Life in the 21st century certainly has it perks. The chances are, if there’s something you need doing, there’s a gadget that’ll do it for you. And even though this makes it sound like we’re finally living the futuristic dream of our ancestors, there are gadgets out there that take things a little too far. From a ten-second toothbrush to a smart toilet that scans your behind, here are some of the most ridiculous pieces of tech the world has to offer!
Rotating TV
If you’ve ever tried to mirror your phone to a TV, you’ll understand the frustration of having to play vertically-shot videos on only one third of the screen. But with the overwhelming rise of TikTok and other smartphone-based video sites, this pesky digital shortcoming has become more and more common.
But, instead of just making all videos pleasantly horizontal, the world may soon be forced to adapt to this annoying vertical-only trend, and Samsung’s latest invention is hoping to pioneer this leap into the vertical future. I present to you: the Samsung Sero, a rotating TV that basically looks like a giant smartphone, aimed at making binge-watching social media videos easier than ever.
Samsung The Sero QLED 4K HDR TV | Features & Specs | Samsung UK by Samsung UK In its default state, the Sero sits in a vertical, TikTok-ready position which, coupled with various screensavers and clock faces, looks like anything but a TV. At one touch of a button, the screen spins into landscape view, ready for old-fashioned video-viewing. But you might want to make sure there’s enough space around the TV first, because the Sero’s 43-inch screen doesn’t come with protective edges, and considering the $1400 you’ll pay for it, having it smack into your other furniture would be less-than-ideal.
On top of that, the various potential problems that tend to arise from adding mechanical, moving parts to an electronic device beg the question: is it even worth it? Sure, its vertical orientation mirrors your phone to a much larger proportion than a regular TV, but outside of social media, there isn’t much use for the Sero’s capabilities. At best, the Sero transforms the way you watch funny cat videos and stalk your ex’s Instagram, but is full-screen resolution really necessary to see that they’re already dating someone else?
Making Music From Spider Webs
It looks like scientists are well on their way to establishing communication with spiders. It’s true, and it’s even stranger than you might imagine. Researchers in the US have brought the structure of a spiderweb to life by, of all things, translating it into music. That said, it’s not exactly the Itsy Bitsy Spider song. Take a listen for yourself:
MIT scientists translated spider webs into music by Tech It Out Studio Sounds like something right out of a horror film, doesn’t it? The unnerving sounds,
created by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is the product of hi-tech laser scanning technology and image processing tools.
The research team continuously scanned a web as it was being built by a spider, then assigned each strand an individual sound frequency, which could then be triggered to form the nightmarish symphony you just heard. But why? Well, spiders, not usually having particularly good eyesight, rely on vibrations to tell them what’s happening in their web. Prey getting trapped, for instance, generate different vibrations than rain drops, or another spider paying a visit. In fact, spiders have even been observed tapping their limbs on their webs, triggering vibrations, as a method to communicate with other spiders!
So, researchers hope that, by analyzing these patterns of vibrations, they’ll be able to replicate them to trigger responses in spiders. For example, certain vibrations might prove capable of influencing how they build their webs, or how they react to humans, or, in the craziest aspect of all, might even allow scientists to establish a very basic form of back-and-forth communication with them. Of course, spiders probably don’t have much more to say in their tippy-tappy language than "are you food" or "can I mate with you", but we won’t know for sure until we reach that point! But, as exciting as the possibility of inter-species communication might be, did scientists really have to choose spiders? Once we give them a voice, they might ask for all sorts of spider rights, and probably demand that we all go to prison for squishing their buddies. Maybe it’s best we leave spiders, and their musical webs, as far away from the Billboard Hot 100 as possible.
The Roll Bot Toilet Paper Robot
We’ve all been there: nature calls, and you’re in too much of a hurry to realize there’s no toilet paper until it’s too late. You’re too embarrassed to ask for help, and decide it might just be better to die right there. Well, in a world where rotating TVs are now a thing, you can bet your bottom dollar that toilet-paper fetching robots have been brought into existence!
#Rollbot by SteveGreenberg The RollBot, created by toilet paper brand Charmin, is designed to have your back whenever you’re stuck with an empty roll. Just use the mobile app, and the bot will roll along to your rescue. But as simple, and possibly lifesaving, as that sounds, it’s also where the concept springs a few leaks. Despite the Rollbot being equipped with infrared sensors to help it navigate your home, you’d still have to get up and open the door for it. On top of that, aside from stairs being totally out of the question, the Rollbot still needs to be stocked up manually, meaning, in the time you spend doing that, you could just restock the bathroom itself. And, if you think about it, why keep the Rollbot elsewhere in the house, when it could just be parked next to the toilet in the first place? With so many snags in the concept, it’s no wonder Charmin hasn’t pushed the Rollbot beyond the concept stage yet. Whether they’re coming up with a few more specs, or rethinking the entire idea, it’ll definitely take a lot to make the Rollbot worth our wipe. Especially since its only function right now is basically announcing to everyone it passes on its journey that you’re stuck on the porcelain throne, and in desperate need of TP!
