BENGALURU: Imagine a scenario where you could charge gadgets using the heat emitted from your coffee cup? Heat energy, a byproduct of the daily life is often dissipated, unused. Embracing wireless and nano tech inspired thermoelectric generation, Ikea backed daily life technology enthusiast community Space10 is presumably well ahead into developing a concept that could be a game changer in achieving greener, smarter homes. Heat Harvest, a project implemented by a couple of students from the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, aims to harness the heat dissipated from objects as simple as our coffee cups or breakfast dishes and converting them to useful energy.

HeatHarvest is the brain child of visionary students Sergey Komadenkov and Vihanga Gore. They currently foresee two possible lines of products that their idea could nurture. “The first is table tops that extract heat from hot objects that are placed on top of them. The second product is heat harvesting pads that you could place beneath TV set top boxes or heat-emitting power adapters anywhere in the home.” says Vihanga.  The possibility of charging our phones on the same table where our bigger electronic devices, like PC, dissipate heat would be a major life hack for achieving lower carbon footprint.

The team would also have to address challenges like current leakage, durability, incorporating means for indication etc. The end product, once developed in commercial scale would enjoy the benefit of Ikea’s prominence in the market.

The idea to reuse dissipated heat energy from everyday objects places HeatHarvest apart from other similar start ups that banks upon incorporating wireless charging capabilities to furniture. Thermoelectricity, the phenomenon of generating electric voltage from difference in temperature gradient has been around for more than 200 years, but recent developments in nanotechnology promises better efficiency and hence, opportunities for commercialization. Companies like Aplhabet Energy, Tellurex have products and is developing prototypes that is ideal for thermoelectric power generation using materials that are good conductors of electricity and insulators of heat.

Ikea, the brand that has been on the forefront of innovative furniture design would soon take away the hassles inadequate plug sockets and tangling wires in household. Space10, located in Copenhagen, serves as an external innovation hub for IKEA to get inspired, gain fresh perspectives, and discover new talents and ideas to invest in and bring forward.

Read Also: U.S. Engineers Achieve Passive Wi-Fi At 10,000 Times Less Power

Smartphones, YouTube Can Help People With Intellectual Ddisability