From pedaling to charge our laptops to converting our body heat into electricity, the idea of using our bodies to generate energy is becoming more common. And a 24-year-old entrepreneur in Kenya has another idea to add to that mix: He’s created a shoe technology to help us charge our mobile devices as we walk or run.
The technology lies within an ulta-thin chip of crystals that would be inserted within the soles of your shoes. According to creator Anthony Mutua, when put under pressure — such as the weight of a person’s body — the crystals create electricity:
“This charger works using pressure, as you walk you generate pressure that in turn generates energy, once you have arrived where you were going you can now sit down and charge your mobile phone,” he said.
There are two ways to harvest this energy to charge cellphones. The first is to charge your phone while you’re in motion by connecting a thin extension cable from your shoe to your pocket, which presumably holds your cellphone. The second, as Mutua explained in the Kenyan newspaper the Daily Nation, is to “charge the phone immediately after a walk because the crystals have the capacity to store the electric energy.”
In other words, you can walk or run wire-free but still generate the energy necessary to charge your devices with the pressure from your feet.
The crystal chip can be fitted into any type of shoe except for bathroom slippers. If your shoe wears out, you can transfer the chip into another shoe sole as well.
Currently, the National Council of Science and Technology (NCST) in Kenya is funding Mutua’s project. According to David Ngigi, a senior science secretary for the NCST, the council is planning to sponsor Mutua so he can commercialize his invention for mass production.
“We have been financing the development of ideas to prototype levels, but because most innovators lack funds for commercialization, this innovations [sic] never reach the market. So we are changing this,” Ngigi said in the Daily Nation article.
The shoe-charging chip will sell for the equivalent of about $46 in Kenya and come with a two-and-a-half year warranty.
Would you be interested in charging your cellphone with the power of your feet? Sound off in the comments.
Source : www.mashable.com
