CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — If you’ve been to Faneuil Hall or Kendall Square lately, you might have noticed a different looking park bench.
For one thing, they’re orange.
They also have a solar panel attached to them. But most importantly, for members of the phone carrying public, they have plug-ins to charge any device.
And they’re free to use.
We asked some people around Park Square what goes thru their minds as they watch their batteries run out of power.
One young woman said, “When I need to contact someone, and my phone is starting to die, that gets really scary.”
A man walking his dog added, “It’s frightening. You start wondering how you’re going to get home, whether you know the directions from where I am driving, or just where I am? It can be unsettling.”
One woman noted, “There are no public telephones anymore.”
It’s times like that when seeing one of those orange benches is a relief. They’re made by Soofa, a company based in Cambridge that has its roots in the MIT Media Lab.
Company co-founder and CEO Sandra Richter believes the benches can help create social connections while people stop to charge their phones.
Sensors in the bench can measure activity in an area, and provide useful data on how often a public space is used. Richter says that can help public officials build a case for their budgets.
The benches have sensors which measure cell phone activity as a barometer for how busy an area is.
They don’t collect any private information.
Soofa now has benches in about 100 cities worldwide. They are about to add their 18th employee.
Their next project is going to try and get people to lift their heads up from their phones.
They’re adding programmable bulletin boards to many neighborhoods that can provide real time transit information as well as messages for tourists about upcoming events.
They also contain advertising that tries to focus on local businesses.
Cox Media Group
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