As is the trait of Glastonbury Festival-sponsor Orange, the carrier has shown off its annual eco-friendly festival prototype, and would you guess that it’ll match those phone-charging wellington boots from last year? Anna Wintour will be ever so pleased.
Orange proposes that the Sound Charge t-shirt can power a smartphone completely, just by harnessing soundwaves while watching a musical act such as Beyonce or U2. If you’re wondering just how it works, Orange has the answer here:
“The eco charging device uses an existing technology in a revolutionary way; by reversing the use of a product called Piezoelectric film, allowing people to charge their mobile phones whilst enjoying their favourite headline act at Glastonbury. Usually found in modern hi-fi speakers, an A4 panel of the modified film is housed inside a t-shirt which then acts much like an oversized microphone by ‘absorbing’ invisible sound pressure waves. These sound waves are converted via the compression of interlaced quartz crystals into an electrical charge, which is fed into an integral reservoir battery that in turn charges most makes and models of mobile phone. As the ‘device’ is worn, a steady charge is able to be dispensed into the phone via a simple interchangeable lead which fits most handsets.”
They’re planning on testing the t-shirt this weekend at Glastonbury, which has quite the reputation for being a complete mudfest due to the delightfully winter-like English summer, but according to creators GotWind, the piezoelectric film panel and other electronics in the t-shirt can actually be removed once it’s time for a clean. It’s just a shame that won’t be for at least five days, such is the depravity of the conditions at Europe’s largest festival. [Orange]