Sony’s Pocket Air Conditioner Might Be The Saving Grace We Need These Days

If your Facebook is not full of comments about the weather, you must live somewhere climate change has not put its dirty paws on. But, most likely you’ve already suffered from the dog days of summer, just like the rest of us, and have become acquainted with the Lord of The Rings Mordor meme that has been doing the rounds lately. 

It’s generally agreed upon these days that you can’t go outside without at least a solid layer of sunscreen, some sunglasses, and that having some sort of portable air conditioning would be absolutely amazing. 

Apparently Sony thinks the same thing, hence why it decided to crowdfund a portable air conditioner that can also double as a heater in the colder days. Best thing about it is that the device fits in your pocket and weighs only  3 ounces (85gr)!

Dubbed the Reon Pocket, the device works via Bluetooth and uses thermoelectric cooling to keep you up and going. It works alongside a special undershirt that features a pocket at the base of the neck. All you have to do is download and connect the device to an app, press a button and go through your days fully climate-controlled.

Reon Pocket comes with iOS and Android support and can last for about 24 hours, after a full charge of 2 hours. 

According to Sony, the device has been tested in hundreds of simulations and can cool down the users’ body temperature by 23F (13C) during hot days while during the winter, it can raise it by 14F (8C).

The device comes in two variants: the Reon Pocket Lite is cheaper and only allows the user to operate it manually. The Reon Pocket Standard on the other hand allows you to control the temperature via the app and to play around with air volume. 

Sony launched it crowdfunding campaign on Sunday but, with the temperatures outside making for hellish landscapes (especially in the urban environment), it already managed to meet 43% of its funding goal. The devices come with price tags ranging from 12,760 yen (~$117)  all the way to 19,030 yen (~$175), depending on what version you’d like and how many shirts you want to grab along with it. 

For now, it looks like the device is only available in Japan but, if the demand is high, the company might just consider going global. After all, we’re all getting scorched out there at more or less similar temperatures.