Sure, you could build your own similar device for far less than $4.4 million (Australian) but would it look nearly as awesome as the vest that the bad mamma jamma on the left is wearing? My position is “no, it would not.”

The aforementioned money was given to Australia’s national science agency as a grant in the hopes that it could develop an “electrojacket” that “uses what are called Piezoelectric materials to transform kinetic energy into storable power.”

Its intended use will be for military personnel and will (hopefully) allow them to eschew all the little battery packs needed to power the many various gadgets they have strapped to them while in the field of battle. The energy that’s created by the soldiers’ movement will theoretically power many of those devices. The technology could also have practical applications in the private and medical device sectors as well.

A jacket to keep you warm and powered [bit-tech.net]