With new methods to harvest energy coming to light every single day, it can be difficult to differentiate which products are truly noteworthy. Energy company Uncharted Play has succeeded in creating products that are both unique and beneficial to consumers, producing clean power that can aid those most in need. In 2008, when Jessica O. Matthews was a Harvard student, she participated in a class project to invent the SOCCKET, an energy-harnessing soccer ball. Inspired by the lack of reliable electricity in Nigeria and the happiness that comes from playing soccer, Matthews saw an opportunity to achieve worldwide illumination.
Designed with a pendulum, DC motor, a printed circuit board (PCB, or a “brain” coordinating the process), and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery all inside, the SOCCKET comes equipped with a portal for an energy-efficient, three-LED lamp. It is also designed as a foam ball to optimize itself for various types of terrain, since air-filled balls limit the product’s usage. The ball itself harnesses rotational energy that is generated each time it rolls, while its pendulum turns the DC motor. This movement charges the ball’s battery, which in turn produces approximately three hours of light for every hour the device is actively played with. Plugging the lamp into the ball’s portal will turn on the light.
Similarly, the company’s PULSE jump rope was developed with energy in mind — rotational energy generates each time a user jumps. The device produces approximately two hours of light after it is played with for fifteen minutes.
“As the rope rotates around you, the connector on each handle turns, turning the motor that powers the battery,” said Uncharted Play marketing director Tiana Idoni-Matthews. “At the end of each handle is a stereo jack — our standard plug across our products. When you want to get the power out of the handles, you can plug our accessories directly into the handles, or plug in our supplied USB adapter to use your USB products.”
Keeping in mind that nearly 1.2 billion people worldwide lack electricity, the Uncharted Play team decided to gear its products towards children in an educational setting.
“We use the SOCCKET ball and PULSE jump rope as tools…to teach and inspire social invention with limited resources,” said Idoni-Matthews. Both products are organized into education packs that “inspire invention with limited resources,” according to the company website.
Applying its proprietary technology of Motion-based, Off-grid, Renewable Energy (M.O.R.E.) to the products, Uncharted Play has also solved the longtime struggle between cost and efficiency of micro-generators.
“Inexpensive generators aren’t efficient, while efficient generators are not affordable,” said Idoni-Matthews, citing Uncharted Play’s system of Motion-based, Off-grid, Renewable Energy (M.O.R.E.) as an example. “M.O.R.E. systems are the only energy-harvesting product on the market that offers fully integrated, affordable, efficient, and easily customizable generator systems that can be integrated into any product.”
The company also prides itself on its non-profit work, covering the cost of a student’s access to its educational programs whenever someone buys one of its products. It works alongside non-profits such as ChildFund and Music for Relief, and has plans to partner with different original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to incorporate M.O.R.E. technology into their products.
“Uncharted Play is focused on creating an ecosystem greater than itself, encouraging people to think beyond the status quo and consider what else might be possible for themselves and their communities,” said Idoni-Matthews.
The SOCCCKET ball and PULSE rope are already available in full education packs priced at $299, offering material about building creativity with Uncharted Play products and coming with both a SOCCKET ball and PULSE rope. Packs with either a SOCCKET or a PULSE are priced at $199 each.
Check out the video below of our visit with Uncharted Play at New York’s CE Week in June 2016.
Source: Uncharted Play
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