What’s that in your shoe? It’s a phone charger!

Love walking and texting? Still haven't done a faceplant on a streetlight? Well, this sneaker from Kenya can power your phone so you'll never have to look up from that screen again.

Inventor Anthony Mutua, 24, has been showing off his recharging sneaker at the first-ever Kenyan Science Technology and Innovation Week, held in Nairobi. It's another way of using your body's own energy to fuel electronics.

The shoe apparently has a very thin "crystal chip," perhaps a piezoelectric device, that generates power when the sole bends. It can charge phones via a long cable to a pocket while the user walks, or store power for later charging.

"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," Mutua told CNC World.

The technology apparently works with any shoe except bathroom slippers, and can be transferred to another once a shoe gets worn out.

It can also power several phones at the same time. Good news for those who like to tote more than one handset.

The project was apparently sponsored to the tune of some $6,000 by Kenya's National Council of Science and Technology (NCST). It has been patented and the device could enter mass production soon.

It could sell for the equivalent of $46, which would include a 2.5-year warranty.


Source: cnet