Sony, others design products to help you beat the heat

A quick browse through Amazon reveals that designers have been hard at work attempting to conquer new territory in the world of fashion: air conditioned clothing.

There are poofy jackets with fans inside that promise to prevent heat stroke and vests embedded with dozens of ice cubes that are allegedly perfect for anyone “looking to stay cool during outdoor activities like mowing the lawn or gardening.”

Now Sony has introduced a new product into this sometimes humorous space, a smartphonesized device called The Reon Pocket that operates like a mobile air conditioner (it also offers heating). Slipping into the user’s clothes between their shoulder blades on a specially-designed shirt, the bluetooth device, which is being marketed to business people, was designed to lower the wearer’s body temperature using a method known as the Peltier effect.

Using an electrical current, the effect transfers heat between two electrical conduits, according to II-VI Marlow, a manufacturing company that specializes in thermoelectric energy.

The device is being unveiled in what is likely to be the hottest summer on record, a stretch of scalding hot months that have shattered temperature records around the globe. June has already been established as the globe’s hottest month on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Nine of the 10 hottest Junes have occurred since 2010,” NOAA reported. “Last month also was the 43rd consecutive June and 414th consecutive month with above-average global temperatures.”

July has not provided the globe with much relief. Paris reached 109 degrees during a heat wave in July and new heat records have also been set in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Also in July, the United Kingdom experienced its hottest day ever, according to new provisional data released by the U.K.’S Met Office.

Sony said The Reon Pocket is part of its First Flight crowdfunding program in Japan, which was created to encourage the development of new products and businesses, according to the company.

The device is controlled using a smartphone that allows users to adjust their body temperature. After performing hundreds of simulations, Sony claims the device can lower the wearer’s body temperature by 23 degrees or raise it by about 14 degrees.

Sony claims The Reon Pocket only weighs about 3 ounces, making it easily concealed inside a “neck pocket,” which “can be worn without a sense of incongruity in appearance,” according to the company. The rechargeable device will cost around $120 and only be available in Japan when it goes on sale next year, according to Sony.

A promotional video showing how the device works has already racked up more than 500,000 views.

For those who don’t live in Japan, there are ample temperaturelowering clothing options online these days, some of them decidedly low-tech.

There’s Snowballs, a company that makes cooling underwear for men, which markets itself as a way to increase male fertility by raising the temperature in areas where testosterone is produced.

Women have cooling options too.

Cool58 s Bra Coolers claim their machine-washable pockets are not only discreet, but can be filled with freezable cooling packs that cool the body when worn.

“I feel like cooling down your chest starts cooling down your whole body,” Kristen Mcrobie, who uses bra coolers, told USA Today.