Boston Is Getting Solar-Powered Smart Benches In Its Parks

The next park bench you sit on may be smarter than you think. Boston is rolling out new smart benches to parks around the city, which will use solar power to allow anyone to charge their phone on the go and record data about their surroundings at the same time.

Boston is getting a lot smarter now thanks to new solar-powered smart benches called "Soofas" that can charge mobile phones. Benches will soon be getting a new definition, at least in some parts of Boston where Verizon's innovation "Changing Environments" program will deploy high-tech smart benches that can charge mobile phones and collect and share location-based information. These smart benches, brandedas "Soofas," will be installed in parks around the city this month.

The innovative idea behind the Soofa was the brainchild of three female entrepreneurs who started Changing Environment, a spin-off of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The smart benches connect to the internet wirelessly through Verizon's 4G LTE network to download environmental information like the quality of the air and noise-level data.

According to City of Boston.gov, the Soofas will not only offer extra seating space for park strollers, tourists and visitors, but also enable phone charging via a box-like device outfitted with two plug-in connectors.

"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, the co-founder and CEO of the startup company. "So are more female-lead startups which is why we hope to be a role-model for women all over the world to found cool companies like Nan Zhao, Jutta Friedrichs and I did."

Mayor Walsh of Boston announced the high-tech smart benches last Friday. The Soofas are being installed this week in Titus Sparrow Park in the South End, the Boston Common, and the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The models are already sitting at the White House Maker Faire in Washington, D.C., giving a preview to a select audience. The benches will also be deployed in Babson College and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.