NUS develops charger for wearables that transmits power using the human body

A research team from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed a solution that enables the wireless charging of wearable tech by using a device such as a mobile phone and treating the human body as a medium for power transmission.

Photo credit: NUS

The team is led by Jerald Yoo, an associate professor from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the N.1 Institute for Health at NUS.

The solution involves installing a transmitter on a single power source, such as the smart watch on a user’s wrist, and placing multiple receivers anywhere on the person’s body. The technology can then harness energy from the source to power multiple wearables through a process termed as “body-coupled power transmission.”

Experiments by Yoo’s team have shown that their system allows a fully charged power source to power up to 10 wearable devices on the body. These include everyday tech like smart watches and wireless earphones to healthcare devices such as electrocardiogram monitoring patches and listening aids.

“Our unique system has the potential to omit the need for batteries, thereby enabling manufacturers to miniaturise the gadgets while reducing production cost significantly,” said Yoo. “More excitingly, without the constraints of batteries, our development can enable the next generation wearable applications, such as ECG patches, gaming accessories, and remote diagnostics.”

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The NUS team also looked into harvesting energy from the environment as a complementary source of power, as typical office and home environments have parasitic electromagnetic waves that can be scavenged by their receivers.