The Matrix PowerWatch is equipped with thermoelectric technology and harnesses the electricity generated by your body and uses it a power source.

Since the smartwatch emerged onto the consumer scene we’ve seen pretty much all the major players release their own designs. We’ve seen around four years worth of updated models with slimmer builds, sharper displays and better looks. However, one thing that hasn’t improved, and it’s a big thing, is the battery life.

Sure, we now have the option to choose a hybrid smartwatch with batteries that can last for years without ever needing a recharge; but hybrids only offer a few of the connected features of a touchscreen smartwatch. And if ordering a taxi or checking the weather by talking to your wrist is your thing, then a hybrid watch ain’t gonna cut it.

The solution? Obviously a smartwatch that never needs charging..

Matrix Industries are aiming to defeat the battery life limitations of wearables by harnessing the electricity generated by the human body to power their smartwatch.

The Matrix PowerWatch is still pretty limited compared to the likes of the Apple Watch or an Android Wear smartwatch, but it’s a step in the right direction. The feature set is aimed towards fitness and activity tracking. It monitors your steps taken, calories burned, and sleep quality. There’s also a timer, stopwatch, and customizable watch faces.

Almost every other wearable tech device and its dog is targeting fitness, but the Matrix PowerWatch offers a very cool feature that makes it stand out from the others: A real-time power meter which displays how much electricity you are generating.

There is a battery on board the PowerWatch. When you take the watch off and it goes to sleep, it draws a tiny amount of power from the battery; so when you put it back on it displays the correct time.

It makes me think that this type of watch, one that uses two types of energy source like a hybrid car, is more suitable to be known as a hybrid watch than the watches we now call hybrids. Smart analog is a more suitable title for those, I reckon.

The Matrix PowerWatch is equipped with thermoelectric technology – something that’s been around for decades in niche applications – but now with the advent of wearable technology and a greater need for low power consumption, it’s appearing in the consumer world.

The average human body is made from around 65% water, and water conducts electricity, and electrolytes in the blood have electrical properties. How much electricity do we generate? A professional cyclist can produce as much as 400 watts in an hour. The average fitness goer produces around a 50 – 150 watts per hour while exercising.

No wonder those tyrannical machines in the Matrix movies were using us as batteries. Hang on a minute… Matrix movie – Matrix PowerWatch… Is there a connection?

Anyway, the human-powered watch recently smashed its Indiegogo goal; raising over $1.3 million. It’s compatible with iOS 7.0 + and Android 4.3 +. Indiegogo backers should be receiving their watches in September 2017.