Royal College of Art graduate Diana Simpson Hernandez has designed the percussion shaker SPARK, which converts the energy from playing it into electricity. Users can plug in a light or charge up a mobile phone, simply through having a music jam. The project called Shake Your Power was conceived and is led by Faithless percussionist Sudha Kheterpal, and is about bringing clean energy to places in the world without electricity through the power of music. The project is being launched in Kenya where 75 percent of the population lives without access to electricity. Having the ability to read at night or charge up a phone gives people the chance of a better education and also access to services like the revolutionary money transfer system, M-PESA.
The Spark shaker uses magnetic induction to produce energy whilst it’s being played, and the energy stored is then used to power an LED light. The concept of the shaker is based on the human heart: the seat of power for the human body, a symbol of strength and courage and what connects us all as a global community. The outside design of the shaker is based on the concept of a flint stone. It refers to new beginnings; to the initial spark caused by two flint stones contacting each other to give birth to a powerful new source of energy. It has been designed to maximize the shaker sound’s richness as the beads inside collide with the different faces of the shaker, producing an intricate and unique sound.
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