Ideas are a dime a dozen, but when something like the sOccket comes along it stops you in your tracks. Invented by a group of engineering students at Harvard, it’s a soccer ball that harnesses the energy of play, using kinetic and inductive coil technology.

After a session of footie, an LED lamp can be plugged into the sOccket, providing light for activities normally impossible after dark. A fantastic solution in many developing countries, in those areas where families have limited or no access to electricity, and often use kerosene to light their homes. Tested in South Africa after last year’s World Cup, it provided three hours of power after a mere fifteen minutes of play.

Soccer ball innovations don’t end there. Developed by Germany firm designaffairs Studio, the Swirl is a soft-rubber ball (closer to beach ball in size) that doubles as a washing machine. Load in the clothes, water and detergent and either push it around with the help of a detachable pushcart handle, or let the kids have a knock about. Then presto, clean clothes. The embossed pattern on the ball’s interior surface gives the clothes a scrub, and if not used for laundry, the light and durable container can be used to carry water.

Who knows, with rising hydro and water bills in the West there may come a time when soccer clubs have to wash their own kit. They could also do a bit of charity laundry on the side. Personally I’d love to have my underwear washed by a jug eared Wayne Rooney.