Design Indaba 2016: Indian industrial design graduate Yogita Agrawal has created a wearable device that acts as a back-up light in rural areas and a soap crayon for reminding children to wash their hands.
Agrawal, who spoke at the Design Indaba conference in Cape Town last month, started work on her Jhoule wearable while studying at Parsons School of Design, as part of a class themed around "design that endures".

The circular device includes a detachable embroidered covering, and has a clip on the back that allows it to be worn around the waist, ankle, or arm. As the wearer walks, Jhoule harness energy from the body's swinging movement, which drives its internal charging mechanism.
This energy is then stored, and can be used to power embedded LEDs in the device. Jhoule can be used in the absence of streetlights, or hooked to a wall in the home to provide light in the evenings.
"I thought back to when I used to spend my summers with my grandma in Chhattisgarh, India, where they have frequent power cuts and there are still villages without electricity," the designer told Dezeen.

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Many inhabitants of rural areas aren't able to install solar panels, explained Agrawal, often because houses aren't robust enough to support them, or because homes can't be locked while people are out.
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