Toyota has planted several 18-foot high solar-powered daisies in front of the Prudential Mall in Boston as part of their launch for the 2010 3rd-generation Prius, which will utilize solar power for inner ventilation if parked in the sun. The flowers provide free Wi-Fi, cellphone and laptop charging, and seating for 10 people at a time. The installation also includes 5 bus shelters that use solar panels to operate fans for air circulation.
The exhibit leaves Boston July 19, and will be placed in other cities through the rest of the year.
[via The Design Blog]
[images from Boston.com/The Design Blog]
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
Reddit
StumbleUpon
These are great. I wonder about the cost of making these. If they were produced to be functional and the decorative thing was left out, could they be made cheap enough to be produced by cities and used in public spaces permanently? That certainly would add a true “wireless” aspect to all these mobile gadgets people seem to live on these days.
July 20th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Roger – you bring up an excellent question. We are the designers & fabricators of these flowers and love the idea of solar powered wi-fi being more widely available!
July 20th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
When are these puppies supposed to make it to LA and where in LA can I find them?
July 23rd, 2009 at 7:38 pm