Sony's eco-friendly, hand-powered digital camera in action

Check out this video of the first working prototype to come out of Sony's odo project, which generated a lot of buzz at Tokyo's Eco-Products 2007 exhibition late last year. Developed at the Sony Design Center in Los Angeles, the project has a lofty goal of helping to establish a sustainable society by setting a good example through environmentally and socially responsible product models.

The video shows the Twirl N' Take digital camera in action. The hand-powered still camera uses a built-in generator that can charge up to take one picture as you push its roller back and forth for about 15 seconds. According to Mitsuhiro Nakamura, a member of the Sustainable Design Team at the Sony Creative Center, products like the Twirl N' Take grew out of an attempt to figure out how children in developing countries would be able to enjoy music and video. "They don't have electric power so we have to think about how to generate electricity," said Nakamura. "So we started looking at electricity generation from kinetic energy and we came up with these odo products that children can enjoy."

So far the odo project only has an handful of other concept designs, including the Spin N' Snap, another digital still camera that's powered by sticking your fingers through two holes and spinning the camera end over end, and the Push Power Play photo and video viewer that sports a roller on the base that generates power as you roll it.

[Via NetworkWorld]