El 4: Nokia Wants to Use Lightning to Charge Your Phone

Lightning may never strike the same place twice, but your phone doesn't need to know that.

That's because a group of scientists from the University of Southampton have teamed up with Nokia to explore the possibility of harnessing the energy of a lightning bolt to charge a mobile device.

Sound impossible? Well, the scientists have already done it.

In order to create a "lightning bolt" for their test, the team first generated an alternating current through a transformer. They then channeled that current between a gap that was a little under an inch thick, surging 200,000 volts — well within the average strength of a typical lightning strike — in the form of a bolt of electricity. The signal was then transferred into another controlling transformer, where it was able to charge the battery of a Nokia Lumia 925.

"As one of the first companies to introduce wireless charging into our products, we believe that this experiment has the potential to jump-start new ideas on how we charge our phones in the future," Chris Weber, Nokia's vice president of sales and marketing, told Phys.org.

This research indicates that we may one day harness the power of a lightning strike for our own personal use. Consider the energy implications, which reach beyond cellphone charging: lightning is totally renewable, incredibly sustainable and readily available.

Neil Palmer, one of the project's lead researchers, said Nokia presented them with the original idea for the experiment. This is not surprising coming from Nokia, a company that is known for pushing the boundaries and constantly researching new concepts and technologies.

Palmer said that the circuitry of the Nokia device was able to stabilize the signal of the lightning, which then allowed the battery to be charged. This is important to note because one of the main arguments against the notion of harnessing lightning for energy has been that lightning is too unpredictable.

"This discovery proves devices can be charged with a current that passes through the air," he said, "and is a huge step towards understanding a natural power like lightning and harnessing its energy."

Using the power of lightning has long been a staple of science fiction. But if this experiment proves anything, it is that some of those seemingly impossible scenarios depicted in science fiction may soon become a reality.

Do you think we should harvest lightning for energy? Let us know in the comments below.

1. Apparatus With Elastically Transformable Body

The patent brains behind a published Nokia concept -- the "Morph" -- this idea describes "a transformable body configured to be elastically stretchable between at least a first configuration and a second configuration."

This futuristic, shape-shifting phone would boast a flexible touchscreen display and could be worn neatly on your body until you want to use it, as Nokia explains:

"The first configuration may be an on-skin wearing configuration in which the body of the apparatus has a first size, and the second configuration being an operating configuration in which the body of the apparatus is transformed to a second size."

For example, you could wear your phone around your wrist. When you want to make a call, uncurl it and stretch it into its operational phone shape.

Image: Nokia/Google Patents
2. Piezoelectric Kinetic Energy Harvester

Imagine a self-charging mobile phone. That's the rather magical idea behind Nokia's "Piezoelectric Kinetic Energy Harvester" patent.

The patent sees movement experienced by your phone (in your bag, pocket, etc.) transformed into battery power via the wonder of kinetic energy and piezoelectric elements in the handset.

Similar to automatic quartz movements in watches that don't need winding, as long as your phone experiences motion, the battery should remain topped up.

It's TDB whether this idea would incorporate movement technology -- give your dying phone a shake to juice it up -- but we're certainly sold on the overall concept.

Image: Nokia/Google Patents
3. Gesture-Based Controls

As touch became the primary mobile interface, Nokia considered an alternative: "Apparatus, Methods and Computer Program Products Providing Finger-Based and Hand-Based Gesture Commands for Portable Electronic Device Applications," aka gesture-based controls.

Nokia's vision was "a natural and intelligent interaction between humans and computing terminals [with] finger movement and/or user gestures."

Examples of such gestures in the patent description include rotating a single finger to browse forward, a circle gesture to start a program and expanding and closing fingers to zoom in or out.

While we don't think touchscreens for mobile devices are going anywhere soon, the success of gesture-controlled gaming suggests there might be potential for such additional commands in future.

Image: Nokia/Google Patents
4. Haptic Communcation

Nokia patent number US20120062371 concerns itself with the fascinating field of haptics. Haptic tech, or tactile feedback technology, uses vibration or other motions to inform, alert or notify the user.

A basic example of haptics in consumer tech would be vibration feedback, as you press a button or touch the correct area of a screen.

Nokia has taken this concept further with its vision of "haptic communication between a user and an electronic device." The user wears material, such as a patch on the skin, that can receive haptic stimulus from a mobile phone.

In its most space-age application, this patent describes how an "invisible tattoo" on your body would vibrate to alert you of incoming calls, messages or other notifications.

Image: Nokia/Google Patents
5. Method and Apparatus for Controlling the Visual Representation of Information Upon a See-Through Display

In 2011, Nokia filed a patent for a Google Glass-esque concept. With it, the user could view his surroundings whilst seeing "a visual representation of information... helpful for informational, entertainment or other purposes."

Nokia envisioned such a display as "a windshield" or "visor," but states it could also apply to spectacles:

"For example, a near-eye display may be embodied in a pair of glasses that are worn by a user and through which the user can view a scene beyond the glasses."

Could the Microsoft-Nokia organization release a viable rival to Google Glass? Only time will tell...

Image: Nokia/Google Patents