You Can Now Recharge Your Phone Using These NYC Park Benches
One step closer to the city of tomorrow.
You'll never run out of juice in the Big Apple again, thanks to a new kind of public seating popping up around the city. Over the next 30 days, the Parks Department in Manhattan will unveil five solar-powered park benches that double as mobile charging stations for New Yorkers on the go.
Developed by the MIT Media Lab, Soofa Benches come fitted with solar panels and a pair of USB charging ports, where pedestrians can plug in their phone or tablet for a much needed top-up. The first of the three person benches will be installed at Highbridge Park in the Bronx next week, with the rest due to pop-up over the course of the coming month.
"We are super-excited about New York City," Soofa CEO and co-founder Sandra Richter told New York Daily News. "People are staying outside longer and using parks as their backyards. The Soofa benches are a perfect fit."
Soofa Benches are already in use in a number of US cities, including Los Angeles and Boston. In addition to providing the public with a handy place to recharge, they can also keep track of park visitor numbers by counting Wi-Fi enabled devices as they go by.
Via NY Daily News.
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