Overview of Human Kinetic Energy Harvesting and Application

In the Internet of Things era, wearable electronics and sensors have become essential for health monitoring and human computer interaction. However, a continuous power supply is an urgent demand in the field of distributed sensing. Energy harvesting from daily human activities and its conversion into electricity are expected to replace traditional batteries and wearable power supplying electronic devices. This article reviews the electromagnetic, piezoelectric, and triboelectric energy harvesting technologies from human motions, including joint rotation, limb swing, force application, fold stretching, and organ motion. It also discusses and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of various recently proposed human energy harvesters. In addition, possible applications of active sensing and wearable powered electronic devices driven by human body kinetic energy harvesting are provided. Finally, the concept of a human energy and information exchange center based on energy harvesting is proposed as a future prospect.