As eardrum vibrations naturally create a usable voltage from brain signals, the prototype can build enough charge in a capacitor to drive a very low-power wireless transmitter that relays the electrochemical properties of the ear and potentially diagnoses balance or hearing problems.
Although the exact mechanism is still not entirely understood, it turns out that illuminating the liquid crystal, applying a voltage across a small region of it, and then turning off the light source causes a small amount of charge to be stored in that region.