New roller coaster harvests riders’ screams to charge mobile phones.
The Walking Dead ride at the UK’s Thorpe Park is now harnessing the screams of riders to charge mobile phones.
The indoor roller coaster, which was previously called ‘X:\ No Way Out’, has had devices installed in the cars to ‘harvest kinetic energy’ from screams, g-force and vibrations.
A spokesperson from the park said: “If thrill-seekers are brave enough to open their eyes, they will see a set of LED lights in blood red powering up as guests’ screams become louder… throughout the spine-tingling 90-second experience.”
After the device has harvested the screams, the staff at the park remove the devices and deposit them in a mobile charging point.
The device was designed and installed by Queen Mary University of London and was inspired by the fact that the biggest fear of people aged 18 to 24 in the UK is having their mobile phone run out of battery.