As the weather warms up, you might be wondering how technology can help. It turns out Sony has been working on something unique just for that.
It’s been ten years since 2015, with that year coming and going without any of Back to the Future‘s neat gadgets, and we’re still waiting for some of the ideas Hollywood pitched in the 1989 film.
There are no flying cars (yet), no commonly available self-lacing shoes (Nike tried it briefly), personal transport devices with the word “hover” in it don’t actually hover, and movies don’t pop out of the screen scaring you in public (3D has largely failed, too). Even the idea of a jacket that dries you when you’re wet seems far fetched, but there could at least be an idea close to that on the way.
Sony has developed a personal cooler you can strap to your neck and cool you at the back, providing up to 34 hours of cooling at a low level. Five levels of cooling are found on the gadget, working continuously for up to 15 hours.
It’s a unique gadget Sony calls “Reon Pocket Pro”, and is a follow-up to a gadget that never made its way to Australia. But this version is, supporting both cool and warm modes, complete with sensors to pick up on the wearer’s temperature, plus the outside temperature and humidity, using algorithms to control the temperature and keep you cool, or even warm when it is cold.
The gadget looks a little like a chimney for your back, but includes fans and modules to control the hot and cold, with an app letting you decide what strength of cooling and heating you want.
The hotter or colder you go, the less the battery life, with the lowest cooling level running for 34 hours, while the coolest hits a little over five. Meanwhile, if you want some heat, the lowest warmth setting will run for around 10 hours, while the hottest can hit just over five, just like the top cooling setting.
While it’s not likely to replace a jacket in the winter, Sony’s Reon Pocket Pro could just make walks more tolerable under the hot Aussie sun, controlling temperatures ranging from 5ºC all the way to 40 degrees Celsius, and it might even make a quick walk in the cold easier, too.
Australians can expect to find the Reon Pocket Pro in stores in November, with the $299 gadget possibly being one of the more unusual gadgets to end the year with.
