A company created a new type of personal air conditioner

It's only a few short months until summer attempts to cook us all with sweltering, sticky heatwaves.

If you're gearing up to face the season without a full-fledged air conditioner, there may be hope, as a new startup is promising the world's first personal, portable air conditioner. 

Evapolar, the brainchild of Russian entrepreneurs Eugene Dubovoy and Vladimir Levitin, is billed as an easy-to-use device that casts a "cool ocean breeze" and humidifies dry air.

Rather than use chemicals like Freon, which power traditional air conditioners, Evapolar uses a patented filter and a refillable water container to purify and push out cooled air with a small fan.

Because Evapolar cools by filtering and humidifying the air around it, odds are its cooling effects will be best felt in drier, arid environments. In more humid areas, it's probably not going to be noticeably cooler than a fan, though the creators say they've tested it in wetter locales as well.

With a fairly small effective range, the eco-friendly device certainly won't replace a bona-fide AC unit, but could keep a desk chill. It is, after all, personal. 

Evapolar achieved its fundraising goal on Indiegogo in October of 2015, and will start shipping units out in May. It's available for pre-order in both white and black, and runs for $179, with additional cartridges currently selling for $20.