Communications of the ACM
Microsoft Research: Making the Wearable Battery Last Longer By Lightening Its Load
Microsoft Research's WearDrive technology is designed to extend the life of the batteries used to power fitness bands.
Credit: bit-tech.net
Microsoft Research has developed WearDrive, technology designed to extend the life of the batteries used to power fitness bands.
WearDrive reduces the number of processes the wearable device is performing in the background by offloading those functions to a smartphone. The fitness band uses Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to enable a nearby phone to do as much of this activity as possible.
Users who go out for a run can leave the smartphone behind and still obtain the benefits of the fitness band. Once back in proximity of the smartphone, the wearable offloads functions to it to save battery power.
Microsoft researchers say in tests with an Android phone and a wearable, WearDrive tripled the life of the band's battery while having minimal impact on the phone's battery.
WearDrive has not been incorporated into the current model of Microsoft Band, but the company says it is open to its use.
From ZDNet
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