Orange unveils gadget-charging T-shirt

Posted on 21 Jun 2011 at 09:40

Mobile network Orange has unveiled its latest concept gadget: a T-shirt that charges your smartphone through the power of sound.

Although the T-shirt might not appeal to the fashion conscious, the large white box around the midriff serves an important purpose: it captures vibrations caused by sound and converts them into electrical energy that can be used to charge a mobile phone.

The T-shirt works using a peizoelectric film, which moves as the vibrations from nearby sounds hit it. While the electricity generated isn't exactly impressive under normal standards, Orange believes that the device could have a major impact during festivals, where loud noses are generally a given.

"In a vibrant festival environment such as Glastonbury, sound is such an obvious medium that it seemed like a natural fit to use it in the development of this year's prototype," claimed Orange UK's Andrew Pearcey.

The sound-driven T-shirt isn't Orange's first attempt at allowing users to get more out of their gadgets when they're out and about: the company has also prototyped an energy-generating wellington boot, which powers portable devices by converting kinetic energy into electrical energy.

So far, however, Orange has yet to release its prototypes as purchasable products.

Author: Gareth Halfacree

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