Create Power with the Movement in your Shorts

Researchers here at Southampton have been working with Vodafone to create a way to charge your phone while you walk and sleep.

From losing your friends in Jesters to missing your train home, there’s nothing worse for the modern person than their phone dying. Well, it would seem the brainy researchers at our own University may have solved this problem in their back pockets.

Introducing the Power Pocket, this advanced piece of technology can be integrated into a specially designed pair of shorts or sleeping bag meaning you can charge your phone while you walk, dance and even sleep.

The Power Pocket integrated into a pair of denim shorts, Power Shorts

The Power Pocket essentially converts body heat and movement into energy.

Stephen Beeby, Professor of Electronic Systems at the University of Southampton, explained the science behind the power pocket

We’re exploring two specific technologies to charge the Power Pocket – thermoelectrics and kinetic energy harvesting. We’re printing down pairs of what are called ‘thermocouples’. You print lots of those down and connect them up to make a thermoelectric module. One side of that is cold and the other is hot, and when you get a flow of heat through it you can create a voltage and a current. Voltage and current together equals electrical power.

Basically, the warmth from your body heats the inside layer and it’s the difference in temperature from this and the cold of the outside layer that provides the power, this is known as the Seebeck Effect.

A full day of movement in the shorts will charge a smartphone for 4 hours. Likewise, 8 hours in the sleeping bag will create 24 minutes of talk time and 11 hours of standby time, this is assuming that the inside of the sleeping bag remains at least 37 degrees (human body temperature)… I’m sure this won’t be a problem.

The Recharge Sleeping Bag

This new invention is being trialled throughout festival season, Vodafone’s Christian Cull said:

We hope people harness the power in their pocket to keep them chatting, texting, browsing and photographing throughout the entire festival season.

Professor Stephen Beeby believes that the future of clothing and technology will one day merge.

This is not a unique idea as Orange trialled thermoelectric wellies at Glastonbury in 2010.

From now on an invite back to someone’s tent or the phrase “Is there something in your pocket…?” may actually be completely innocent thanks to science!