At the CES 2024 exhibition, Lenovo introduced a mouse and keyboard concept, named Mechanical Energy Harvesting Solution, powered by user-generated mechanical energy. The unique feature of this project is that users have to manually rotate generators built into these devices for recharging their batteries, reported by PCMag.
Design Elements
On initial inspection, the Lenovo keyboard doesn’t look out of the ordinary with its standard keys accompanied by an RGB backlight. What sets it apart is a solar panel strip on top – not a novel concept – and a rotating handle in the top left corner.
At first glance, the rotating knob might be mistaken for a volume controller or an extra customizable macro key. However, in reality, turning this wheel translates kinetic energy into charging power for the built-in battery. Five minutes of spinning the wheel will give 30 minutes of usage. Additional features include a USB Type-C port and a three-position switch on the back to select the communication mode with the PC: radio frequency, Bluetooth, or wired connection.
The Mouse Solution
The mouse adopts a slightly different approach for manual recharging. Visually, it appears to be a typical mouse with a resolution of 12,800 DPI, a scrolling wheel, two primary buttons, and some additional keys. However, the bottom part hosts a flip-out ring that, when opened, needs to be rotated like a wind-up key. One minute of turning this generator will be enough for thirty minutes of self-contained operation.
It is important to note that, currently, the Mechanical Energy Harvesting Solution keyboard and mouse are still in the prototype stage, and Lenovo has made no announcements about launching such products on the market.
This post was last modified on 01/09/2024