Power Boots: Dance to Charge Your Phone at Summer Festivals
Summer is a terrific time for attending concerts and festivals. Many people head to multi-day events where they can camp out and enjoy music for days on end. It's a nice escape but you don't want to be stuck there without your mobile phone. Whether you're trying to connect with friends who are also at the event or need to be reachable by people back home, it's important that your mobile phone stays charged. Unfortunately, few charging stations are available at these events so if you have bad battery power or just plan to use your phone a lot while you're there, what can you do to charge your phone? A new product called Power Boots could be one option in the near future.
What are Power Boots?
Power Boots are a new portable phone charging option developed by Orange, the UK mobile phone company. These are boots that you actually wear which are designed with a power-generating sole. As you move around, the heat from your feet inside of the Wellington-style boots is converted into an electric charge. This charge can then be used to juice up your mobile phone and other hand-held battery-operated devices.
The Science Behind the Boots
The new boots are thermoelectric gumboots that work using a method called the Seebeck effect. This effect uses two different types of metals that can conduct electricity if the temperature of each metal is different at the areas where they connect. This two-metal system is inserted into the sole of the power boots, generating an electrical charge when heat is applied to one side and cold to the other. The heat is generated from the motion of your body so it works especially well when you are dancing or walking around the grounds of the festival. The cold comes from the ground that you're on as compared to the heat of your foot. The charge from the effect then passes over to a battery which is also held in the heel of the boot.
How It Works - Practically Speaking
Basically, you just need to put on your boots and move around the festival. You'll generate enough energy during the day to be able to charge your mobile phone at night when you're winding down. There's a plug on the top of the boots that you can plug your phone charger into in order to access the battery power that has been stored in the heel of the boots. This may not be the best fashion statement that you've ever made but it's certainly a convenient way to deal with the problem of an uncharged phone battery at a busy festival.
Remember GotWind?
Awhile back there was another phone charging option announced for people attending festivals with their mobile phones. It was a collaboration between a company called GotWind and Orange. Effectively, this was a mobile phone charging tent that presented new charging methods like the waving around of your arms to generate energy for your phone. Interestingly enough, the new Power Boots have actually been created by Dave Pain, the managing director behind GotWind in a fresh new collaboration with Orange.
In Prototype
Unfortunately, these new boots are currently just a prototype and not available to the general public. There's no word yet on when they'll be ready but expect to see Orange showing off the prototype at various summer events.
