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Crowdfunded 'PowerWatch' Runs on Body Heat, Never Needs Charging (engadget.com)
Engadget reports on a new watch that suggests the possibility of a future without chargers:
This thermal-powered wearable doesn't need one -- it gets energy by converting your body heat into electricity. It's been a year since I saw an early prototype of the PowerWatch -- a smart(ish) watch that tracks basic fitness metrics. Now, the self-proclaimed energy-harvesting company is finally ready to ship PowerWatches to the early adopters who backed its Indiegogo campaign...
Because its functions are pretty basic and its LCD screen is relatively low-powered, it doesn't take too much electricity to keep the watch running... The PowerWatch can not only tell the time, set alarms and timers but also track your activity and sleep... Matrix co-founder Douglas Tham said the PowerWatch will keep running for up to 12 months if you don't wear it, and a PowerSave mode kicks in to conserve energy by killing non-timekeeping functions.
Because its functions are pretty basic and its LCD screen is relatively low-powered, it doesn't take too much electricity to keep the watch running... The PowerWatch can not only tell the time, set alarms and timers but also track your activity and sleep... Matrix co-founder Douglas Tham said the PowerWatch will keep running for up to 12 months if you don't wear it, and a PowerSave mode kicks in to conserve energy by killing non-timekeeping functions.
It's also been a year since the debunking video existed
That's some nice copy and paste skills. Anonymous coward, you will fit right in with half the computer programmers out there.
what are cool guys/gals doing then with such a device?
My solar-powered, WWV-listening Casio analog/digital watch has been running for eight years and these days remains on an always-shaded windowsill for a week or two at a time.
While a body heat-powered watch is nifty, mine is niftier.
Haha, its a copy paste of the summary right there at the top, he just changed a few words, it added nothing. In fact he left out the hyperlinks so it's even less than the summary gave. But yes it was an attack at duplicate information presented as new.
When this first came out, the makers promised a fully fledged smart watch. Now this thing could easily be powered for 5-10 years with a button cell and many âoeregularâ models like it have existed for at least a decade.
Watch the thing dying on everyone after 13 months, right outside the warranty.
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that you wind only every few days or so (some five on a single wind)? No batteries. Tells time. Crazy." **Rolls eyes and looks at his grandfather's "antique" watch.**
I would agree that because it is a moving part, it eventually may have issues. However, there are many self-winding watches out there that have long lifespans. Seiko, Bulova, and other brands have been making self-winding watches for many years, and their failure mode rarely is the mechanics involved.
And my Seiko Kinetic has been running continuously for almost 10 years not needing any www connection to keep good time, nor battery changes, winding etc. All it needs is that I wear it at least 10 days every month.
Or one special Saturday night every now and then.
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
Watch geek here.
A watch doesn't take much power at all. Digital watches can run for years on tiny, tiny batteries. The classic Casio F-91w, also known at the "al Qaeda watch" runs for seven years on a CR2016 cell which delivers 100 maH at 3V: in other words roughly 1000 joules. That translates to a power draw of 5 microwatts.
Now a smart watch is going to draw a lot more power than that, because it has a processor and probably a part time on luminous display to power. But "a lot more than 5 microwatts" leaves a lot of headroom.
Now there are mechanical watches that are powered by photovoltaics, but combining this with a display could be tricky. But another possibility might be a small dynamo powered by wrist action. Of course non-electronic "automatic" watches have been doing this for decades, but every since Seiko introduced it's "kinetic" watch movements in the mid 80s there have been quartz watches powered by mechanical generators with capacitive storage. Currently Seiko and Swiss manufacturer ETA produce "mechanical quartz" movements.
The question is whether you get more power out of a mechanical generator or a thermoelectric generator. I believe Bulova introduced a thermoelectric quartz watch in the 80s, but it never caught on, where as kinetically powered and photovoltaic powered quartz watches remain quite popular. Undoubtedly the technology has improved since then.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
https://www.watchonista.com/ar...
This talks about two watches that are powered by body heat, in the 1980s. I remember one in the ate 1980s for a digital watch powered by body heat.
Fight Spammers!
My dad had a "self-winding" watch (analog, obviously) that drew its energy from your motion. This was probably around 1970. I guess this new watch is the same thing, only for people who don't move around much.
Have you read my blog lately?
IF this article is true. It's finally using science to do something positive for us. They could progress this heat energy to cell phones and more. It's very depressing and sickening to see science to track us, know what we are doing, hide extra charge on bills, and software to "look over our shoulders" to "ensure" we sweat hard every second at work, One example: You would not believe how sophisticated, they track truckers! Have respect for them and stay out of their way of their way! Today's truckers almost literally drive with a gun behind their heads. I have many other examples of negative software but I don't want to drone on.