Wearable air conditioning in development

The Sony Startup Acceleration Program has generated a new textile technology. The Reon Pocket is a small device designed to provide wearable air conditioning. Operating via Bluetooth, the device slips into an undershirt that includes a pocket at the base of the neck and connects to an app that gives users control of the temperature via a smartphone.

According to a story on designboom.com, the device utilizes thermoelectric cooling the company claims can cool a user’s body temperature by 13 degrees Celsius (23 degrees Fahrenheit). Sony reports that the Reon Pocket can be used as a heater as well, and it can raise a wearer’s temperature by about 8 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit). 

Sony’s wearable air conditioner supports iOS and Android, has a battery life of 90 minutes, a charge time of two hours, and weighs 85 grams, the company says. 

It expects to launch the device in 2020, in time for the Olympics in Tokyo. It’s currently available only in Japan from Sony’s crowd-funding platform.