Soccket
SOCCKET was a soccer ball that harnesses and stores energy from play for later use as a portable power source in resource-poor areas.[1][2] It was the flagship product of Uncharted Play, Incorporated (now Uncharted Power).[3]
History
[edit]Jessica Lin, Julia Silverman, Jessica O. Matthews, Hemali Thakkar, who were at the time undergraduates at Harvard University, and Aviva Presser, who was a Harvard graduate student at the time, were the inventors listed on the initial patent. Prototypes of the ball first appeared in the media in early 2010.[4][5] The mass-produced version of the ball is the brainchild of Uncharted Play, Inc.—a social enterprise founded by two of the original inventors, Jessica O. Matthews and Julia C. Silverman.[3][6] According to Engineering for Change, the product was discontinued in 2016.[7] Uncharted, the company which made it, led as of 2021 by Jessica O. Matthews, no longer features the product on their website, but notes that the company initially worked on "energy-generating play products" before shifting to other areas.[8]
Media reaction
[edit]The SOCCKET scored on the "Highbrow" and "Brilliant" quadrant of New York's "Approval Matrix" for the week of February 8, 2010.[4]
It has been reported to have broken quickly after the first use by some recipients.[9][10] By 2016, production of Soccket had ceased, and Uncharted Play shifted its focus toward broader renewable energy infrastructure projects under the name Uncharted Power.[11]
References
[edit]- ↑
Whittle, Rich (27 April 2010). "Cool Invention: the sOccket". Business Exchange. Bloomberg Business.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ "Soccer ball turns into lamp". CNN Live. 6 July 2010. Archived from the original on June 23, 2010.
- 1 2 "Clinton Global Initiative University 2011".
- 1 2 "The Approval Matrix: Week of February 8, 2010". New York. 31 January 2010.
- ↑ Witkin, Jim (26 January 2010). "Using Soccer to Supplant Kerosene Use". The New York Times.
- ↑ Bolat, John. "Soccer Live". Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- ↑ "Soccket". Engineering For Change. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
- ↑ "About". Uncharted. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
- ↑ "Impoverished kids love the soccer ball that powers a lamp — until it breaks". Public Radio International. Apr 8, 2014. Retrieved Apr 8, 2014.
- ↑ bio, See full. "Uncharted Play responds to Soccket quality concerns". CNET. Retrieved 2025-11-21.
- ↑ "Power Outage, Five Years Later | Magazine | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2025-11-21.
Further reading
[edit]- Boyd, Clark (18 February 2010). "sOccket: Soccer Ball by Day, Light by Night". Discovery News. Discovery.
- "Coming soon: A football that powers cell phone". Economic Times. 6 July 2010. Archived from the original on October 24, 2011.
- VanHemert, Kyle (12 June 2010). "A Soccer Ball To Light Up Developing Nations". Gizmodo.
- Trainer, Mark (7 October 2014). "Soccer ball by day, reading light by night". ShareAmerica.