There’s a new technology out there, that is able to turn the sound into electricity! It sounds crazy but imagine charging your cell phone while attending a concert? It's now a reality.
The ‘SoundCharge’, which is in fact a very hi-tech t-shirt made by British telecommunications firm Orange in collaboration with renewable-energy specialists GotWind, will make its debut at England Glastonbury Festival on June 25-26th.
But how does this thing work? This is how the site ecouterre.com describes this new technology:
‘The Sound Charge T-shirt comprises a modified piezoelectric film, which acts as an oversized microphone by absorbing sound pressure waves. A series of interlaced quartz crystals converts the acoustic signals into electricity, which in turn feeds into an internal reservoir battery compatible with most cell phone models.’
Of course, you can remove the film and electronics and wash the shirt safely.
Developers estimate that sound levels at the festival will average 80 decibels, and each shirt should generate about 6 watt-hours of electricity, which is sufficient for two standard mobile phones or one smartphone.
Now, it will all depend on the musical acts people will see, amd they are saying that researchers will be comparing musical acts to see which one generates more power.
I checked the lineup of the Glastonbury Festival (it’s a huge one), and on Friday night, U2 is playing against Primal Scream, on Saturday, it’s Coldplay against The Chemical Brothers, and on Sunday Beyonce against Queens of the Stone Age,… and this last one is so easy to decide!
If you want all the possible explanations, watch this video from Orange: