We are officially in the dog days of summer, and that usually means strategically dashing from one air-conditioned space to the next. But what if we didn’t have to bow down to the whims of the scorching midday sun? Well, apparently Sony is crowdfunding a portable wearable air conditioner/heater so you can flip the bird to mother nature and live your best, climate-controlled life.
Sony‘s First Flight crowdfunding platform has revealed its newest project to help people beat the heat during the summer. The Reon Pocket is a portable device about the size of a card wallet, which fits snuggly into the back of a custom undershirt. Leveraging thermoelectric cooling, the product can be controlled via Bluetooth on a smartphone and either cool down or warm up, depending on the user’s preference.
Spec-wise the product is pretty impressive. It supports iOS and Android, has a battery life of 24 hours and a charge time of 2 hours, and it uses USB-C. Since it’s so small and weighs a mere 85 grams (3 ounces), it’s not that noticeable even if you have to wear a special shirt to use it.
It also comes in two versions: the Reon Pocket Standard and Reon Pocket Lite. The latter is cheaper but only comes with a manual mode operation. The standard will also let you manually control the temperature via your smartphone, but a future update will also introduce an automatic mode. The standard version also lets you tweak with air volume, as well as a customizable “my mode.”
With the crowdfunding campaign currently backed at 85%, the gadget will start shipping to customers in Japan next March if it’s fully funded. The starting price is listed at ¥12,760 (about $110 USD) for the Reon Pocket Lite (which is controlled manually) and ¥14,080 (around $130 USD) for the Reon Pocket. Launched in 2015, First Flight is Sony’s seed accelerator program which serves as a crowdfunding and e-commerce platform aimed at championing new business ideas and projects from its employees. Take a look at the trailer above to see the Reon Pocket in action.
The post Reon Pocket – Sony Unveils Wearable Air Conditioner appeared first on Fadedmix Magazine.
