In the bid to capture energy from all possible sources, this has got to be one of the most logical yet – the Power generating dance floor, or the “Dancefloor Power”. (It seems to be more appropriate if its name had an exclamation point at the end, but I digress.)

The whole contraption works by tapping into the exuberant energy, or perhaps “power”, that most dancers display on a night out with friends or when out looking for friends to spend the evening with. The floor itself will most certainly be constructed out of some semi-flexible yet strong material like reinforced fiberglass or even hard-wood panels, and below the surface the Dancefloor will boast of multiple springs and “power generating blocks” that transform the energy coming from the up-and-down movement of the floor into small amounts of energy, which are then fed into waiting batteries.

Stored power from the batteries is used to energize other parts of the nightclub. It’s easy to guess where this kind of power generation can be applied to – in a nightclub, lights are part and parcel of the experience, so an interactive floor which lights up when hosting a couple of dancers, or better yet increases the intensity of the light treatment according to how rowdy the crowd gets on their feet, could very well be the ultimate application. It is in fact very similar to regenerative braking found in some cars – a closed-circuit system that benefits the immediate apparatus it’s connected to. Remember, an application like this is self-powered – a self contained system that will delight the patrons and the environmentally conscious alike.

It’s an elegant device – dancing is undoubtedly done for fun, and nobody’s stopping you from stepping down after you’re done. With a self-contained device that powers (admittedly) non-essential applications such as those found in a nightclub, it sets a precedent for finding other, smart ways to harness energy in the most unexpected of places – be it during braking or break-dancing.