friction
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Researchers harness static electricity from your twitchiness to charge batteries
If you're the fidgety type, new research from Georga Tech may one day turn your nervous energy into a fully charged cellphone. The scientists, who previously borrowed piezoelectric power from walking, created static electricity generated from movement between plastic and metal, similar to the way a balloon can be electrified by rubbing it on your hair. The charging area was greatly increased by patterning the surfaces on a nanoscale level, allowing this "tribolectric effect" to be multiplied and converting up to 15 percent of the mechanical energy into electricity (so far). About 50 common materials could be paired to create the material, and a 2 x 2-inch patch could conceivably be worn as an armband and used to charge up a cellphone battery. So far the tech works fine in the lab, but it remains to be seen if real world vibrations can generate enough energy to make it practical. While you're waiting, though, feel free to stock up on coffee.
Something to touch: Haptic feedback rumor gains traction for iPad "magic" feature
It's always something at the last minute. Yesterday, the UK's Guardian newspaper stoked the iPad rumor fires with a nuclear blowtorch by pairing the verbiage of Apple's event invitation -- "We have something you really have to see. And touch." -- with the work of a Finnish technology company called Senseg. A similar speculation hit over at The Next Web, and a MacRumors forum member outlined the argument last week. Senseg's patented screen technology creates a layer of "tixels," texture pixels that allow developers to control the feel of the screen; smooth to rough, slippery to sticky. The company's tech leads did a demo for the Guardian in January, where the reporter was able to identify on-screen textures (sandpaper, cloth, ridged surface) with eyes closed. Senseg's been fairly close-mouthed about any relationship with Apple when asked about it over the past few months, but that hasn't always been the case. Back in June of 2011 VP Ville Mäkinen let slip that Senseg was "currently working with a certain tablet maker based in Cupertino." Oh really. GigaOM pointed out this Cnet video demo of the Senseg technology (from November 2011), which of course appears just as if Rafe Needleman is using an ordinary tablet. The real innovation of Senseg's system is that unlike other haptics approaches, the screen uses electrostatic attraction to modulate the friction between finger and surface. No moving parts and "just works" simplicity -- sounds pretty Apple-esque. While Senseg executives have wisely delivered no comment on the upcoming Apple event, the notion of a sensable screen for the iPad aligns awfully neatly with Apple's collection of patents covering haptic interface elements like keyboards. Unlike some other Apple innovations that don't necessarily align immediately with users' needs, there's no question about this one: giving tactile feedback to iPad typists would provide a real-world benefit right away. And don't even get us started on what haptics would mean for game developers. Be sure to join us for our metaliveblog coverage of Apple's announcements, coming up in just a couple of hours.
Senseg's tactile display gets demoed on a tablet, products anticipated within 24 months
We've seen Senseg's tactile display technology demoed on a few different devices in the past, but CNET has now gotten a quick look of the company's latest tech on a tablet, along with some additional word on its future. As with previous prototypes, the screen doesn't rely on any moving parts as some other tactile displays do, but instead employs an electrostatic field-based system that allows different parts of the screen to produce varying degrees of friction. As Senseg notes, that opens up a number of interesting possibilities for gaming, as well as other applications where you may not always want to look at the screen. Of course, that tablet is still very much a prototype, but Senseg's Dave Rice says that he's "optimistic" we'll see actual products using it "within the next year," although he notes that could extend to 24 months. See the video after the break or at the source link below.
