Considering the number of mobile devices that we carry with us each day, not to mention the level of usage involved, keeping them juiced up would be of utmost importance all the time. If you tend to forget to power up your smartphone at night when you sleep, there is hope for you yet – if you’re a lady, that is. Dutch fashion designer Pauline van Dongen has decided to use her startup Wearable Solar to develop a prototype dress that was featured at Brooklyn’s Northside Festival in June, where this particular prototype dress happened to be one that is strategically emblazoned in solar panels.
Now this is definitely not the first time that we have seen solar-powered dresses, and we are quite sure as well that this will not be the last. However, it is definitely a step forward in the right direction, with Van Dongen sharing a couple of her main inspirations.
One of them is the fact that we highly depend on connectivity. We’re all addicted to our smartphones and we want them constantly powered, and the better our batteries get, the more we’ll use them. And at the same time, working as a werable tech designer, I know the difficulties when integrating these kind of bulky batteries that don’t allow for any comfort or wearability. So that’s why I thought, why not power your phone through your clothes? And eventually power other interactive qualities that our garments are becoming a platform for.
Nothing still beats the sheer efficiency and speed of charging than a dedicated device charger of course, but this is definitely an alternative that is worth exploring.