Quick Summary
A Japanese company has created a human-sized refrigerator designed to cool people down in just a few minutes during extreme heat.
The wheeled cooling booth is aimed at workplaces and public spaces, offering a refreshing escape when the temperature gets too much.
This latest heatwave got you dreaming of climbing into the fridge? Well, this unusual invention might be the next best thing. Japanese companies SDRS and TRUSCO Nakayama have unveiled the Do Hiemon Box. This is a personal cooling booth designed to rapidly lower body temperature during extreme summer conditions.
The human-sized unit looks more like a vending machine than a refrigerator, complete with a glass front panel and enough room for one person to sit inside. Once the door is closed, the booth maintains an internal temperature of around 15°C while directing 5°C air towards your head, neck, shoulders and back.
According to its creators, people start to feel cooler in around five minutes, while a 10-minute session may help relieve the effects of heat exhaustion. To avoid overcooling, the unit automatically switches off after 20 minutes.
This isn't built for homes though. The Do Hiemon Box has been designed for businesses, factories, construction sites and outdoor events where people may be exposed to high temperatures for long periods.
It sits on wheels so it can be moved where needed and is claimed to be relatively energy efficient, costing around 16 yen per hour (7p/9c) to run despite its industrial appearance.
The downside is the price. A single unit costs around 1.5 million yen (roughly £6,900 / $10,000), making it an investment for organisations rather than individuals.
Even so, as heatwaves become more common across the globe, inventions like this could become a more familiar sight.
Whether you'd happily step inside what is essentially a human-sized fridge is another matter, but when temperatures are pushing past 30°C, it really doesn't sound quite so strange.
