What's the idea?

Sewn invisibly into the lining of normal clothes, Kinetica generates energy as you walk and move around, and uses it to charge up your personal electronic devices - mobile, music player or laptop.

Very thin zinc oxide wires are sewn into normal clothing, down the seams of trousers or in coat and jacket sleeves. Every time the wearer moves, the wires move too, and the flexing and relaxing of the wires produces an electric current. This current is then transmitted to a small battery, worn in a shoe heel, a belt buckle or an item of jewellery. When the battery has amassed enough power, it transmits the power wirelessly to any nearby enabled device that needs it, such as a mobile phone or laptop.

If the electricity that Kinetica collects isn't used by personal systems, it can be discharged to the power storage systems of a home or car, or can be directed to the devices of friends or family instead.

Why is this a low carbon product?

It is becoming possible to collect energy efficiently from a variety of new sources - even the vibrations in the world around us. Collecting this energy means that appliances using electricity can be less dependent on energy from the grid, often generated using carbon dioxide-emitting fossil fuels.

Embedding complex technology into clothing could make recycling the clothing difficult, hence only placing the zinc oxide nanowires in the seams, so that they can be easily removed.

How could Kinetica fit into our lives in 2022?

If this was a real product, would you be interested?