Embedded Technologies: Power From the People

July 19, 2010 | Source: Smithsonian

Under a DARPA grant, MIT scientists are harnessing the body’s movements to generate electrical power for bionic devices, using piezoelectric materials, which produce an electric current when subjected to mechanical pressure.

Steven Feiner, professor of computer science at Columbia University, says by 2050 embedded devices will allow us to immerse ourselves in a sea of not just visual data, but also computer-generated sounds and sensations.