Hushme Voice Mask
If you’re someone who doesn’t like drawing attention to yourself, you probably try to avoid public phone calls at all costs. However, there's a gadget that allows you to talk on the phone without others being able to hear you! Only problem is, despite the intentions of its designers, if you wear it, you might attract even more attention than before.
The
Hushme voice mask, which the company hilariously describes as stylish, wraps around your mouth and muffles your voice with the help of dense insulation embedded around the mouthpiece. The insulating, hypoallergenic foam forms an airtight seal around your mouth, creating a barrier that prevents the majority of the soundwaves of your voice seeping out into the space around you.
Hushme - World's first voice mask for mobile phones! by codingular It’s basically like covering your mouth with your hand, or a pillow, only hi-tech. A built-in microphone picks up your voice inside the airtight cavity, sending the audio via Bluetooth to your phone, and then onto the person you do want hearing you. The bizarre device also comes with pre-set sounds, which, if enabled, will play aloud for people around you whenever you speak, further drowning out your voice. These sounds include monkey, squirrel, and minion noises, all of which seem a little counterintuitive to not drawing attention to yourself. Not to mention the fact that the Hushme basically looks like a futuristic muzzle some dystopian society might put on someone who speaks too much!
On the other hand, if you’re willing to look past the product’s absolute ridiculousness, you’d find that the Hushme’s abilities are actually pretty impressive. With normal speech being classified as 50-60 decibels in volume by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the HushMe successfully lowers your voice to around 25 decibels, which is the equivalent of a low whisper.
That said, aside from being able to go nuts in a library, you’re probably not going to get much use out of the HushMe on a personal level. Unless you’re divulging government secrets or something.
Vacuum Shoes
These days, it’s not that unusual for brands to branch out into different product departments. Unfortunately, though, the outcomes don’t always make a lot of sense. At the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show, Denso, an auto part manufacturer, branched out into both the fashion and home-cleaning worlds, by revealing giant shoes that suck dirt from the floor while you walk. Introducing, the vacuum shoes, otherwise known as the lazy person’s hoover.
Too lazy to vacuum? Use your shoes by CNET Unfortunately, alongside their terribly uncomfortable and garish appearance, the vacuum shoes don’t really shine in the walking department either. Intended solely for indoor use, the shoes switch on every time your heel hits the ground, as a dynamo lever in the sole turns a gear that generates a small burst of electricity. That tiny burst powers an equally-short burst of suction from the nozzle at the tip of the shoe. No external power source is necessary, which is cool, but that also means the shoes don’t have an off button. Not that it matters, though, as even without an off button, the few journalists who got to test-drive Denso’s vacuum shoes said the laughably-bad suction and miniscule storage compartment render them pretty much useless anyway.
The Fliz Bike
Many people buy a bike to either avoid having to walk everywhere, or because they find pedaling much less grueling than jogging. But for anyone who likes strenuous jogging, but hates painful seats and mangled chains, the Fliz bike has them covered.
This bizarre invention sees its users trying to steer while they hang from a harness in between two wheels. And they’re not motorized, if that’s what you’re thinking! In true Fred Flintstone style, the Fliz bike requires the rider to build momentum by running before placing their feet on a set of treads near the rear wheel.
Fliz bike concept by PadixTV The German company, Fliz, first came up with the idea when they set out to refine a similar vehicle invented in 1817, by Karl Drais. The 19th-century laufmaschine, or walking-machine, had no pedals, and relied on the rider creating a scooting motion to get along. Sounds pretty whacky, but at least the laufmaschine didn’t have you suspended in mid-air like the Fliz bike! But the uncomfortable-looking harness is only the first snag in the overall concept. If the Fliz has no pedals, and is powered by momentum, can you imagine the struggle of travelling uphill? I mean, riding a normal bike up a slope isn’t exactly a joyride either, but at least you don’t have to unstrap yourself before you’re able to get off and push it!
And speaking of being strapped in, with the Fliz being designed only for people who are around 6 feet tall, I doubt the more vertically challenged end of the population will have much luck reaching the ground while hanging. In the end, the idea of the Fliz bike may be worth praising for its fun, downhill potential, but you won't see it leaving the concept phase and replacing the bicycle anytime soon. It definitely won’t be making headlines in the next Tour de France!
