SOCCKET was a soccer ball that harnesses and stores energy from play for later use as portable power source in resource-poor areas.[1] [2] It was the flagship product of Uncharted Play, Incorporated (now Uncharted Power).[3]
Jessica Lin, Julia Silverman, Jessica O. Matthews, Hemali Thakkar, who were at the time undergraduates at Harvard University, and Aviva Presser, who was a Harvard graduate student at the time, were the inventors listed on the initial patent. Prototypes of the ball first appeared in the media in early 2010.[4] [5] The mass-produced version of the ball is the brainchild of Uncharted Play, Inc.--a social enterprise founded by two of the original inventors, Jessica O. Matthews and Julia C. Silverman.[3] [6] According to Engineering for Change, the product was discontinued in 2016.[7] Uncharted, the company which made it, led as of 2021 by Jessica O. Matthews, no longer features the product on their website, but notes that the company initially worked on "energy-generating play products" before shifting to other areas.[8]
The SOCCKET scored on the "Highbrow" and "Brilliant" quadrant of New York's "Approval Matrix" for the week of February 8, 2010.[4]
It has been reported to have broken quickly after the first use by some recipients.[9]