Most of us have a daily ritual for charging our phones: we plug them in by our beds when we go to sleep, or set them on a desk charger when we get to work in the morning. But for digital nomads who are always on the go, that ritual can be a little harder to find.

Zurich University of Arts student designer Ramon Marc Zolliker designed a portable, human-powered charger that can create a whole new charging routine. It’s based on the very human ritual of creating fire – the activity which separated us from other mammals.

The IMTI consists of an outer shell with a hole in the top and a cord running out of its bottom along with a stick-like object that fits into the hole. The user holds the outer piece steady and twirls the stick between the palms to create energy which is transmitted through the charging cable to the phone.

The concept is certainly more hands-on than our regular method of plug-and-wait. Zolliker feels that performing this sort of ritual will help digital nomads feel more connected to daily life in some way. It’s kind of a physically demanding ritual, but it seems very satisfying on a primitive level.