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Power Technology

Solar-powered Handbag 235

Posted by Hemos from the i-want-my-solar-man-purse dept.
karvind writes "BBC reports that a student, Rosanna Kilfedder, from Brunel University has designed solar-powered handbag to make finding keys and other items at the bottom of a bag easier. The handbag, dubbed Sun Trap, uses a solar cell attached to the outside of the bag to trap energy from sunlight. The energy is stored in an internal battery which lights up the lining. The lining is made from an electroluminescent material and is lit up by the bag's zip which acts as a switch. The bag goes dark when the zip is closed or after 15 seconds if it is accidentally left open. A secondary use of the portable battery is as an emergency charger for mobile phones and other wireless devices."
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Solar-powered Handbag

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  • Uh huh... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Grey Ninja ( 739021 ) on Monday September 26, 2005 @11:38AM (#13651498) Homepage Journal
    Somehow I just don't see how adding a battery to a purse is going to make things easier to find. You know that women are just going to have one more thing in the purse to move around, and there's going to be too much in there for the light to actually penetrate... I mean seriously, most women I know have a double decker bus worth of stuff in there. It's a wonder they all don't lean when they walk. ;)

  • How very useful. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by hardcode57 ( 734460 ) on Monday September 26, 2005 @11:38AM (#13651499) Journal
    I'd like a rucksack like that

  • Lady Bracknell (Score:3, Funny)

    by mapnjd ( 92353 ) * <nic&worldofnic,org> on Monday September 26, 2005 @11:38AM (#13651500) Homepage Journal

    Cue Lady Bracknell [yahoo.com] imitations throughout offices the world over.

    Weirdly Lady Bracknell is still alive and has her own blog [blogspot.com]!

    • Informative? This should be rip-roaring halirously FUNNY!

      I mean, who else can pronounce "Hand Bag!" with 8 syllables?

      And I say this, knowing full well the imporance of being earnest.

  • Women (Score:5, Insightful)

    by 8tim8 ( 623968 ) on Monday September 26, 2005 @11:39AM (#13651504) Journal
    Sounds useful. This is an example of why it's good to have women in engineering/CS programs. Would a guy ever have thought of this?

    • Re:Women (Score:5, Funny)

      by eln ( 21727 ) on Monday September 26, 2005 @11:57AM (#13651685)
      I certainly hope you can come up with a better reason for women in engineering than the invention of a silly gadget of dubious value.

      Women have a lot more than that to offer engineering firms. For example, they prevent company picnics from being complete sausage fests.
      • I certainly hope you can come up with a better reason for women in engineering than the invention of a silly gadget of dubious value.

        I don't know, I think it would be pretty neat to have my laptop/cell-phone/PDA all charging in my backpack while I walk around.

      • Re:Women (Score:3, Insightful)

        by VolciMaster ( 821873 )
        I certainly hope you can come up with a better reason for women in engineering than the invention of a silly gadget of dubious value.

        True, women should be in engineering, but (and this is not sexist) many don't want to be there. They find other careers more interesting. engineering tends to be a guy-dominated environment, nto because guys are necessarily better at it, but they're the ones who go into the field. I've met lots of girls (I go to a 65/35 girl/guy college) in school who are very bright, and eve

    • "Sounds useful."

      From http://inventors.about.com/cs/inventionsalphabet/ a /lighted_handbag.htm [about.com]

      :
      "BREE even sees a realistic chance of getting these innovative bags into stores by the coming year - and thus staying one step ahead of the competition as well. Because Axel and Philipp Bree are convinced of one thing: 'In less than five years, interior light will be just as common in handbags as mobile telephones are today.'"

      Umm... no. Not unless they can convince all the people who don't carry handbags a

    • Re:Women (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Asic Eng ( 193332 ) on Monday September 26, 2005 @12:18PM (#13651849)
      Actually, I think it's somewhat surprising that a woman thought of this. To quote from the article: Safety and usefulness were uppermost in Rosanna Kilfidder's mind.

      Now if you look at handbags, they come in many shapes or sizes, but if you wanted to pick the two features which have the least bearing for handbag fashion, you'd probably end up with the two which Ms Kilfidder picked. :-)

      For clothing and accessories, people don't consider extra gimmicks like this, just like no-one buys jackets with integrated mp3 players. The focus for the design of these items is primarily to make the wearer look better. A slightly differently placed seam or the right label has a higher importance than some technology feature.

