The device is new enough that it doesn't have a name, according to Keith Bolton, the company's chief technology officer. They're calling it a "battery," but it doesn't store power . The wafer-thin, fingernail-sized generator converts body heat into electricity, a capability the company is already working on applying to its wireless device line.

"We expect it to be in our Digital Angel devices by the second quarter of next year," Bolton told Wireless NewsFactor.

Angel on Your Wrist

ADS's Digital Angel devices will debut in November in wristwatch and pager format without the new power source. They will include GPS (global positioning system) functionality and sensors that can monitor temperature and pulse and even detect sudden falls.

They can transmit wireless data via CDPD (cellular digital packet data) and CDMA (code division multiple access) networks. Bolton said the products are intended primarily for the elderly, people with cognitive difficulties and the children of nervous parents. By spring, the thermoelectric generator will be in the wristwatch-like device.

In the wake of last month's terrorist attacks, Bolton said, the company also has witnessed intense interest in using such products to track and monitor firefighters and rescue workers at dangerous crisis sites. "Ever since September 11th, we've seen more focus on advanced safety technology."

Sci-Fi Solutions

The technology is useful for more than wireless devices. Medical devices with mechanical pumps or other components that require electricity could use the generator, Bolton said. While a pacemaker can't run on 1.5 volts, ADS already is working on a 3-volt version of the generator that could power at least some pacemakers. ADS is under nondisclosure agreements about a number of medical applications in progress, Bolton said.

Down the line, the technology may make it into a number of products, especially as it improves. Right now, the generator provides power instantly upon a device making contact with the body, and stops immediately when that contact is lost. Both greater voltage and power-storage capacity are in the works, Bolton said.

Asked to look further down the line at applications of thermoelectric generators to mobile and wireless technology, Bolton said the generators could transform how we power portable devices.

"I think it's safe to say that our assumption is that any consumer-related device that requires power and can be closely bonded to the body is a potential market," he said. "If you really want to put your Star Wars thinking cap on, you could envision standard batteries as we know them becoming backups to thermoelectrically generated power."