Pavegen and Google partner for energy harvesting walkway at Berlin Festival of Lights

Pavegen, the smart flooring company founded by 2017 Young Gun Laurence Kemball-Cook, has partnered with Google to create what is thought to be the largest ever energy harvesting walkway at Berlin Festival of Lights.

Described as a “first-of-its kind” selfie tunnel, visitors’ footsteps are converted into off-grid electricity that powers a synchronised lighting display and generates videos recording their experience. These are then shared with them as GIFS by a photo pod at the end of the array.

The 26-square metre installation uses Pavegen’s latest V3 flooring system, with 100-electro-manetic generators powering 176 coloured light panels.

The Berlin Festival of Lights was started in 2004 as a celebration of the visual arts, bringing dynamic light installations to the city’s most famous places. This year’s event runs from Friday 6 to Sunday 15 October from 7pm every night.

Founded in 2009, Pavegen’s flooring solution generates energy and collects data from footfall and can be used to power off-grid applications such as games, lighting, and environmental monitoring.

To date, it has delivered 200 projects in 30 countries and worked with some of the biggest brands and organisations in the world including Adidas, Coca-Cola, Heathrow Airport, Shell and Westfield.

Cook commented: “The Berlin project marks a pivotal moment for us during a year when we have delivered significant permanent installations in other important cities including Washington and London.

“Working with Google, we’re creating a highly immersive experience with which people can interact physically, showing how the cleaner smart cities of the future will also be fun and vibrant places to be.”