In a reversal of the scene from The Matrix in which the human body’s ability to generate heat is used by a race of machines as to turn us into batteries, a future in which human beings use their own body heat to power their electronics is now a step closer.

Scientists at the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have made a new kind of thermal-electric (TE) power generator that could be the breakthrough that leads to body heat powered flexible wearable technology coming much sooner than you think. TE power generators are not new technology, however the team has managed to overcome one of the bigger hurdles that has prevented TE from being viable for use in wearable technology.

For wearable technology you want a generator that is both flexible, so that it can conform to the individual shape of each wearer while still being able to produce enough energy to power the gadget. TE generators can be made from either lightweight, organic materials which are flexible, but can’t generate as much energy as the bulky, rigid and heavy TE generators made from inflexible, inorganic materials.

The team from KAIST managed to create an inorganic TE generating paste which was printed onto a piece of fabric essentially creating a flexible, inorganic TE generator that solved the problems mentioned above. While we’re not expecting the technology to crop up in the wearables we’re seeing this year, we are holding thumbs that it will see the light of day, and the warmth of our body heat, sooner rather than later. The technology might also have other applications as well in cars, factories and other items that sit outside all day gathering heat that lands up being wasted. Bring on the photovoltaic, thermal powered electric household of the future.

[Source, Images: KAIST]