A team of MIT researchers is putting Boston residents in the hot seat.
Through a partnership with the mayor鈥檚 New Urban Mechanics office, MIT Media Lab鈥檚 Changing Environments firm is throughout the city. Benches are great places to recharge tired bodies, and Changing Environments is taking that idea one step further by .
鈥淲e want to make cities updated for our generation,鈥 said co-inventor Sandra Richter in . 鈥淥ne trait we have is we run around with our phones all the time, and they die every five minutes. So for us it鈥檚 really important to be charged up all the time and be connected to each other.鈥
The charging element is getting more attention than the team鈥檚 biggest innovation. In line with Media Lab objectives, the three women behind Soofa designed their 鈥渟mart urban furniture鈥 with sensors that upload environmental data to the team鈥檚 website. Those in need of a charge can use their last few minutes of battery life to surf to see which benches have free USB ports, as well as find out the relative air quality and noise pollution levels around each bench.
The benches will be installed during the next few days throughout central Boston and Cambridge; 10 are already up and running. The city is asking people to nominate an additional installation area, and the Soofa team is asking people to .听