Boston rolls out smart, rechargeable benches

Boston has begun unveiling rechargeable solar points on park benches for those perennially caught out without any battery charge in their phones, tablets and laptops.

Dubbed the ‘Soofa‘ it will provide seating space for two, either side of a single photovoltaic solar panel encased in a sturdy central box that is fitted with two USB ports.

“Your cell phone doesn’t just make phone calls, why should our benches just be seats?” said Marty Walsh, Mayor of Boston. “We are fortunate to have talented entrepreneurs and makers in Boston thinking creatively about sustainability and the next generation of amenities for our residents.”

The high-tech benches will be deployed in green spaces in Boston throughout July, through a partnership with the MIT Media Lab spin-off firm, Changing Environments. Soofa’s will also collect and share location-based information like air quality and noise level data, as well as providing more seating space.

“Soofa is the first step into smart urban furniture. The possibilities to update the city for the mobile generation are endless and long overdue,” said Sandra Richter, Co-founder and CEO of the young startup.

Residents have been able to recommend locations and name the new benches via an online campaign through Twitter and web portals.

The Soofa builds on the functionality of the first solar-powered seat by Changing Environments, which was successfully piloted in Boston in 2013 in a partnership between the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, the MIT Media Lab, and the Rose Kennedy Greenway.