Phone battery
dying and no power point in sight? If you happen to be at Block
234, Bukit Panjang Ring Road, you can charge your phone at the
fitness corner - and burn some calories while you are at it.
Playground
consultancy firm Playpoint last October installed an outdoor
fitness corner that turns energy generated by exercise into juice
for electronic devices.
The fitness
corner, the first of its kind in a public housing estate, has a
cross trainer, hand bike, spinning bike and recumbent bike - all
with USB ports which you can plug a charge cable into.
Playpoint
managing director Jason Sim, 40, said the equipment combines two
drives that the Government has been pushing for - healthier
lifestyles and renewable energy.
"Rather than
let all that energy from exercising go to waste, we could put it to
good use and help the environment," he said.
Cycling on
one of the bikes for two minutes produces enough energy to charge
your phone by 1 per cent. To fully charge a dead battery, users
have to cycle for more than three hours. Mr Sim admitted this was
rather long, but said: "The objective is for you to stay and use
the equipment for longer, to keep fit."
A fitness
buff, he first chanced upon the equipment two years ago, when he
was watching a foreign television programme which featured British
green gym manufacturer, The Great Outdoor Gym Company.
The $8,000
equipment set in Bukit Panjang is the first that Playpoint has
brought to Singapore, but Mr Sim hopes to get more installed in
other estates they are consultants for, such as Punggol and
Sengkang.
The firm
installs outdoor equipment in five countries across Asia.
In Kuala
Lumpur, it has set up a similar fitness corner, but one where the
energy from cycling goes towards lighting street lamps. Mr Sim is
considering bringing this version to Singapore, too.
Residents
have been slow to catch on to the fitness corner so far. When The
Straits Times visited it last Saturday evening and yesterday
morning, few were using it to charge their devices.
Housewife
Carole Lee, 31, likes to cycle on the bikes for fitness, but does
not charge her phone there as she rarely takes her cable out with
her. "I prefer to charge my phone at home overnight," she said.
Safety
coordinator Mohd Rohaizad, 47, said: "I can watch YouTube on my
phone while cycling and it will still be charging. I think I should
use this more often. It's free and it burns calories, so why
not?"
• Additional reporting by Bridget Tan