Weird Tokyo-based startup Kuchofuku [JP] and major trading company Itochu have developed a mattress of a very special kind: Just in time for the summer, the proud owners can switch on a built-in “air conditioning system” in order to cool off their bodies.
The fan is located at the foot of the mattress. When it’s switched on, air is being pulled in from behind the sleeper’s head and transported to the feet, drawing off that nasty body heat.
It’s quite cheap, too. According to the makers, operating the mattress for eight hours results in about 13 cents in monthly electricity costs, which is way less than using an air conditioner that cools an entire room. The best part is that the mattress can be used in winter as well, as buyers get a heater with the mattress.
Running eight hours a day, the system will generate only about 13 yen in — much cheaper than using an air conditioner to cool an entire bedroom. The mattress goes on sale in May in Japan in May and costs $300.
The Japan Trend Shop (a reliable English online store for stuff from Japan) is actually selling Kuchofuku beds already, like here. So if you live outside Japan and want to stop sweating, you now know who you can contact.
There is no bigger picture yet of this new mattress apart from the one above. The other pictures show an older model, but the mattresses basically look the same from the outside.
Via Nikkei [registration required, paid subscription]