An example is The Little Yoga Mat, a small start-up based in New York.

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Or used as a beer mat, strung up with others as a bird-scarer or sent to a recycling scheme.

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So much so, that Mat Collishaw - one of the original Young British Artists - became a little worked up over seeing it for the first time.

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With the increasing popularity of cable-free charging pads that allow devices to soak up juice from a mat (or even a pillow), the Wireless Power Consortium is lobbying to standardize such systems so that any phone can access any charger.

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