
Lack of electrical lighting in developing the world makes activities such as studying or doing homework impossible as soon as the sun goes down. In West African Guinea, a shortage of power means children have to face the dangers of walking to a lit-up place to do their homework. In response to this problem, student Hyunsu Park from Kookmin University in South Korea, developed a light-up pen so these children can complete school work at home when it’s dark.
The pen, called Lampen has recently received recognition at the Core77 Design Awards 2016 where the jury described the device as “a wonderfully simple solution that could be executed to scale”.
Park designed the pen with the sole intention of finding a way for children in Guinea to study safely at night. Because electricity is not an available resource in the area, the student came up with a pen that could generate electricity on its own. Lampen functions with electromagnetic induction, which is a process that generates electrical currents using magnets. What this means is that the pen, designed with an internal magnet, just needs to be shaken for one minute to activate the built-in LED light for two hours.
The LED emits a light from the nib of the pen, which allows a child to see the page beneath as he or she works. Park also included a switch to turn the light on and off. The Lampen design comes with a stand that has a glass base. When the nib-side is secured in the stand, the pen becomes a flashlight and when the top-side is secured in the stand, the pen transforms into a small desk lamp.