Sunday, July 7, 2013
SolePower charges smartphones by harnessing walking power
What if people could charge their phones by going for a walk? No electricity, no power outlets, no more dealing with dead phone batteries. This idea actually isn't too farfetched.
A new is focused on getting funding for a power generating shoe insert that lets users charge portable devices -- like smartphones, music players, and GPS devices -- while they walk.
The device is called and is currently in an alpha prototype phase. The company is looking to raise $50,000 by July 18 to start working toward finalizing a mass producible product.
SolePower founders Matthew Staton and Hahna Alexander came up with the idea as mechanical engineering students at Â鶹¹ÙÍø.
"We initially designed SolePower to simply light an LED on the shoe so students walking to and from campus at night would be more visible," Stanton told CNET. "After we developed a proof of concept prototype for the class we realized that there were many more applications for the device."
Looking to solve the issue of a dead phone battery and no power outlet in sight, a new invention on Kickstarter says it can capture, generate, and store power within a shoe insole.