Ridiculous tech
WE SCOUR THE DARK AND OFTEN PERVERTED CORNERS OF THE INTERNET TO BRING YOU THE WEIRDEST TECH AROUND. YOU MAY WANT TO BRING A SICK BOWL OR A BOX OF TISSUES TO CRY INTO...
WAYSKIN Home YOUR PERSONAL SKINCARE THERAPIST. en.wayskin.com
This isn’t the first product from the South Korea-based company, with the WAY skincare device successfully being funded on Indiegogo back in 2015. What is it? Well, the Home is a “skin care device that monitors, analyses and cares for your skin” in a time- and money-friendly way, costing you just a teeny US$269. Why do you need one? According to the company, you’re probably “too busy to visit the dermatologist on a regular basis” (yep) or unwilling to spend lots of money on skin treatment (yep), so they’ve developed this at-home kit to keep your skin healthy. It’s a “phone-sized device” that you press to your face throughout the day. It takes readings of your skin and your environment and sends the results to the companion app. It will then suggest a list of products to use and a host of tips to keep your skin good enough to eat. The part you press to your face is an LED pad that changes colour and apparently does different things with each colour. Call us sceptical.
SightSaver Computer Glasses PROTECT YOUR EYES FROM HARMFUL COMPUTER SCREENS. sightsavercomputerglasses.com
Successfully funded back in November of last year, this sunglasses-looking wearable evidently managed to scare enough people into coughing up US$119 to save their eyesight. The lenses aren’t just coloured, but rather infused by a synthetic substance called Melaneye that apparently helps things look sharper and clearer while looking at a screen. However, these glasses are potentially a victim of being too late to the party. Blue light has been tackled by most of the large tech companies now, by introducing Night Shift and equivalent features to reduce the amount of blue light emitting from our screens at certain times of the day. Some of these features have to be turned on, others are automatic, but they’re all definitely more convenient than keeping a special pair of glasses with you at all times, especially ones that only come in one style and would clash with most business attire.
PROPHIX AN INNOVATIVE WAY TO BRUSH YOUR TEETH? www.getprophix.com
While actually in the process of rethinking their design, the idea of the US$299 Prophix toothbrush will undoubtedly remain the same when the revised model becomes available. Watch in awe or disgust as your toothbrush provides you with a live feed to your mouth! By using the companion app, you can get all those bits you usually miss and check out angles of your teeth that you can’t see in the mirror. We do have a couple of problems with this idea... One, if you visit your dentist regularly, you shouldn’t need a toothbrush to tell you about any ‘problem areas’. Two, none of the images show someone using the brush with toothpaste, which generally gets very bubbly and would completely cover the camera. Three, it doesn’t appear to come with a light. And lastly, um... ew? Because of all of this, we’re really struggling to see how the Prophix would work. Maybe this is why the company needs to rethink its design...?
WIRED CAT EAR HEADPHONES THE PURRFECT WAY TO LISTEN. tinyurl.com/tla78-catears
To round off this month’s Ridiculous Tech, we thought we’d throw in yet another invention successfully crowdfunded on Indiegogo. And taking the spot of our ‘cat-related’ entry this month is a pair of headphones with cat ears on them. To be fair, there are probably dozens (if not more) versions of this device, so this one isn’t actually more ridiculous than the rest. To cat-loving maniacs, it might not even be ridiculous at all, come to think of it... The site also offers other animals to choose from, wireless options and even in-ear bud versions. One of the features of this particular version, however, is “LED accent lights” on the protruding cat ears themselves that “make a statement anywhere”. They certainly would, yeah… They come in different colours, too, including yellow, purple and blue — just like real cats.