A Michigan-based company on Thursday unveiled a system that uses a USB-equipped teakettle to recharge mobile phones and other devices.
Traverse City-based Tellurex Corp. revealed the Tellurex World Pot as part of an exhibition showcasing how innovative design can be a force in saving and transforming lives around the world.
The company said that by putting a high-performance Tellurex thermoelectric module and a USB port in a teakettle and then placing the teakettle over a “modest fire,” the kettle becomes an electric generator that can activate a discharged cellphone within minutes.
Tellurex said the World Pot can deliver important benefits to native people in the underdeveloped world who are sometimes ambushed and robbed while hiking to distant charging stations.
The pot may also be a life-saver in an area hit by a natural disaster and power loss.
The device is one of more than 30 products in the “Design for the Other 90 Percent,” a Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum exhibition at RedLine, 2350 Arapahoe St. in Denver.
