Charging Our Devices With Our Clothes
Business Technology | September 21, 2012
The world is relying more and more on mobile devices and this has made not only battery life, but also our ability to charge our devices on the go extremely important. We have seen solar chargers, and other ground breaking products come out as a solution to this. But how about using our clothing! It might seem strange but inventors have been developing clothing and material that actually charges devices. A recent Mashable story discusses a few and we have gone into more detail below.
Rain Boots that Charge Your Phone
A British mobile carrier called Orange partnered with GotWind to make some rain boots that can be used to change phones. They were unveiled at the Glastonbury Music Festival and were just a prototype. They did get mobile users excited and maybe this will be an indication of the technologies to come.
Military Tech
Another technology that charges devices as you wear it is one the U.S. military is presently using.
It is fabric that is capable of conducting electricity and it is created by Intellectual Textiles. This fabric has been sewn into several pieces of military equipment including vests, shirts and backpacks. Basically, one battery at a time gets charged and the power from that battery is distributed through their clothing to charge whatever device they need. You can understand how this could change the world as we know it.
The Most Advanced Felt in the World
And if you thought that was innovative, check out Power Felt. Scientists at the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials at Wake Forest University are developing this currently. It is a thermoelectric device that turns body heat into electricity. It’s like something out of a sci-fi novel but if they nail this technology down, then we could have an infinite supply of electricity from our clothing for our devices.
Again, much of this seems like something you’d see in a science-fiction movie, but the technology behind power fashion is evolving quickly. It may not be long before that “10 percent battery power” signal will no longer sends us into fits of panic.
The world is relying more and more on mobile devices and this has made not only battery life, but also our ability to charge our devices on the go extremely important. We have seen solar chargers, and other ground breaking products come out as a solution to this. But how about using our clothing! It might seem strange but inventors have been developing clothing and material that actually charges devices. A recent Mashable story discusses a few and we have gone into more detail below.
Rain Boots that Charge Your Phone
A British mobile carrier called Orange partnered with GotWind to make some rain boots that can be used to change phones. They were unveiled at the Glastonbury Music Festival and were just a prototype. They did get mobile users excited and maybe this will be an indication of the technologies to come.
Military Tech
Another technology that charges devices as you wear it is one the U.S. military is presently using.
It is fabric that is capable of conducting electricity and it is created by Intellectual Textiles. This fabric has been sewn into several pieces of military equipment including vests, shirts and backpacks. Basically, one battery at a time gets charged and the power from that battery is distributed through their clothing to charge whatever device they need. You can understand how this could change the world as we know it.
The Most Advanced Felt in the World
And if you thought that was innovative, check out Power Felt. Scientists at the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials at Wake Forest University are developing this currently. It is a thermoelectric device that turns body heat into electricity. It’s like something out of a sci-fi novel but if they nail this technology down, then we could have an infinite supply of electricity from our clothing for our devices.
Again, much of this seems like something you’d see in a science-fiction movie, but the technology behind power fashion is evolving quickly. It may not be long before that “10 percent battery power” signal will no longer sends us into fits of panic.