Hot hot heat: Thermo-electric toys tap energy from human warmth

Eindhoven – Human body heat is being put to use in a new project by Eindhoven Design Academy graduate Martijn Dijkhuizen. Dijkhuizen’s ‘Human Power’ project features thermodynamic toys powered by the heat people’s bodies generate while they are asleep. The project, which focuses on generating energy from what the designer calls ‘urban kinetics’, in effect turns the human body into a factory of sorts.

Like Sara Paculdo’s Fastronauts – toys that generate energy through play – the ‘Human Power’ project combines Dreamtelligence with environmentally aware product design for a positive and optimistic attitude to creation.