Bike Charges Smartphones While You Pedal (VIDEO)

We-Bike, a Belgium-based company, is peddling a contraption where people charge their smartphones at a stationary bike.

Technology has made life easier and humans lazier.

But that's created a market for entrepreneurial inventors who want to use technology to get people to exercise more.

One such company is the Belgium-based We-Bike, which is peddling a contraption where people charge their smartphones at a stationary bike.

The We-Bike is a round table with three seats and the users generate electricity by pedaling away at an easy pace, according to GizMag.

Not only do you burn calories, you also burn a hole in your wallet since the We-Bike costs a whopping $13,000. However, the company, which currently has installed them at a few choice locations in the Belgian cities of Brussels and Flanders, is offering them on a rental basis.

The We-Bike is just one of many products on the market that are designed to get people to exercise while using labor-saving technology.

Others include Gamercize, which works via pedals that are hooked up to a Playstation, TV or computer. Just rock them back and forth with your feet and when you stop, so does the device.

For people who feel their exercise program is treading water, there is the TreadDesk, which, for $1300, can help deskbound types burn an extra 100 to 150 calories an hour, according to Smart Money.

As a result, the device is catching on with call centers, universities and tech outfits.

Ken Kemker, an IT director for furniture and electronics maker Kimball International, says more than half of his 60-person staff is voluntarily working on the department's "walking offices," and says there has been an unforeseen advantage in terms of increased productivity.

"You can't daydream while you're walking," he told Smart Money. "It's not like sitting back in a chair."

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Comments

[Ameera Primm]

03:01 AM on 05/02/2012

europeans are always finding new ways to be healthy and influence people to do the same. i've seen several articles like this. for instance, the one where if you walk up the steps in a swiss train station if makes noise every time you step, whereas if you take the escalator nothing happens. we could learn lessons from them!

[J0E1]

12:42 PM on 05/01/2012

This would actually be a good idea for airports around the world.  The desks and chairs with accessible outlets are always filled.  They should supplement those with this table to give travelers a little bit of exercise while charging their phones.  After a few hours in a cramped plane, this might actually be a nice relief to stretch and work your legs during a layover.

[carlamariee]

11:29 AM on 05/01/2012

I'm sure I remember a exercise bike powered tv in Mother Earth News back in the day. Did anybody out there keep the plans?

[jcgibber]

09:51 AM on 05/01/2012

This takes me back to the scene In SOYLET GREEN with Edward G. Robinson.

[Another Random Guy]

09:30 AM on 05/01/2012

In the words of Kevin O'Leary, how is this gonna make me money?

[SapphireEyesStudios]

06:18 AM on 05/01/2012

That's a really cool concept, actually.
I mean studies are showing now more than ever that people sit way too much which causes higher risk for heart attacks, but if you're going to be sitting anyway, the least you could do is keep your heart rate up and battery charged. :)