Most people would kill for the chance to be in Paris, home to art and crepes and romance. But this year is different. Records were shattered as the French capital hit the highest temperature ever recorded there with a mercury-popping 108.7 Fahrenheit. As a point of comparison, at the same time in Tucson it was 102, El Paso was 98, and Miami was a comparatively chilly 91.
Like much of the continent, the heat (or more specifically, relief from it) was made worse by the dearth of air conditioning. According to a 2018 report by the International Energy Agency, while more than 90% of the households in the US have air conditioning, that number plummets to 10% in Europe as a whole, and down below 2% in Germany. Indeed, one could speculate that that lack of cool helps to explain the Germanic temperament.
The only other country that has AC penetration rates as high as we do is Japan. And in some respects they go one better. Remember, it was the land of the Rising Sun that brought the world the Walkman and instant noodles and karaoke. They have a reputation for taking existing technology and twisting it in some unexpected way to give us all something new we never even knew we needed. So while Willis Carrier may have invented air conditioning in 1902 so that the colored inks used to print the humor magazine Judge would line up and dry properly, it took the Japanese to adapt that technology to your pants.
Since being developed back in 2005, Kuchofuku, which translates as "air-conditioned clothing," has gained a small but devoted following. Alibaba, the Chinese online retailing behemoth, now features goods from 11 different manufacturers. While the first products were shirts, you can now get jackets, pants and beyond. There are air conditioned seat cushions, motorcycle helmets, or a cooling pad that fits between your backpack and your back. You can even buy a standalone unit that clips onto your belt and aims up at your back, enabling you to retrofit that favorite Black Sabbath tee shirt.
All the products on the market today function essentially the same way. They don't lower the temperature of the air around you so much as keep it moving, effectively making you feel cooler. As described in a Japanese technology blog, "Small fans about 10 centimeters in diameter are attached to the right and left sides of the back of the clothing. The fans draw in a large amount of air and help to vaporize sweat. As the perspiration evaporates, heat is dissipated, bringing down the wearer's body temperature. Sweating is the human body's natural air conditioner, and air-conditioned clothes are designed to give this mechanism a boost." Effectively it's like taking a shower, then laying down on the couch and having a fan blow you, minus the shower and the couch.
Taking a different approach, a startup accelerator program backed by Sony is crowdfunding something called the Reon Pocket. About the size a deck of cards, it fits in a pocket on a specially made tee shirt, and is designed to be worn under your regular clothing. Rather than pump air about you as do the other devices, it gets hot or cold, and is supposed to make you feel warmer or colder through the Peltier effect. This thermodynamic principle used in refrigeration is based on transferring cool or warmth to adjacent areas. It's the same idea as holding an ice cube your neck, and letting that feeling spread over your entire back. The Rocket can be controlled by your cell phone, and has a battery that last for about 90 minutes. It will cost about $130, though it will only be available in Japan when it begins production next year.
Whether you believe it's a natural cycle, or that we humans have something to do with it, there is no doubt that planet is getting warmer. Just as elevators made tall buildings possible, air conditioning has enabled us to expand our presence in places less hospitable than more. But until it gets more widespread, perhaps we have to think about carrying our personal cooling solutions. A cold drink certainly helps, but air-conditioned pants may be the answer. Otherwise, with apologies to Rick and Ilsa, we may not always have Paris.
-END-
Marc Wollin of Bedford likes to be cool, temperature wise. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Like much of the continent, the heat (or more specifically, relief from it) was made worse by the dearth of air conditioning. According to a 2018 report by the International Energy Agency, while more than 90% of the households in the US have air conditioning, that number plummets to 10% in Europe as a whole, and down below 2% in Germany. Indeed, one could speculate that that lack of cool helps to explain the Germanic temperament.
The only other country that has AC penetration rates as high as we do is Japan. And in some respects they go one better. Remember, it was the land of the Rising Sun that brought the world the Walkman and instant noodles and karaoke. They have a reputation for taking existing technology and twisting it in some unexpected way to give us all something new we never even knew we needed. So while Willis Carrier may have invented air conditioning in 1902 so that the colored inks used to print the humor magazine Judge would line up and dry properly, it took the Japanese to adapt that technology to your pants.
Since being developed back in 2005, Kuchofuku, which translates as "air-conditioned clothing," has gained a small but devoted following. Alibaba, the Chinese online retailing behemoth, now features goods from 11 different manufacturers. While the first products were shirts, you can now get jackets, pants and beyond. There are air conditioned seat cushions, motorcycle helmets, or a cooling pad that fits between your backpack and your back. You can even buy a standalone unit that clips onto your belt and aims up at your back, enabling you to retrofit that favorite Black Sabbath tee shirt.
All the products on the market today function essentially the same way. They don't lower the temperature of the air around you so much as keep it moving, effectively making you feel cooler. As described in a Japanese technology blog, "Small fans about 10 centimeters in diameter are attached to the right and left sides of the back of the clothing. The fans draw in a large amount of air and help to vaporize sweat. As the perspiration evaporates, heat is dissipated, bringing down the wearer's body temperature. Sweating is the human body's natural air conditioner, and air-conditioned clothes are designed to give this mechanism a boost." Effectively it's like taking a shower, then laying down on the couch and having a fan blow you, minus the shower and the couch.
Taking a different approach, a startup accelerator program backed by Sony is crowdfunding something called the Reon Pocket. About the size a deck of cards, it fits in a pocket on a specially made tee shirt, and is designed to be worn under your regular clothing. Rather than pump air about you as do the other devices, it gets hot or cold, and is supposed to make you feel warmer or colder through the Peltier effect. This thermodynamic principle used in refrigeration is based on transferring cool or warmth to adjacent areas. It's the same idea as holding an ice cube your neck, and letting that feeling spread over your entire back. The Rocket can be controlled by your cell phone, and has a battery that last for about 90 minutes. It will cost about $130, though it will only be available in Japan when it begins production next year.
Whether you believe it's a natural cycle, or that we humans have something to do with it, there is no doubt that planet is getting warmer. Just as elevators made tall buildings possible, air conditioning has enabled us to expand our presence in places less hospitable than more. But until it gets more widespread, perhaps we have to think about carrying our personal cooling solutions. A cold drink certainly helps, but air-conditioned pants may be the answer. Otherwise, with apologies to Rick and Ilsa, we may not always have Paris.
-END-
Marc Wollin of Bedford likes to be cool, temperature wise. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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