – the wearable, autonomous device can also harvest unused energy from electromagnetic waves given off by nearby stationary devices such as laptops.

Scientists from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, have developed a unique fabric that gathers kinetic energy from a user’s body movements and converts it into usable electricity. In an experiment carried out by the research team, it was shown that by tapping a 3 centimeter by 4 centimeter piece of the fabric, enough electrical power was generated to light up to 100 LEDs (light-emitting diodes).

A group of scientists from the Tokyo University of Science in Japan has developed a wearable biofuel cell array that generates electrical power from the human body. And what is the source of energy? Sweat! According to Professor Isao Shitanda, “We managed to drive a commercially available activity meter for 1.5 hours using one drop of artificial sweat and our biofuel cells. We expect they should be capable of powering all sorts of devices, such as smart watches and other commonplace portable gadgets.”

Up next is another incredible wearable energy-harvesting biofuel cell, or BFC, that also generates power from the body’s sweat glands. It was reported in the July 13, 2022 issue of the Journal Joule that the device is capable of “producing 300 millijoules (mJ) of energy per square centimeter without any mechanical energy input during a ten-hour sleep and an additional 30 mJ of energy with the single press of a finger.”

Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder in the US have developed the next generation of wearable devices, known as thermoelectric generators or TEGs. The TEG makes use of natural heat from the human body and converts it into a “biological battery,” which becomes the source of energy to electrically power electronic items. It is specially designed to be flexible and stretchable to comfortably suit various users’ needs. The unique resilient material can also self-heal.