Recharge your iPad, mobile phone and any other personal gadget… using your own BODYHEAT: Paper-thin generator that will stick to your skin

• New device - called a thermoelectric converter - has been created by Fujifilm 
• A light-weight film sticks to the skin and converts bodyheat to electricity 
• Invention means we may be able to charge phones using our own energy

Demonstration: Fujifilm has created a high-efficiency Thermoelectric Converter with organic material which can convert heat off the human body in to electricity

It may sound like something out of the Matrix but a groundbreaking new invention could transform the way we power our lives by using our bodyheat to generate electricity. Fujifilm has developed a light-weight film that sticks to skin and gathers heat energy emitted from the body which is then converted in to electricity. The device - called a thermoelectric converter - means we may soon be able to charge our smartphones while out and about by simply using our own energy. The development could bring an end to the traditional method of using battery chargers from electrical points to power our phones.
And with the aid of solar panels to make the conversion more effective, the generator may also be able to charge larger electrical items such as laptops and eReaders.
As well as powering our ever-increasingly high-tech lives, the inventors also hope the device can be worn on the skin by patients to charge their medical devices.

The organic polymer material was created by Fujifilms jointly with Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST).
It can detect a temperature change from the surrounding environment of just one degree celsius meaning it starts producing electricity the moment it touches the skin.
Similar organic products have been created in the past but the new material is far more efficient than any other converter seen before.

It can also be made in a printing press meaning it can be made to almost virtually any size needed. The material is also flexible so can be wrapped around different body parts.
The Fujifilm device was unveiled at the Nanotech 2013 conference in Tokyo where the latest inventions and gadgets are revealed to the world.
A live demonstration was given at the show where a person pressed their hand against the material and a toy car began moving around a track.
The new conversion material was not the only product the company unveiled - they also showed off new speakers that can be rolled up.

Fujifilm will release futher details of the device at the 60th JSAP Spring Meeting 2013, taking place between March 27 to 30,in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

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