3D Printed Sushi
Unfortunately, not even the world of food is safe from the intrusion of ridiculous technology. The fact that you can purchase toasters online with custom-cut heating elements to bring your selfies to life on bread is proof of that. But you probably wouldn’t expect that kind of tomfoolery with sushi, of all things. Whether you love the stuff or hate it, you’ll probably agree on drawing the line at 3D-printed sushi that looks like it belongs in a video game. But this stuff actually exists.
Open Meals is a company that wants to do for food what Apple did for digital music: make it easy to download and access all in one place. Sounds impossible, right? Well, apparently not. In 2019, Open Meals showed off a
Pixel Food Printer that prints completely edible sushi. You're probably picturing a slow-moving, 3D-printing machine filled with little cubes of fish. But don’t worry, there’s actually no fish involved at all. Instead, the printer contains a database with different codes relating to the flavor, shape, color, and nutrients of various different foods. Once you’ve chosen your sushi, the Pixel Food Printer produces little cubes made from an edible gel, stacked into a specific shape and color-pattern. Before they emerge, each of these cubes are injected with different flavors, colors and nutrients, but as the company openly admitted, there’s still a lot to be done before it will taste like normal food. Not exactly what you’d call a solid sales pitch, and visitors at the 2018 SXSW trade show backed this up by describing the taste as bland, which is probably better than tasting awful. But it doesn’t matter, because if Instagram has taught us anything, it’s that nobody really cares about edibility as long as the food looks good on camera. And pixel sushi is sure to get you all the likes!
When it comes to practicality, though, I don’t see people purposefully abandoning their seaweed wrapped fish for gelatinous cubes anytime soon. From a commercial perspective, artificial food still has a long way to go before 3D-printed Big Macs become a thing. Especially since the Pixel Food Printer, like most of the technology we’ve seen so far, is currently only a prototype. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still get a taste of the future. Open Meals have their own Tokyo-based restaurant, Sushi Singularity, where they serve 3D-printed sushi based on your body’s specific dietary needs. The problem is, in order to book a reservation, you need to submit samples of your DNA, urine, and other bodily fluids beforehand. As this will be used to determine your meal and the necessary nutrients your body needs, at least you won’t have to stress over what to choose from a menu!
SUSHI SINGULARITY TOKYO by 3DP id.arts It’s probably not the best place to go if you’re in a hurry, though. While Open Meals haven’t specified the time it takes to print the sushi, going by how painfully slow most regular 3D printers are, it’s probably not going to be fast food.
Stanford Smart Toilet
We’ve already seen a robotic toilet paper carrier, but in the game of smart bathroom technology, there’s one advancement that takes the unnecessary inventions crown with a royal flush. And I mean this quite literally, because in the game of porcelain thrones, there’s one smart toilet that makes heated seats and automatic flushing look like child’s play.
Designed in an experiment by researchers at Stanford, this out-of-this-world toilet identifies users by not only their fingerprints, but also their behind!
Whenever you sit on the toilet, it scans what your momma gave you to recognize which user profile you are. Once you’re identified, all of your waste is analyzed for various diseases and certain forms of cancer. Sounds pretty genius, doesn’t it? Well, you might be a little more hesitant once you hear exactly how the toilet goes about doing these analyses. It turns out, one of the things that allows these capabilities is the fact that there’s an actual video camera on the inside of the bowl. It starts to record as soon as you sit down, and all footage is put through algorithms which determine things like stream time, waste consistency and volume. Meanwhile, uranalysis strips measure the white blood cell and protein counts in your stream, which are then used to
determine your health status. Regardless of whether there’s anything amiss, the collected data is stored in a cloud-based system for doctors to access later. You certainly wouldn’t envy the doctors reviewing that footage!
Of course, the overall concept can be really useful in detecting diseases early on, and it might be perfect for those who suffer from chronic illnesses, but I doubt many users will be particularly attracted to the toilet’s video function. With most devices being merely a couple taps away from being hacked these days, any celebrities using this toilet would probably fall prey to the occasional leak of their behind, if you’ll excuse the pun.
Kissenger Long-Distance Kissing Simulator
Long distance relationships are hard, everybody knows it. That’s exactly why researchers at City University London came up with a gadget that promises to solve at least some of those dreaded long-distance woes. No, they didn’t invent a teleportation device, but they did unveil the Kissenger, a device intended to replicate the feeling of a kiss between two users, regardless of distance.
