Ok, people, the future is really here now. Researchers have created a battery-less hand-held video game console powered by sunlight and the user’s button-pressing action. It allows for indefinite gameplay and could be a parent’s worst nightmare. But don’t worry, the device was developed as a proof-of-concept and isn’t anywhere near commercialization.
The project was a collaboration between researchers at the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) and Northwestern University in the Netherlands. Their innovative toy – that looks like the original 1989 Nintendo Game Boy – pushes the boundaries of battery-free intermittent computing and gets us one step closer toward sustainable technology.
Batteries are environmentally hazardous and degrade. They eventually have to be replaced and end up in landfills. And they are expensive. These problems are eliminated with the new device because it gets its energy from renewable sources and requires no batteries. When you press a button, the device converts that energy into electricity; and there are solar panels around the screen.
Co-leader of the research Josiah Hester, who is an assistant professor of computer science and electrical and computer engineering at Northwestern, said:
It’s the first battery-free interactive device that harvests energy from user actions. When you press a button, the device converts that energy into something that powers your gaming.
Their energy-aware gaming platform (ENGAGE) emulates the Game Boy processor. Meaning, any popular retro game to be played straight from its original cartridge. However, to do this requires a lot of computational power and energy, so the device does experience short losses in power as it switches between power sources.
The team designed the system software and hardware from scratch to counter this, aiming for optimal energy awareness and energy efficiency. They designed it to ensure an acceptable duration of gaming between power failures.
They also developed a new technique for storing the system state in non-volatile memory. The game saves at the exact point of the device power failure, and then quickly restores to that point as well – even if Yoshi’s in mid-jump.
Co-leader of the research Przemyslaw Pawelczak, who is an assistant professor in the TU Delft Embedded Software Lab, said:
Sustainable gaming will become a reality, and we made a major step in that direction – by getting rid of the battery completely. With our platform, we want to make a statement that it is possible to make a sustainable gaming system that brings fun and joy to the user.
This prototype experiences short losses in power that last under a second every ten seconds of gameplay. The interruptions are not ideal, but it’s ok for games like Tetris or Solitaire. There’s a long way to go before a fully battery-free, state-of-the-art, 21st-century hand-held game console makes its way to the market.
The gameplay’s constant interruption is unpleasant, but the team says that their device is not a commercial prototype, and there is still a long way to go before state-of-the-art 21st-century hand-held game consoles become fully battery-free. Nevertheless, the new device works, raising awareness of the environmental impact of small battery-powered devices.
Hester said:
Our work is the antithesis of the Internet of Things, which has many devices with batteries in them. Those batteries eventually end up in the garbage. If they aren’t fully discharged, they can become hazardous. They are hard to recycle. We want to build devices that are more sustainable and can last for decades.
The platform has been developed, first and foremost, as a means to reduce our society’s reliance on batteries further. It can also serve as a tool to reduce people’s stress and boredom and study the interactive behavior of people with intermittent systems.
