The first is the news that NTT Docomo, a Japanese tech company, has unveiled plans for a wearable shoe generator, cleverly using human motive power to make energy.
The concept is pretty simple: Strap on the shoes and as you walk, the water-filled soles push liquid past a mini-turbine, producing sweet, sweet robot-sugar. (Has electricity ever been referred to as "robot sugar" before? Can we call dibs on that?)
The current (ha!) Power Shoe produces 1.2 watts of power, or enough to juice up an mp3 player. Docomo wants the commercial version to produce 3 watts, which will be enough to power a cell phone. They hope to have these bad boys on shelves by 2010.
Next is the Play Coalition's Plant Bot.
This sweet little bot marries a light sensor, a battery, and some motors and makes a robot that walks around your living room, keeping your houseplants in the sunlight, whilst you're out generating power with your shoes.
It would be really funny to run the Power Shoes into the Plantbot! Then you could spend your days slowly following your plants around the room. Serene!
Actually, yeah. It does sound pretty zen to slowly follow a houseplant-carrying robot around your house while powering it with your footwear.
Ain't tech grand?!
Such fun.
(saw the Power Shoes on dvice, and the Plantbot on notcot.)
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