Sounds crazy, but it’s totally real, and, in its own bizarre way, it actually kinda works. The Kissenger substitutes real lips for a round piece of silicone that you press your mouth to, which is filled with all sorts of technological wizardry. After pairing your phone with a special app that allows you to send kisses while still video-calling your partner, the device measures the pressure of different parts of the sender’s lips. These measurements are then sent to the recipient’s device, and the forward-moving actuators inside the silicon exert outward pressure to replicate the sender’s kiss, live!
The Kissing App "Kissenger" - The Gadget Show by The Gadget Show
The Kissenger simply plugs into your phone’s headphone jack and is ready to go, but this presents a bit of an issue. Given that, so far, the prototype only works with IOS devices, the fact that most iPhones no longer have headphone jacks means long-distance couples probably won’t be e-kissing their way into the future. Android lovers, meanwhile, won’t even have a chance to try! But maybe it’s for the best. Because, despite how a kiss from your distant loved one may be a welcome change from video calls and texts, kissing a piece of silicon while staring each other in the eyes sounds like just about the most awkward thing ever.
Bio-Robot Refrigerator
To many of us, our fridge is arguably the most important storage space in the house. It’s probably the most visited storage space too, especially during lockdown, when a trip to the fridge was as good as an international holiday. But why travel internationally, when your fridge can take you on a trip to the future instead?
In 2010, a Russian designer, Yuriy Dmitriev, introduced a fridge that looks like it belongs on a spacecraft from the year 3000. Say hello to the Bio-Robot Refrigerator, a zero-energy device that keeps food cool thanks to a gel-like substance you can push things directly into.
This prototype design mounts on a wall, either horizontally or vertically, and has no form of cooling motor or power source. All you have to do is shove food into its biopolymer gel, which has no odor, holds its position, and is supposedly non-sticky.
So, how does the gel go about cooling things? According to Dmitriev, the gel is partly made up of countless bio robots; microscopic nanobots that automatically draw heat from anything placed into the gel. If Dmitriev’s claims are true, this may be made possible by a complex physics phenomenon where certain materials change the wavelength of radiation they receive, resulting in a cooling effect. Seeing as all objects, including food, emit infrared radiation, the gel may absorb this radiation and convert it into different wavelengths, cooling the surrounding area in the process. Bizarrely, light generated as a by-product of doing so may even be what gives the fridge its eerie, green glow!
Electrolux Design Lab 2010 Finalist: Bio Robot Refrigerator by Yuriy Dmitriev, Russia by electroluxdesignlab As amazing as that sounds, Dmitriev hasn’t actually confirmed this to be the case. In fact, he hasn’t explained much at all about how the bio robots would realistically function, nor how the gel would be made hygienically viable for long-term use. I mean, what would happen if a bag of food leaked inside of it? But cleaning aside, if Dmitriev’s claims prove to be as legitimate as Electrolux, the company he works for, claims they are, the bio fridge could certainly be a huge step forward for one of our most-used appliances. If such a low-energy-cost, space-saving device did make it past the design stage, this nifty invention could be the future of food refrigeration. The only question is, would you be on board with having a big, green, glowing wall of food in your kitchen?
Biotech Gloves
If you’re looking for an easy way to begin your transition into a cyborg overlord, look no further than Youbionic’s Double Hand biotech gloves. These utterly ridiculous pieces of futuristic-looking technology are guaranteed to make some jaws drop. You might also drop a few glasses, depending on how well you’re able to use the Double Hand!
Youbionic Double Hand 2019 by Youbionic Made from 3D-printed plastic, the biotech gloves strap around your forearm, allowing basic open-and-close movements of each hand controlled simply by moving two of your real fingers. The device, which works on a deceptively simple system of pulley wires and costs over $2000, can be aesthetically modified to the user’s taste, but that pretty much marks the end of its special features. Aside from fetching double the amount of drinks at a bar, you’ll struggle to use the Double Hand to perform any fine motor skills like writing, painting, or playing the piano. The fingers, while designed to grip things more easily, can’t be moved individually, which basically makes them a very expensive and overcomplicated pair of salad tongs. That being said, these biotech gloves could probably come in handy for any germophobes looking to shake a lot of hands simultaneously, or any bartenders looking to make more tips by impressing customers.
But here’s how to take these biotech-gloves to the next level: simply attach another set of double hands to the end of your first pair of double hands, then another set of double hands to that, and so on, you’ll be unstoppable!
If you were amazed at these instances of technology going too far, you might want to read about
useless inventions created when engineers get bored! Thanks for reading.
