A Game Boy look-alike runs on solar panels and button smashes

Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - 13:30 in Mathematics & Economics

For a Game Boy doppelgänger, “batteries not included” is a perk, not a problem. The prototype handheld game console, built by researchers at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, harvests enough energy from key smashing and sunlight to run games like Tetris and Super Mario Land. Such a battery-free setup, presented September 15 at the virtual UbiComp conference, could one day help curb electronic waste from handheld games and other mobile devices (SN: 7/2/20). “We’re reimagining what the Game Boy did,” but with more sustainable technology, says Northwestern computer engineer and longtime gamer Josiah Hester. Hester and colleagues built their device from scratch, rather than repurposing an existing Game Boy, because the original console used too much power to easily go battery-free. “It was about five to 10 times more power-hungry than the hardware we’re running,” Hester says. The heart of the team’s Game Boy look-alike is a...

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