Solar-Powered Rocking Chairs That Charge Your Phone

 Spending the day soaking up the sun is no longer the lackadaisical, passive event that it once was thanks to the SOFT Rocker lounger. Developed by students at MIT under the supervision of Professor Sheila Kennedy, the SOFT Rocker is an outdoor rocking chair that allows users to relax while charging electronics. Capable of charging and running any USB device—from speakers to cellphones—and equipped with colored lighting loops for late-night relaxation, the SOFT Rocker features a multi-functional design that finds success in the combination of “hi-tech” and “low-tech” strategies.

The clean, efficient charging station uses the human power of balance to create an interactive, 35-watt solar-tracking system and an energy-harvesting feedback loop that is able to sense the chairs orientation to the sun. The lounger comes equipped with a 12 ampere-hour battery that collects and stores energy throughout the day, allowing the user to power electronics long after the sun goes down.
According to the design team: “The SOFT Rocker blurs distinctions between pleasure and work and recasts power generation as an integrated and distributed public activity rather than a centralized, singular off-site project of ‘engineering.’”