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Battery-free remote, powered by your fingers
Here's a great way to avoid changing batteries in your remote control: use a remote that doesn't need any batteries at all. This design concept by NEC and Soundpower uses the vibrations of your fingers pushing the buttons to power a volume control, channel switching and on/off. Sure beats operating a remote with a hand crank.
NEC says the two companies are actively working on a practical prototype, vowing to offer it to other manufacturers by 2011. So if the world is out of energy by then, we can still change the channels without using batteries as we watch TV by candlelight. Just kidding.
Via Zatz Not Funny
By Raymondjram at 6:24 AM ON 11/20/09
There is a better way to generate electricity for a wieless remote. Using the Faraday induction principle, just insert two coils in a tube with a magnet sliding between them. Then before you press a button, shake the remote for a few seconds. Most of the time you only press one or two buttons so the extra energy can be stored in a recargeable battery.
And shaking the remote is a good exercise for couch potatoes anyway.
By Emiiiiiil at 3:25 PM ON 11/20/09
Sounds like some piezoelectric device.
as im not that old yet that my fingers "vibrate"
My guess is that its the pressure that ur fingers make on a piezoelectric crystal that generates the power needed. same principle as the electric lighter.
but it looks pretty bulky.
By andrei at 9:05 AM ON 11/22/09
my granny will be very happy :D in Romania tv remote controls are used much more then cell phones :P
By tech junkie at 10:13 PM ON 12/04/09
its simple realy because our brain sends small electric currents throught our body and our electric just reacts with the remotes interface the same way the rebotic hand replacement
on your cellphone!
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tech junkie:
its simple realy because our brain sends small electric currents throught our body and our electric just reacts wit...More »