Boston is rolling out solar panel-equipped benches to charge your devices

“Your cellphone doesn’t just make phone calls, why should our benches just be seats?” This is a statement made by Boston’s Mayor, Martin J. Walsh, when he unveiled that the city would soon start seeing “smart” benches making its rounds. This new initiative is called Soofas and basically what they do is that they help charge your smartphone while providing you with a place to sit as well. Now we’ve seen charging efforts introduced in various cities around the US. For example over in New York City, AT&T introduced solar-powered street charging stations, so we guess Soofas would be the city of Boston’s response to that. The benches will feature solar panels which will be used to collect energy, energy which users can then use to charge their mobile devices with.

We’ve all heard about smartphones. Now there are smart benches. That is the idea behind a new Boston initiative which will bring “Soofas,” solar-powered benches, to the city. The benches, to be located in various parks, will allow residents to take a load off their feet — while plugging in and recharging their cellphones. “Your cellphone doesn’t just make phone calls, why should our benches just be seats?” Mayor Martin J. Walsh said in a statement Friday. The high-tech benches were invented by MIT Media Lab spinoff Changing Environments, a Verizon Innovation Program. The benches also connect wirelessly, using Verizon’s network, to the Internet to upload location-based environmental information, such as air quality and noise-level data. City officials said the first units in Boston will be funded by Cisco Systems, a leader in development of smart city solutions, at no cost to the city. Over the next week, as part of the new pilot effort, the benches will be located at several city parks, including Titus Sparrow Park in the South End, the Boston Common, and the Rose Kennedy Greenway. “We are fortunate to have talented entrepreneurs and makers in Boston thinking creatively about sustainability and the next generation of amenities for our residents,’’ Walsh said.