JOIN USWell your imagination may soon turn into a reality, thanks to a research that promises a way to recharge cell batteries using the power of speech.
Electrical engineers in South Korea have developed a new technique for turning sound into electricity, allowing a mobile to be powered up while its user holds a conversation, ‘The Sunday Telegraph’ reported.
The technology would also be able to harness background noise and even music to charge a phone while it is not in use, say the engineers. Dr Sang-Woo Kim at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul said: “A number of approaches for scavenging energy from environments have been intensively explored.
“The sound that always exists in our everyday life and environments has been overlooked as a source. This motivated us to realise power generation by turning sound energy from speech, music or noise into electrical power,” said Dr Sang-Woo Kim.
A prototype of the technology was able to convert sound of around 100 decibels to generate 50 millivolts of electricity, say the engineers.