Breathing is a motion that never stops for long - unless you are dead of course. Put an elastic belt around your chest that has built in Piezo elements or some other generator in a suitable configuration and you make power from breathing, even in your sleep. It won't be a lot of power since you don't want nightmares about being strangled by a python, but it could probably keep a cell phone charged or run a heartbeat monitor, or other useful widgets. The device could also help to burn extra calories for those who need it.
-- kbecker, Apr 07 2004

Energy from respiratory effort https://www.scitepr...012/38767/38767.pdf
[a1, Apr 07 2024]

So your phone will always be fully charged, but you'll feel like you've got asthma?
-- hippo, Apr 07 2024


I wonder whether this would lead to the development of more powerful muscles - possibly around the diaphragm.
-- pertinax, Apr 07 2024


[pert] - I see, yes, this could be part of a training regime, like how elite cyclists train at altitude to force their cardiovascular systems to become more efficient
-- hippo, Apr 07 2024


[+] because someone really did this in 2012 (link). It would have been a fishbone if I had found anything prior to 2004.
-- a1, Apr 07 2024


An electrical muscle stimulator would be better and safer for burning calories.
-- Voice, Apr 07 2024


Maybe, but that's not how I read the main intent. I think [kbecker] wanted to extract useful energy from breathing - burning extra calories looks like an afterthought.
-- a1, Apr 07 2024


Hook up an electrical muscle stimulator to a muscle-powered generator.
-- Voice, Apr 08 2024



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