Scientists from the University of California - San Diego have developed a new device that wraps around a finger that captures sweat during sleep in order to generate electrical energy.
According to the information, the prototype of the device stores little power at the moment, and it will take about three weeks to power the smartphone, but the researchers hope to increase the capacity in the future.
In detail, the developers found that wearing the device on the tip of one finger for ten hours would generate enough energy to keep a wristwatch running for 24 hours. It is noteworthy that the splicing devices located in the rest of the fingertips will generate ten times more energy.
It is known that most energy-producing wearable devices require the wearer to perform intense exercise or rely on external sources such as sunlight or significant changes in temperature. But the team explained that the new device uses a passive system to generate electricity from moisture in the fingertips, even if the person is sleeping or sitting without making any movement, because the fingertips are the parts of the body that sweat the most.
The energy-harvesting machine produces small amounts of electricity when the wearer applies pressure to it or starts to sweat, or by tapping it lightly. The wearer can do this by converting activities such as writing, texting, or playing the piano into additional energy.
"Unlike other devices that run on energy through sweat, this device requires no physical effort from the wearer to be useful," said Lu Yin, co-author and a doctoral student at the University of California.
"This work is a step forward in making wearable devices more practical, convenient and available for everyday use by ordinary people," he added.
