MMT and Nowi have initiated a collaboration to develop the world’s first ‘Plug & Forget’ watch. A hybrid watch with smart functionalities, such as activity tracking, auto updates and notifications, that never requires user-charging can be achieved when the Nowi Power Module is integrated in the MMT smart watch module.
MMT CEO Philippe Fraboulet: “The deep experience of MMT in the design of ultra low-power watch modules, combined with Nowi’s breakthrough energy harvesting technology enables a new generation of smart watches.”
Innovation enabling a new generation watch
A joint-feasibility study has been conducted by Nowi and MMT, clearly showing that a hybrid watch that will never run out of power can be created.
Nowi CEO Simon van der Jagt: “Considering as little as 1-hour a day, or 3 to 4 hours on the weekend of direct light, the watch is able to combine a wide range of functionalities, such as step-counting, sleep tracking, notifications and auto-time updates, without ever requiring charging by the user.”
In the study a small solar PV cell has been covered by a watch dial. The remaining light that reaches the PV cell through the dial creates a low output Voltage which can be used to power the smart watch. The Nowi IC is able to boost this Voltage, from as low as 40mV, with an unprecedented 92% efficiency.
Opening a new realm of possibilities
Both parties have entered in to a strategic collaboration in which a fully functional watch demonstrator will be developed based on the MMT watch module with Nowi technology inside.
Nowi CEO Simon van der Jagt: “This non-exclusive collaboration aims to show to the entire smart wearable industry the new realm of possibilities that is opened by new energy harvesting technology and low-power design in smart watches.”
Worldwide wearables sales will grow by an average of 20 percent each year over the next five years, becoming a $29 billion market with 243 million unit sales by 2022. This is according to industry analyst CCS Insight