  • You know what everyone here is wondering....when will this tech translate over to our wallets? :)

    It's a man bag....it's European!

  • More useful (Score:5, Funny)

    by HugePedlar ( 900427 ) on Monday September 26, 2005 @11:39AM (#13651510) Homepage
    Carry a proximity transponder in your pocket, so if your bag is nicked it screams "help me, I'm being blagged!"

  • New status symbol (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Solder Fumes ( 797270 ) on Monday September 26, 2005 @11:40AM (#13651515)
    Rummage in the handbag for the blinged-up cellphone with flashing keypad and Fiddy-Cent ringtones, all up in the club with the glowing bag...yeah this'll fly I imagine. Shiny stuff sells.

    Just don't open it on a dark subway because Homeland Security might gun you down first and check for the stolen enriched uranium later.

  • Dilemma (Score:5, Funny)

    by feepcreature ( 623518 ) on Monday September 26, 2005 @11:40AM (#13651517) Homepage
    Aaargh!

    On one hand, it's a gadget, so I have to get one.

    On the other, it's a handbag, and I'll not be seen dead with one.

    What's a geek to do?
    • When someone asks/ridicules you, just say, "It's European!"

      The Murse [detnews.com]
    • What's a geek to do?

      With the liberal use of the word "trap" in the story, carrying Admiral Akbar action figures in it sounds like an appropriate use for the bag.
    • What's a geek to do?

      A geek will buy it.

      Here's why: Marketing department will rename it to some sort of cool manly name (i.e. Manbag), add a pile of extraneous pockets, and promote it as the next "must-have" gadget.

      You'll buy it, and you'll LIKE IT MISTER! *point finger*

      • That might work for non-geeks, but geeks tend to be suspicious of anything marketing, and won't fall for it.

        Now if you called it a satchel and have Ford Prefect endorse it, geeks might fall for it.

        Actually geeks will fall for it based on usefulness first unless something gets in the way. Many old geeks who are ticked that it is no longer acceptable to wear a pocket protector in public, as they were so useful. Most geeks have a laptop case of some sort they carry around now though, so I'm not sure anyt

    • Re:Dilemma (Score:3, Funny)

      by Hrodvitnir ( 101283 )
      I'll not be seen dead with one.

      Easy solution. Turn off your webcam.
    • On one hand, it's a gadget, so I have to get one.

      On the other, it's a handbag, and I'll not be seen dead with one.

      What's a geek to do?

      Wait for "Illuminated Man Purse v1.0" to come out on the market.

      Or buy a mag-lite. Either way. :-P
    • Claim you are European. In the U.S. of A. that's enough to make people stop questioning why you have a hand bag.
    • Once you've gotten past the "It's not a skirt, it's a kilt", nobody's going to give you grief about your sporran resembling a purse. Of course, that depends on whether it's an appropriate shape and pattern to be a sporran as opposed to an obvious handbag.

      Back when people carried big clunky calculators around, belt packs were fairly common on engineers, and nobody gave them any crap about it.

  • For my backpack (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Nf1nk ( 443791 ) <nf1nk.yahoo@com> on Monday September 26, 2005 @11:41AM (#13651528) Homepage
    I would love this for my backpack, so I could find the stray pencils or my long lost stapler that I know is lurking near the bottom.
    Also I had a vision of the breifcase from pulp fiction.

    • Re:For my backpack (Score:5, Funny)

      by HawkingMattress ( 588824 ) on Monday September 26, 2005 @12:27PM (#13651916)
      Ok, so you've been waiting for an invention like this to get your stapler and your pencils back from your backpack ?
      Here's a trick my mom taught me: You can put a backpack upside down, and the things in it will nicely fall on the ground so you can sort them and find the beloved object !
      This backpack feature was invented a guy named Newton, who could never find his apples in his bag, or something like that...
    • Fortunately, I never have that problem, because my Swingline stapler is red.

