Kitten Tail fashion: Mood sharing cat tails are big in Japan
Japan has been the originator of many odd gadgets over the years; think Hello Kitty shaped vibrators, talking toilet seats and robotic dolls that count calories for you. I just found out about a new product that’s hitting the market there, and it’s in the same kooky vein that will make you roll your eyes and then go, ‘Well, maybe..’
Introducing the Shippo, the gelocated fluffy kitten tail designed to be worn in public to display your emotions (by waggling) and display your location (for the parents who aren’t happy you’re wagging your tail in public). If this sounds confusing, let me break it down for you.
The Shippo is a pin on tail that you attach to your behind, and syncs with a neural sensor that you place on your forehead. The neural sensor syncs with the tail and supposedly ‘activates’ it based on your emotions. The idea is that if you’re feeling happy/joyous/ embarrassed to be wearing a fluffy kitten tail in public that the tail will move in time with your neural brain waves. The tail has three settings, and will wag slowly if you are relaxed and speed up as you get excited/frustrated/drunk.
There’s more to the Shippo tail than simply serving to create a scene wherever you go- the sensor that you wear also connects to the Shippo smartphone app, which will tag your location AND your mood to the places you visit.
I think it’s kind of interesting to see what places make the wearer feel happier and where you’re more likely to be stressed or flustered, and it’s a different way to map location;- emotional mapping, rather than physical images, so a story of your feelings in map form. OK, that’s getting a little existential, but you get the idea. Read more…
