208 – Michelle Farrington of Analog Devices – The Holy Grail of Frictionless Experience

Energy harvesting and wireless power transfer for wearable technology... Michelle Farrington, Director of Energy Harvesting Platform Development at Analog Devices (a company that enables our customers to interpret the world around us by intelligently bridging the physical and digital with unmatched technologies that sense, measure and connect) joins hosts Marc Raco, Pavan Bahl and Rob Sanchez on location at the WEAR Conference in San Francisco. Powered by Sennheiser. A better user experience, locations for energy harvesters, and designing for endurance Farrington discusses low power electronics and using low waste body heat or energy and transferring that into usable power, and how power transfer can allow clothing to enable consumers to have better user experience. The holy grail of a frictionless experience, body energy waste, kinetic motion, breathing, moving limbs, locations to put harvesters, from shoes to textile-based harvesters such as sewn into clothing or the clothing itself, designed for washing and endurance. Use cases, data and transmission, and testing Use cases and implications, implementing rechargeable systems, etc.. Transferring power and data, using coils and antennas, RF wireless power transfer, and inspirations from nature. Studying body motion, developing new uses for soft products, smart textiles, a nascent technology, and where on the body energy would be used, learning where people want functions and then coordinating location of energy harvesting in that location. Testing assumptions with military uniforms, considering the release of energy and radiation and testing for those. Looking ahead, a complete canvas, and a design language The future of wearables, the future of energy harvesting and power transfer, and textile based harvesters using the complete canvas of the body to be used for energy generation. And Off the Grid Questions cover the personal side of Farrington, including swimming, selling things on the side of the road, trial and error, and an important building block. Plus, the importance of getting a design language.