There’s lots of buzz about this interesting invention out – a phone charger that takes the waste energy from when you walk:

A knee brace which can generate electricity as you walk, creating enough power to charge mobile phones and medical devices, has been developed by scientists.

The device is inspired by technology used in hybrid cars which store the power from braking to generate electricity. So-called regenerative brakes can collect energy that would otherwise be dissipated as heat when a car slows. In the same way, the knee brace uses the energy dissipated at the knee as the leg slows after a step.

Using it just as a phone charger might seem a waste of the technology – and it turns out there are actually many more uses for it – such as powering automated prosthetic limbs for the lesser-abled, which is the main intention of the project. But the news coverage has been quick to come up with other ideas for what to do with the energy – and why not? Many inventions end up being used for purposes completely different from what they originally intended (just think about how text messaging was originally intended for voicemail alerts and not person-to-person messages) and it’s not hard to come up with loads of ideas for using that energy – whether it be mobiles, personal MP3 players, portable game systems, even personal computers.

It could even have beneficial effects for us – if our mobile or music player is running out of battery, we might skip that car journey or trip on the bus and walk instead so we can help recharge it, making us fitter and healthier as well (so much for the fearmongering that new technology is for us). And once we start shaping our activity around the electronic devices we’re using as they depend on us, does that make them part of our bodies? Is something as innocuous as this making us one step closer to being cyborgs? Such a simple invention brings surprisingly profound questions if you look at it close enough. Any thoughts you have, share them in the comments below.