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Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are developing innovative technology that uses human skin to charge devices without traditional batteries.
The idea of charging devices using your own skin seemed like something far-fetched and even science fiction, but now it is closer to becoming a reality, thanks to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States. They have developed a new technology called Power-Over-Skin, which allows devices to be charged through human skin, without the use of Batteries traditional.
With this technology, human skin becomes a source of energy to charge different types of devices, offering an alternative to conventional batteries.
How does power-over-skin technology work?
Power-Over-Skin uses the skin as a conductor of energy, transmitting electrical currents through the human body.
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The way it works is quite simple: a battery-powered transmitter sends energy through the skin to small receivers located in devices such as rings or earrings.
Researchers point out that energy travels through the skin in a similar way to how radio transmits signals through the air
This means that human skin, which we normally use to sense the world around us, could become a way to charge devices, without the need for external batteries.
According to Andy Kong, a lead researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, “The goal of Power-Over-Skin technology is to enable skin to be used as a transmission medium for the energy, just as air transmits signals to the radio.”
This opens up new possibilities for charging low-power devices such as blood glucose monitors, pacemakers, fitness trackers and even headphones, using only the skin as a “living battery”.
Challenges and advances in energy transmission through the skin
While the technology has shown great potential, researchers know there is still much to learn about how to optimize transmission the energy through the skin.
In their initial research, scientists used sine waves to transmit the energy, but found that square waves, with their pulse shape, were more effective.
This discovery was made accidentally, when a programming error caused the machine to transmit square waves, resulting in more efficient transmission of energy.
Kong explains that square waves, with their right angles, make it easier to transmit more energy through the skin, which is a big advantage for Power-Over-Skin technology.
“This unexpected discovery was key to improving power transmission efficiency,” says Kong.
The research team is now focused on improving the technology, with the aim of allowing more devices to be charged through the skin, without the need for batteries.
The potential of skin as the battery of the future
Although the idea of replacing all Batteries With energy transmitted through the skin being a distant reality, the advancement of Power-Over-Skin opens up new possibilities for the future.
The research is still in its early stages, but researchers are already exploring how to increase the power of energy transmitted through the skin.
“The next step would be to increase the power by about tenfold,” Kong says. That increase could make the technology more viable for use in more demanding devices like headphones, paving the way for a new generation of wearable devices that charge directly through the skin.
While it’s not an immediate solution to eliminate batteries altogether, Power-Over-Skin technology offers a new way to charge devices and could transform the way we handle energy in the future.
With the human body functioning as a living battery, the skin becomes an energy source capable of charging devices efficiently and without the need for external batteries.
Skin as an energy source?
With the development of Power-Over-Skin, technology is moving towards transforming human skin into a living battery.
This represents a advance in how we think about charging devices and using energy.
News published on the Carnegie Mellon University website
We are close to the matrix. Ia takes over humanity and discovers that we are a living battery, ready.
These energies are already used as means in healing processes.
Wonderful news, it opens a new path in the technological world.👏👏👏👏