MNN - Mother Nature Network

The Soccket from Uncharted Play takes an ordinary soccer ball and turns it into a power generator — a wonderful tool for families in developing communities that lack a reliable electricity infrastructure. Kids can play with the Soccket ball instead of a traditional soccer ball and then use the kinetic energy generated to provide power to household appliances.

 

With 6 watts of power, the Soccket ball can be used to power lamps, mobile phones, hot plates, fans and other small appliances. This power is clean power and eliminates the need for other products that can create indoor air quality concerns like kerosene lamps and smoke-producing cooking plates. A 30-minute game of soccer can provide enough electricity to power a lamp for three hours.

 

Next up for Uncharted Play is a new soccer ball-based product, the Ludo. Just like the Soccket ball, the Ludo has a socially beneficial aspect in addition to the standard soccer ball use.

 

“The Ludo tracks the time you spend playing with it and wirelessly uploads your play data to The Play Fund, Uncharted Play's new online giving platform. With the Ludo and The Play Fund, your play time is converted into currency that can be used to donate real-world items to support social projects.” Source: Uncharted Play

 

The Ludo is still in the development stage but Uncharted Play is working on a 2013 launch for the product.