Everyone's had that minor panic attack when their phone gets to 2 per cent battery and there's no charger in sight. Stress no more.
An Israeli design student has taken jewellery to another level, using it to harvest energy from the body. Naomi Kizhner has developed a collection that converts kinetic energy from the body's involuntary movements into electricity.
The unusual statement pieces aren't for the faint of heart though. The invasive pieces have to be embedded into the surface of the skin in order to capture the energy of subconscious movements.
Made of gold and 3D-printed biopolymer, the collection consists of three designs. The 'Blood Bridge' which is inserted into the lower arm redirects blood past a wheel inside the casing that turns, creating movement that is turned into energy. The 'Blinker' fits on the bridge of your nose and harnesses energy every time you blink. And the 'E-pulse Conductor' (the creepiest if them all) sits at the top of your back and collects energy from the electric pulses sent by the neurological system through your spinal cord nerves.
Designed by Naomi as a graduation project for her BA in Industrial Design, the 'Energy Addicts' accessories are her response to the world's impending energy crisis. Looking for an existing energy source that is yet to be tapped in to, Naomi says that wanted to explore the post-humanistic approach that sees the human body as a resource.
"It interested me to imagine what would the world be like once it has experienced a steep decline in energy resources and how we will feed our energy addiction. There are lots of developments of renewable energy resources, but the human body is a natural resource for energy that is constantly renewed, as long as we are alive."
Naomi hopes that her project will promote discussion of the foreboding energy crisis. "I hope that the project will make people think about the possibility that this could be their future, and make them think about whether it is the future they want or whether we can do something different today to avoid it."
