The 'smart city' is on the horizon. On Thursday morning, the first Soofa smart bench in Cambridge came to Toscanini's ice cream shop in Central Square. By the end of the coming week, 11 in total will be installed.
In addition to this Central Square location, people will soon be able to enjoy benches in spaces like Harvard Square, Fresh Pond, and Danehy Park. "Soofa bench installation locations were chosen to best provide services to in high foot-traffic areas ranging from bus stops to parks to storefronts," the company said in a press release today.
As BostInno reported last June, Soofa installed benches in Boston parks as part of a pilot program. The benches are solar powered and can charge electronic devices via USB. These benches also collect and share information like air quality and noise level based on the user's location.
The Soofa benches were designed by MIT graduates Sandra Richter and Nan Zhao, as well as Harvard Graduate School of Design grad Jutta Friedrichs. They have started shipping benches throughout the country and will soon reach cities including Los Angeles, Austin, and Miami.
According to Beta Boston, a few changes have been made to the original product, which will evolve overtime. However, the solar panel continues to be placed at the center of the bench in order to spark conversation between users about solar energy. Soofa will no doubt come to dominate the sustainability scene.
Until then, what's better than eating ice-cream with a fully charged battery?
