Pokemon Snow Plow Robot

Nils — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 02:24:50 +0000

Snow plows are not a new invention. And it’s really one of those things that just beg to be robotized. But I think only the Japanese could have the idea of making their autonomous snow-plow robots look like Pokemon characters.

Pink Tentacle has more details, and also added these cute pointy ears for further realism:

(Via Pink Tentacle.)

Heated Gloves and Socks and Slippers, Oh My!

Nils — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 21:19:23 +0000

Women freeze easily. And Asian women freeze most easily of all. At least that is my impression, and the fact that the Japanese came up with a remedy seems to support the theory. Thanko is offering two products to keep us warm in those severe winters.

First are the battery-powered, self-heating socks and gloves:

You’ll have to strap the bulky batteries to your arms, and cables will connect to the gloves:

As you can tell from the graphic, they are not powered from a wall socket and also not powered via USB.

Why do they point that out? Yes, because it gets be even more weird, with the second Thanko product:

Yes, you see that correctly. Those are actually slippers that heat themselves, powered via your PC’s USB bus. So whenever you snuggle up on the couch with your notebook, it’ll keep your feet warm and cozy:

You can purchase the gloves and socks for 4980 Yen (30.51 Euro) and 5980 Yen (36.64 Euro), respectively, and the USB slippers for 3980 Yen (24.39 Euro).

I of course do not know how well these products work – But my Japanese friend, whom I showed the advertisements, was actually very interested in them. I rest my case…

(Via Akihabara News.)

Wacky Japanese Stuff » Winter

Pokemon Snow Plow Robot

Heated Gloves and Socks and Slippers, Oh My!