I can imagine a day when implants along the path of the optic nerve or a sheet of stimulators laid against the back of the brain where the visual cortex is located could be used to create augmented reality visuals without having to wear Google Glasses. I can imagine similar applications of stimulators along the auditory nerves so that one could listen to music or participate in a phone conversation without there being any actual physical noise created that others could hear, or eaves drop. There are a wide range of physical and mental enhancements that are probably on the horizon, but I know that it would be pretty annoying if I had to plug a power cord into my navel every night so my implanted cybernetic enhancements would operate.
There are many possible ways to address this short coming.. here are a few ideas that I'd like to see pursued.
1) Nuclear Battery - this is a natural and logical choice. Polonium and Plutonium both have 100 year half lives and give off quite a bit of energy for a very low volume of material. It would be feasible to take a few grams of either material, encase in a heat/radiation sink, wrap in a thermocouple and create a small RTG that would produce power for a century. This could be coupled with super-capacitor batteries so that the continuous power from the nuclear battery could charge the capacitors and the capacitors could then provide high/variable output power to the various cybernetic devices within one's body. There are some downsides to this solution though. Even though it is the only one that's been effectively proven to work subcutaneously, it is hampered by political obstacles and the public's irrational fears of nuclear technologies (irrational fears based on ignorance and capitalized upon by fear mongers, IMHO, but I'm not bitter. ;) ) But - I should also note a legitimate concern with this type of power source, namely the issue of heat dissipation. For any volumes of material that would produce sufficient amounts of power to operate high drain mechanical cybernetics, such as artificial limbs and organs, the amount of waste heat generated would be substantial, requiring an active heat dissipation system. Should there be a failure of that active cooling system, the battery might get hot enough to cause thermal tissue damage.. and since the device is located INSIDE a body, that could be cause for alarm. Therefore, a nuclear battery would be best suited for low power consumption self contained devices, like emergency locator beacons.
2) 'Blood Fuel Cell power source' - while the nuclear battery concept is already a proven reality on both the large and small scale and would need only modest changes in materials to make a viable subcutaneous long life high power version (there have been low power subcutaneous nuclear batteries used for pace makers in the past, but those have very low output), the blood battery is something I have never heard of from anyone else. I don't want to say its an original idea, I can only say I haven't heard of it from anyone else. My idea for the blood battery is pretty simple - blood has chemical energy in the form of ATP that is released using free electrons in Oxygen to handle the electron transport. Cells use this energy to drive their processes. It should be possible to create something like a fuel cell, that can extract energy from the ATP found in the blood. That energy is electrical - the oxygenation process of the body converts hydrocarbons and oxygen into electrical motive energy to drive cellular processes. Each organic cell is already a mini-fuel cell. If we create a slightly larger version and hook it to a traditional battery, then one's own blood can charge the battery, and that battery can then supply current to the various cybernetic implants in the body. This is probably my favorite approach to electrical power for implanted cybernetics. As long as you're alive and eating, you have power. So it truly becomes a part of you.
3) Mechanical Motion Capture power source - Everyone should be familiar with self-winding watches from the past, and their newer offspring the self winding electrical watch. Self winding watches today capture the motion of the movement of one's limbs, convert it to electrical energy and store it in a battery. This could be used to power internal electronics as well - bind the mechanical motion energy capture mechanisms to bones in the forearms and calves. (Radius / Ulna in the forearms, and Tibia in the lower legs), route wires from those locations to a battery pack located in the main body cavity, such that movement of the limbs is converted into electrical current that is routed to the battery pack to charge. That power pack can then supply power to any implanted tech. An upside to this type of power source is that it would encourage people to exercise more.. if only to keep their augmented reality systems powered up.
Any of these would be great options but I think I would prefer a combination of option 2 and 3... a primary power source from capturing some of the mechanical energy of moving one's limbs, but with a secondary source - pulling chemical energy directly from the blood. I think that this would be an ideal configuration for military personnel - who would be more likely to have high energy drain devices, possibly implants with defensive or offensive capabilities. Civilian applications would most likely be in social communications, and interactive info-tainment (augmented reality, gaming) so their power consumption requirements would be lower.
Of course, there are also the health/medical applications - powering artificial inorganic limbs and organs (though I expect 3d printed or vat grown organic tissue organs and limbs will be the dominant treatment protocol of the future). Where I see this tech really shining is in situations where a person's heart stops and an AED could automatically kick start it without any user intervention.
Another area of application would be in performance enhancement - using electrical energy generated in the above manner to stimulate muscle groups more powerfully - allowing individuals to exhibit profound increases in strength and stamina.
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