Panasonic trials cool station booth
8th February 2025
JAPAN: The Osaka Metro is trialling an open-fronted “station waiting booth” that can be heated or cooled using airflow control technology from Panasonic.
The aim is to provide a safe, secure, and comfortable waiting space even in places where it has not been possible to install air conditioned station waiting rooms due to platform width issues.
The new booth has a depth of 1,297mm, around half the depth of existing private station waiting rooms. Energy consumption of the booth per seat is said to be the same even with an open front.
Panasonic and Osaka Metro have developed the open-front station waiting booth by combining an air conditioner and a blower fan. The zoning airflow created by Panasonic’s technology envelops the conditioned air around people and prevents it from escaping.
By switching the damper that controls the airflow inside, cool air is blown directly onto the upper body in summer, lowering the perceived temperature, and warm air is blown out from the feet in winter.
A waiting booth with four seats will be installed at Asashiobashi Station, an elevated outdoor station on the Osaka Metro Chūō Line.
The demonstration experiment will be continued until September. Both winter and summer user surveys will be conducted and temperature, power consumption, and other measurements taken using various sensors to verify the relationship between user perception and actual temperature.
