Charging your smartwatch can be a headache. With a feature-packed smartwatch, you may need to recharge it every few hours. But when you’re away and don’t have your charger with you, what do you do? Now, a new project funded by the European Union has announced it is working on a solution that it calls an “autonomous energy supply platform.” If it succeeds, the project dubbed Smart2Go, has the potential to kick-start the development of a new generation of wearable devices that never need charging, reports Digital Trends.
German company Fraunhofer FEP is leading the project, which will involve the development of a flexible power supply for wearable devices under the EU’s Horizon 2020 program. The company envisions the platform being using in everything from smartwatches, fitness tracking devices, and personal safety trackers, to exciting future tech including skin patches and smart labels.
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“The aim of the project is the creation of an autonomous energy-supply platform. Based on the results of the project it will be possible to use a wearable without caring about recharging over its entire lifetime. This aim will be achieved by the combination of a powerful battery with appropriate energy harvesting technologies. The performance of the energy supply platform will be demonstrated in two application cases,” said CORDIS European Commission.
Smart2Go’s special feature is the standardization of the interfaces within the platform. This will enable manufacturers to easily adapt it to various different application after the end of the project.
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The project has already started in January with the University of Southampton’s Optoelectronics Research Center working with eight other EU innovation partners. But it’s worth noting that Smart2Go is a research project, and any resulting technology will not be ready for mainstream use for some time, if at all. However, projects like this can prompt development of new technology that will go on to transform our lives.