  • Other places to put solar cells... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by pieterh ( 196118 ) on Monday September 26, 2005 @11:42AM (#13651531) Homepage
    - in the windows of cars parked in the sun, powering anti-theft alarms
    - in the fabric of sun shades for the beach, powering a beer cooler
    - on the backs of notebooks, adding to their pathetic battery life
    - on rucksacks, powering the old ipod
    - in the garden, keeping the gnomes warm

    But for the handbag, why not simply make a material that is opaque from the outside and transparent from the inside, which lets light in but not out...?
  • Not being someone who carries a handbag - this sounds like one of those - "Damn, why didn't I think of that" ideas. The phone charging setup is also a perfect use of tree hugger friendly and chic. I can foresee this becoming a very useful trend. Where do I get the rights?

  • But can you get Hermés, LVMH et al to license (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Numair ( 77943 ) on Monday September 26, 2005 @11:43AM (#13651548) Homepage
    Women buy handbags because they look cool (see: Birkin bag phenomenon, Kate Spade, etc). The trick with this is getting it licensed by these players for their future fashions ... Is it even possible? I could see this being sold as a "premium" feature, for a "special solar edition" version of the bags in their line, or something like that ...
  • Solar-Powered Handbag lamp. Cuz the world was screaming out for one of those. Sh'yea, right.

    Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to finish my drink [knauradio.org].

  • Needs more LV symbols (Score:3, Funny)

    by OctoberSky ( 888619 ) on Monday September 26, 2005 @11:44AM (#13651552)
    If a true slashdotting hasn't yet occured you can see in the pic that the pattern of the light source is stars or something similar.

    It won't sell well amongst American woman unless they replace the stars with Louis Vitton/Gucci/Burberry/Prada symbols. And to be more accurate they need to be fake Louis Vitton/Gucci/Burbery/Prada symbols.
    • It won't sell well amongst American woman unless they replace the stars with Louis Vitton/Gucci/Burberry/Prada symbols.

      Spoken like someone who's never been further east than Long Island. When it comes to obsession with designer chic, our European sistren make their New World counterparts all look like K-Mart shoppers in search of a Blue Light Special.

      But the hi-tech angle won't tickle the Euros like it does the Americans; we remain gadget-obsessed, regardless of gender,

      ...except by comparison to the Japan

  • Demographic (Score:5, Funny)

    by Joe Random ( 777564 ) on Monday September 26, 2005 @11:46AM (#13651585)
    This will be great for all those female slashdo...
    I mean, it'll be a great gift for some slashdotter's girlfr...
    Why is this article here, again?

  • Purses aren't practical... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ThaFooz ( 900535 ) on Monday September 26, 2005 @11:47AM (#13651587)
    they're a fasion accessory. Putting solar pannels on it won't make it anymore attractive to women, unless you get some Italian/French/NYC designer to plaster his name all over it.

    If the goal was comfort and ease of finding things, women would buy cargo pants.
    • Oh, fer crying out loud. If I wore cargo pants, I'd have to move everything every day. With a purse I always have everything and I know where it all is.

      I have the same plain black leather purse that I have carried, seven days a week, winter and summer, for about 3 years now. I need a new one because the leather is starting to wear out on this one. I would like this one with the light, if it were well made and if it did NOT have the stylized initials of some fashionable parasite all over it.

  • This is amazing (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I want one of these for my jeans, so when I unzip them, the light of god will be cast unto all.
  • But this is something aimed at women. Why is it on Slashdot, unless someone needs a gift for their mother or sister.
    • "But this is something aimed at women. Why is it on Slashdot, unless someone needs a gift for their mother or sister. "

      Because the technology itself is pretty cool.
      Luminescent fabric -- tons of apps that I'm sure are in the pipeline.

  • Personally... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Feanturi ( 99866 ) on Monday September 26, 2005 @11:49AM (#13651617)
    If this is for a woman's handbag, I think it would be much more sensible to attach something to her jaw and get mechanical energy from there as she talks. Because the sun eventually burns out, you know.
  • I think that adding a power supply to the purse is an excellent sales move - just imagine the new "geek-purse" - it's got blue lights around the edges, some hydraulic jacks to make it rock, maybe an X-Box installed, a GPS so you don't have to ask directions...

