Got a pedal-powered TV, but still have to keep replacing the batteries in that remote? Then you might want to keep an eye on this piezoelectricity batteryless remote (machine translation), being developed by NEC and Soundpower. Energy harvesting devices are nothing new, but this one seems interesting because it is apparently efficient enough to work off of the vibrations caused by pressing the buttons on it. They claim that it uses piezoelectric elements, which can generate electric current when bent or deformed, to capture the kinetic energy of your button press.
Of course, if you don’t have access to fancy piezoelectric development tools or want to wait for their device to come out, you could probably whip up something similar by combining one of those shake flashlights and a regular remote. [via technabob]
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