The entire city is your power source with an innovative gadget by designer Dennis Siegel that harvests energy from electromagnetic fields and instantly recharges batteries. These ‘energy parasites’ make use of electromagnetic fields produced as a result of information transfer, or as byproducts of electric equipment, from power lines to coffee machines.

In a series of images, Siegel holds out the device to gather energy from home appliances and power plants, even hovering creepily beside a cell phone user. An LED light on top of the device will let you know that electromagnetic fields are nearby, and even how strong they are.

The energy gathered is stored in a conventional battery, so you can gain ‘redundant’ energy from the power supply of all kinds of electronics and then use the battery to power something else.

Siegel created two types of harvesters, one suitable for frequencies below 100Hz, like those produced by home electronics and appliances, and one for higher frequencies like radio broadcast, Bluetooth and WLAN. Imagine if this capability could be built into devices like smartphones, so you never had to worry about losing your charge while out and about.

via Pop Up City