Gadgets, Gizmos, and Games for Geeks

Because some people still care about making the future we all dreamed about as kids a reality, professor Homei Miyashita at Meiji University in Japan has developed a monitor that can imitate on-screen flavors, appropriately naming it Taste The TV (TTTV).

When it comes to healthy living, McDonald’s is one of the last places that comes to mind. I mean, did you ever see the movie Super Size Me? Well, at one McDonald’s location in China, you can work off a little of your high-fat and high-carb lunch while you eat.

Do you have a knot in your back? Do you trust a robot to massage it out without snapping your neck in the process? If you do, you’re in luck, thanks to Massage Robotics’ MR-01, a $310,000 fully autonomous massage robot with two 6-axis collaborative robotic arms that operate using cloud artificial intelligence.

Because Japan will never stop being lightyears ahead of the unusual but practical fashion game, this is the Butterfly Birth Shopping Bag from Felissimo. Available from the Japan Trend Shop, it features a green chrysalis carrying case, from which you can extract the beautiful translucent butterfly wings shopping bag, created in the likeness of the wings of a chestnut tiger butterfly, a species commonly found in Asia.

Just when you thought tape dispensing couldn’t get any more exciting, Amazeko has released this Clapping Monkey Tape Dispenser. Available on Amazon (affiliate link), the monkey happily claps his cymbals whenever you pull on the tape.

Move over, gingerbread houses, because this LEGO Mega Factory built by YouTuber The Brick Wall is capable of constructing an entire log cabin out of cucumbers, which will henceforth be known as a cuke cabin. The massive LEGO factory took 83 days of planning and construction, and consists of 23,000+ pieces, 21 motors, and 7 controllers, and has a footprint of 64″x 44″ x 22″.

Created by vinyl figure producer Handmade By Robots, this series of collectible vinyl figures features horror movie villains in the style of knitted dolls. They’re not knitted though, they’re plastic, and I’m not sure I’d want any of them staring at me from a bedroom shelf at night, no matter how cute they are.

Inspired by the iconic scene from the movie where E.T. makes Eliot’s bike fly, Firebox is selling this officially licensed E.T. Moon Lamp. It features a moveable silhouette of Eliot and E.T. against a lit full moon.

Crafted by musical mad scientist Sam Battle of Youtube channel Look Mum No Computer, the Santasizer isn’t an antibacterial hand gel to help keep the coronavirus at bay, but eleven dancing Santa toys from the 90’s connected to a synthesizer that reacts to the input being played through them.

Do you know what your foyer has been missing? A superhero to greet you after a long day’s work. And what better superhero for the job than your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man? Thankfully, Queen Studios has you covered with this full-scale Spider-Man in Iron Spider suit statue.

Proving that art isn’t dead, it’s just gotten extremely esoteric, Berlin, Germany-based artist and inventor Uri Tuchman crafted a beautiful wood and metal dagger inspired by the shape of a chicken leg. Now you can carve your chicken with a chicken!

Because why shouldn’t I add a bit of piano accompaniment to the natural percussion I produce on the toilet, FireBox is selling this $18 Toilet Piano. The foot-operated piano features a full octave of keys (13 – 8 white, 5 black) so I can vainly attempt to cover the sounds I’m making in the bathroom while party guests knock on the door and politely ask me to hurry up.

Are you an electric guitar player? Do you like cutting things? Well, for those of you who answered an emphatic ‘yes’ to both, there are the Seki Sound electric guitar scissors. Made by Nikken Cutlery in Seki, Gifu prefecture, Japan (an area known for its history of forging samurai swords), they’re the perfect scissors to display in the office supply caddy on your desk to let everyone know you’d rather be jamming.

There’s nothing quite like telling stories around a campfire. But what if you’re inside? And what if you don’t have a fireplace like me? Enter Tasmanian artist Duncan Meerding’s beautifully crafted Cracked Log Lamps, salvaged pieces of wood that he’s outfitted with a lightbulb socket inside so they glow warmly through the cracks.

Grogu (aka Baby Yoda, The Child) was the breakaway star of The Mandalorian. Everybody loves him, and I’m sure Disney is quite happy with their little alien investment, particularly in the merchandising department, where I suspect executives are using $100 bills to light cigars even as you read this.

Breakfast: if it isn’t over the top, I’m not interested. Just ask my mom. I also don’t get green vegetables. But I’ll certainly eat an entire stack of stuffed pancakes made with The Original Stuffed Pancake Maker (affiliate link) from Pancake Wow!