A group of students from MIT are working on a cooling unit that is worn on the wrist. Instead of dropping the room temperature, it adjusts a person’s body temperature.
Americans are obsessed with air conditioning. It’s estimated that its used in over 85 percent of homes.
Given that ac uses a lot of energy, and excess energy consumption is increasingly frowned upon, it was only a matter of time before somebody came up with a better way.
That somebody is actually a group of students from MIT who are working on a cooling unit that is worn on the wrist.
What it does is cool or heat the person wearing it rather than adjusting the temperature in the whole room.
It works by emitting pulses of hot or cold onto the wearer’s skin as a means of regulating body temperature.
The body is easily tricked into thinking its warmer or colder than it really is depending upon what’s in contact with it – and for how long. For example, upon jumping into a pool the water may feel frigid at first, but after a while it seems to get warmer.
The project’s leader does admit that saving the planet wasn’t the inspiration that got the development rolling.
He said he was getting tired of battles over what the appropriate room temperature is in shared spaces.
Next up for the students is to develop their proof of concept prototype into an actual product. Would you wear it?
