Someone Finally Made a Wearable Air Conditioner That Fits in Your Pocket

(TMU) — A large swath of planet Earth has experienced deadly heatwaves over the last two months, including the United States, Europe, India and Pakistan. And if the many recent headlines are to be believed, heatwaves are going to continue—and even increase in frequency—throughout the foreseeable future.

While the heat may be no shock to those with central air conditioning that live in newer buildings or areas of the world frequently touched by unrelenting heat, not everyone is so lucky. And while some people have the luxury of working indoors with the A/C blaring and a fan nearby, some people have to get creative when it comes to beating the heat while working outdoors.

Thankfully there is relief on the horizon for those of us who find ourselves melting into sweaty piles of goo for at least a few months every year. Sony has a cool futuristic idea up their sleeves—or perhaps we should say in their pocket.

The tech giant just unveiled a tiny wearable air conditioner small enough to fit into a shirt pocket. The Reon Pocket is meant to be worn just below the neck in a pocket of a custom shirt. Too cold? Don’t worry, the air conditioner can be easily adjusted via smartphone app.

Sony claims the Reon Pocket has the ability to decrease a person’s surface body temperature by a whole 23 degrees! It can also be used to raise body temperature—by roughly 14 degrees—during the cooler months.

A single device will set you back about $117 to $175 dollars—or 2,760 to 19,030 yen. Orders can be placed via Sony’s own crowdfunding platform, First Flight, created in 2015 to finance new projects and promote new ideas developed by Sony employees.

Unfortunately, projects on First Flight are only available to customers in Japan. But if enough backers support the campaign—that is currently 68% funded—perhaps Sony will get the Reon Pocket on store shelves before we reach the point of no return.

By Emma Fiala | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com