This Aircon Smartwatch Promises To Keep You Cool From the Wrist Up

The wearable device aims to offer a reprieve from heat and cold by sending signals to the wearer's brain through a special wrist strap.
Sarah Ward
September 24, 2017

As warmer weather starts to make its presence known, including an unseasonably hot September patch in Sydney and Brisbane, we're all clamouring for our favourite cooling devices. Fans, air conditioners, pools, any patch of water you can find, frozen drinks, boozy icy poles, all the ice cream you can handle: if it can combat the heat, even for a brief instant, it's a spring and summer staple.

Imagine, however, just slapping on a temperature-regulating smartwatch rather than camping out under your aircon or getting comfy in a paddling pool with an esky filled with cold beverages. Or, in addition to all of the above. That's the idea behind the Aircon Watch, a device two years in the making. It claims to offer a reprieve from feeling too warm — or, in winter, too cold — by sending hot or cool signals to the wearer's brain through its special pulsating wrist strap.

If you're a little skeptical, that's understandable, though the folks behind the watch point to the instant cooling effect that running an ice cube over your wrist can have — as well as a 2012 research study by Stanford University, which used a cooling glove to indicate that heat exchange can occur through the extremities. And if you think it sounds like a winning idea, you're not alone. Currently running a Kickstarter campaign, the Aircon Watch has already reached its funding goal more than 26 times over. At the time of writing, it's still accepting backers for 18 more days, with the watches expected to start shipping in December.

Image: Aircon Watch.

Published on September 24, 2017 by Sarah Ward
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