Those sweltering Summer and freezing Winter days may be more bearable for people to withstand in the future. It’s all due to Sony’s innovative Reon Pocket, a cooling/heating device that can be worn into the back pocket of a t-shirt designed specifically for the device. Reon Pocket will be shipping out in March 2020, only in Japan and is live on Sony’s crowdfunding website. Prices start at $117 to $175, depending on which version of the Reon Pocket the wearer wishes to purchase and how many undershirts they’d like to order with it.
The wearable device acts as cooling/heating system for the wearer. They won’t have much time to use it since it only has two hours of battery power on a single charge. (Image Credit: First Flight JP)
Reon Pocket has Bluetooth capabilities, is about as small as a wallet (3 ounces) and utilizes thermoelectric cooling, known as the “Peltier effect.” It uses a small electrical current that lets the device absorb or send out heat for the wearer. In order to take advantage of the cooling/heating system, the wearer uses an app connected to their smartphone, supported by iOS and Andriod, to control the amount of temperature rise/drop they wish to receive from the device. As of now, Sony notes the device can cool the wearer off by 23 degrees Fahrenheit on hot days or can increase the temperature by up to 14 degrees Fahrenheit on cold days.
The device can also sustain 2 hours of usability out of a single charge via USB Type-C with the Bluetooth connectivity charge lasting for 24 hours.
The device is also available in two versions: Reon Pocket Standard and Reon Pocket Lite. The Lite version is cheaper and has a manual mode operation. While the standard mode lets you manually adjust the temperature with your smartphone, it also allows you to adjust the air volume and comes with a mode that suits the wearer based on their preferences known as “my mode.” Sony plans on releasing an update that allows the temperature to be adjusted automatically.
With Sony’s crowdfunding page already launched (July 28th), the campaign has already reached 43% of its funding goal, with only 24 days remaining. If Sony were to get fully funded for the project, backers can expect to receive their devices by the time March 2020 rolls around.
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