    Go ahead - pimp your purse! :)
    • I just interviewed at a small tech company - to everyone's surprise their latest shipment of desktop PCs came preconfigured with clear cases and blue / UV neons inside.

      What's next - PCs preloaded with pr0n?
  • Sweet! Now I can have my very own MacGuffin [wikipedia.org]!

  • Buy self-lighting bag today (Score:3, Informative)

    by Coward Anonymous ( 110649 ) on Monday September 26, 2005 @12:29PM (#13651938)
    Target offers, now, a lady's handbag with a battery powered bright white LED that lights up when the magnetic clasp is opened. Maybe it is not as "sexy" as the bag in the article but it is simpler, cheaper, more practicle and more environmentally friendly (no solar cells and special linings). It is also more practicle in the sense that it will last just long enough until the owner drops it in favor of the latest fashion.
       
  • This one [iowastatedaily.com] doesn't have a light, but it's a lot cooler looking (and has a lot more solar cells.) Funny that the two appear to have been developed at about the same time.
  • Sweet.

    First, they went on camping gear. Then they went on radios. Now they're in purses.

    This isn't so valuable so much for the money some people will save, or even the added convenience women will have. It's just that the more solar power and solar energy is in the mainstream, the better off more widespread adoption will be.

  • Everyone knows light can't escape from a black hole.

  • As someone involved in fashion (Score:3, Insightful)

    by AutopsyReport ( 856852 ) on Monday September 26, 2005 @01:01PM (#13652151)
    This handbag isn't really inspiring or attractive, unfortunately. I suppose the technological appeal is present, but handbags do not sell on comfort (unless you shop at Walmart/Kmart, etc.) nor do they sell on technology. They sell due to designer, designer labels, and what the current trend is (think Louis Vuitton right now -- very, very popular).

    Her idea is good and well-intentioned, but a more couture-embracing design would be required to invoke a broader appeal. Put the idea in a beautiful handbag, and she may have something that sells well. But I'm beginning to think -- and see -- that many women are becoming very selective about which handbag they carry. The design of this bag doesn't look like one that could carry her idea well. Good thinking, though.

  • I work at Brunel, and designs from the students in our Design Department hit the BBC webpages every year around this time. And each year, we get a flood of email to our 'webmaster' email address, cursing the design for not curing cancer or ending poverty.

    You have to realise, these designs are developed as an exercise in the skills taught by the course. Some of them are interesting, but they're not finished products. You might as well criticise engineering students for wasting their time building balsa bridg
  • ...it would make more sense to just make the bag out of transparent plastic?

    • Re:Surely (Score:3, Insightful)

      by shis-ka-bob ( 595298 )
      1) How many women want to show everyone ALL the contents of her purse? Women will wan to carry medications, condoms and hygene products discretely. I wouldn't want to have my ID & credit cards in a tranparent bag in plastic.
      2) how does a transparent purse help in the dark? (the solar cells charge batteries that run the light whenever the purse is opened. It helps just like all the little lights in your car that help you find the ignition switch, etc. when you open the car door.
      To be fair, these

  • re: sunTrap (Score:2, Funny)

    by Ruvim ( 889012 )
    It's kind of scary to know that purses well known for their quality of absorbing (and keeping) all kind of stuff, such as candy wrappers, loose change, lipsticks of all kinds etc.etc. have now achieved the ultimate power and can trap the Sun itself!
  • when inattentive, overly permissive, or just adventurous DMs allowed Continual Light to be cast on a Bag of Holding, and they held about as much as most women in my family manage to hold in theirs. I think my mother-in-law has an entire convenience store in hers.

  • Sounds familiar (Score:3, Interesting)

    by narcc ( 412956 ) on Monday September 26, 2005 @04:41PM (#13653879) Journal
    Back in mid-2000 I helpd a friend of mine add a light to her purse. The lights activated via a small switch mounted on the strap. The lights themselves consisted of two led arrays, mounted on either side of the purse, about a quarter inch below the zipper (stitched into the lining, only the ligths were visible -- poking through "button holes" also stitched into the lining). The whole business was powered by a 9v battery located in a smaller inside pocket.

    She seemed happy with it -- it did what she needed it to do, and only when she asked. The solution presented in the article doesn't seem all that great.

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