Fewer and fewer devices in our life rely on batteries, but they are still prominent enough to insure that every now and then, you’ll fumble through your things looking for that final set of AA’s you are sure you had, and juggling between the ones in the Xbox controller and the TV controller as needed.

Rechargable batteries have been around for years to prevent scenarios just like those, and while they’re impressive technology in their own right, the classic rechargeable set up doesn’t quite feel up to speed with the modern tech world, and looks out of place in any home, not to mention the inconvenience it puts on travelers.

There is a design out there for a AA battery that looks to alleviate the modern issues with rechargeable batteries, by outfitting a standard AA battery with a USB plug-in. The set up would allow you to plug the battery into any USB port, and recharge it without any additional equipment required. Even better, the battery itself doubles as a 4GB USB flash drive for additional file storage.

Perfectly built for traveling, or really any use, this is not an idea without precedent, but it’s never looked more effective than it does with this design. Unfortunately it is just a design at the moment, and any plans past that concept are just that.

The inventor, Wonchul Hwang, sounds committed to making this concept work though, which is perfect, as so long as this device’s price doesn’t break the bank, everyone is going to want a couple of these around.

I’ve covered a lot of Kickstarter projects on this site, as the crowd funding behemoth proves to be an infinite source for the latest, and most interesting, projects currently out there.

But of all those Kickstarter projects, few have ever been so bold as a seemingly simple invention called the Shark Wheel, which claims to have reinvented the wheel.

It’s origin story is much humbler than its aspirations, as the story goes that one day creator David Patrick was playing around trying to get six pieces of interlocking cable to fit into a cube (which is apparently how eccentric geniuses entertain themselves), when he realized that upon dropping his created design, the shape he’d formed not only rolled, but rolled smoothly over a long stretch of ground.

As a lifelong skateboarder, David immediately realized the potential of this design, and modified it to create the Shark Wheel, a somewhat warped interpretation of the standard wheel that is designed to specifically reduce the amount of direct contact with the ground. Among other things, the benefits of that approach includes faster speed, better grip and control, and the ability to provide both of those features in wet or uneven terrain. In other words, by shifting the model of the traditional wheel slightly, it manages to provide the most desirable aspects of the regular skateboard wheel in a way that the old design cannot.

Now, the term skateboard wheel is being thrown around here, because that is the sole intention of this design’s function at the moment, as the Shark’s kickstarter campaign will net you 4 longboard wheels for a $50 donation.

While the inventor insists this design is not currently intended for use on an automobile or any other wheel dependent vehicle, it is nonetheless impressive that someone out there has managed to accomplish what was previously only referenced in terms of a joke and has actually improved the wheel, even if it is only in one specific capacity. It does go to show though that there is an infinite world of creative possibilities still to be explored, and, on its own, looks to be an impressive piece of design that any skateboarder should be intrigued by.