We’ve seen all sorts of ways that one can generate electricity and energy, but here’s a novel concept – what if you could generate energy while you speak, while you chew, or maybe even when you grind your teeth in your sleep? Well that’s what a pair of researchers from Montreal’s École de Technologie Supérieure did when they put together a headset that can generate power from your jaw muscles.
How these researchers have managed to accomplish that is by using piezoelectric fibers, which are basically materials that have the ability to translate physical motion, like the act of using your jaw muscles, into electricity. These fibers are strapped underneath your jaw and are connected to a pair of earmuffs which basically helps hold everything into place and sits on your head nicely.
So when you speak or chew or basically move your jaw, the strands move, and in turn generates electricity. Pretty cool, huh? Unfortunately while it does seem like a good concept, it does not generate enough electricity to be particularly useful. It has been estimated that the amount of power generated is around 10 microwatts a minute, which is not even enough to power a regular flashlight.
However like we said, it is an interesting concept and who knows, perhaps down the line the researchers could find a way to generate even more power, which in turn could allow us to yap away on the phone all day while charging it at the same time. Not a bad idea, huh?
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