From Square Wheel Bicycle To Tomato-Feeding Robot: These Bizarre Innovations Set The Internet Ablaze
The Internet often becomes the end of a funnel, jammed with an influx of content all over the numerous social media platforms. Among the nonsensical and absurd are the clever innovations that often go unnoticed by the commoners on the Internet.
Well, if you are one of those people who have no idea what we are talking about, then you might be in dire need of reading through this piece. While the internet is filled with more bad things than useful things, there are people online who share their adventures with technology.??
Whether it be a self-made hovercraft or a new type of bicycle, all these innovations have struck a chord with nerds all over the internet. However, not all these creative endeavours down the side of a machine are necessary or even appreciated by people. Some end up getting battered by other intellectuals who deem these innovations useless.
Whatever the case, by surfing through the numerous jugaads and makeshift innovations, one can get a good overview of the bizarre inventions that breed in the crowded timelines of social media platforms.
1. Square-Wheeled Bicycle
A while ago, a unique bicycle design went viral on the internet for its unusual wheel design. What was so peculiar about the bike, you ask? Well, an engineer named Sergii Gordieiev worked in his shed and came up with a fully functioning bicycle running on square wheels.
If you think about it, a?square-wheel bicycle goes against the laws of physics. However, the engineer made it work for his YouTube channel, The Q. Sergii obviously couldn¡¯t make the square wheels work the same way a conventional round wheel works.
So, the engineer built a channel around the square wheels that would be activated through the pedals of the bicycle. While the frame of the bicycle remained stationary and only the channels moved, bringing the cycle into stable motion.
2. Automated Chrome Dino Game
A college student took it upon himself to finish the Google Chrome Dino game. However, it was easier to build a robotic contraption to set up a non-human at work than to keep hitting the spacebar till the dinosaur reached the end of the game.
Thanks to the setup, the student got a job interview at Google even before completing his degree. Software engineer Akshay Narisetti shared a video on Twitter recounting the story of when he was offered a job at Google.
Akshay got hold of a tiny robotic clicker that kept going to play the game while following a code running on another computer.
3. Leafblower Hovercraft
A Japanese inventor, Hideyasu Ito, became the shining star of the tech side of the internet when he demonstrated his?leafblower hovercraft at the 2022 annual DIY exhibition called Maker Faire Tokyo.
A decade ago, Ito planted the seeds of his innovation when he bought a leaf blower at a cheap price. Although at the time, Ito had no use for the leafblower, later he got to know of a man who had used his leafblower to make a hovercraft, which kicked off Ito¡¯s long quest to innovate leafblower hovercraft.
Since then, Ito has made numerous versions of his standard design, like the electric-powered hovercraft or the mini one for the kids. The basic design of Ito¡¯s innovation consists of four fans that are enclosed within plastic containers. Once the fans start, the plastic containers fill up and propel the rider a few centimetres above the ground.
4. Ultrasonic Dog Repellent
Another ingenious innovation that left people on the internet awestruck was an ultrasonic dog repellent. A deliveryman fed up with the neighbourhood dogs running after his two-wheeler every time he entered the street had had enough of the canines and their dangerous game.
To assist his rides through the neighbourhood and keep the dog chases to a minimum, a man came up with the idea of making a dog repellent. He made an ultrasonic device that emitted frequencies that could only be heard through dog ears and activated the sound whenever dogs came around barking at his two-wheeler.
A video of the man demonstrating the use of the dog repellent went viral. In the clip, the man showed how his device worked wonders in a neighbourhood filled with canine visitors that loved to welcome the deliveryman with aggressive barks and chases down the road.?
Man makes an ultrasonic dog repellant for his bike, to stop dogs from attacking him on his route.
by u/firefly99999 in Damnthatsinteresting
5. Slug Bot?
Slugs are a nightmare for any farmer. They dig holes in lettuce leaves, gorge the pulp out of tomato fruits, and end up ruining precious crops. A company led by Dr. Jenna Ross has come up with the ingenious idea to employ a slug bot to control the slug situation in fields.
There are an estimated 3,500 species of terrestrial gastropods, slugs, and snails, making them one of the most successful and diverse groups of animals in the terrestrial pond. These slugs not only eat a farmer¡¯s crop but are also responsible for numerous diseases that they transmit to other individuals who eat their vegetables without washing them.
To avoid the chemical showers in the field, Ross and her team came up with an autonomous slug to monitor the slugs in the field. Ross collected slugs to examine them, and once they had enough, the doctors moved on to the multi-spectral imaging phase. Ross uses a video metre to look at 19 different wavelengths to distinguish and quantify the features of the different slugs. This data is then used to train the AI. Blending all the expertise, making use of the robotic arm, and trying the product over crops by slug mapping
6. Wearable Robot: Tomatan
Eight years ago, before taking part in the Tokyo Marathon in Japan, the juice company Kagome claimed that they were the largest supplier of ketchup and tomato juice in the country.
An employee from the team was set to run the marathon when the company came up with the idea to invent Tomatan. It is a wearable robot that automatically feeds you slices of tomato while you run a long-distance marathon to provide the runner with important nutrients.
The robot itself weighed around 8 kg and would be worn as a tomato-head backpack. The contraption was designed by Japan-based artist Maywa Denki. While on the marathon, the employee carried the robot on his back while running alongside Novmichi Tosa, who would be ready to fix the robot in case it broke down.
Along with the normal version of the robot, a miniature version was also made. So that on the day of the full Tokyo Marathon, the employee who would run the marathon would wear the petite Tomatan, which is a lighter version of the same design.
7. Breathable Chocolate
Many people struggle to maintain their health because of their food cravings. Late-night ramen and cravings for something sweet take even the fittest of people on a downward spiral on their health metre.
To combat all such cravings, biomedical engineer David Edwards and his students found the most unusual solution. They came up with a product called ¡®Le Whif Breathable Chocolate¡¯.?
The product allows people to cut back on chocolate by having it through their noses rather than their mouths. This means that the product allows people to breathe chocolate and its scent to overcome their cravings to eat it. It was created to give people the taste of chocolate in particle form.
Rather than consuming high-calorie chocolate bars once every few days, Le Whif allows people to taste chocolate through their noses while avoiding the unsurmountable damage a bar of normal chocolate would do to one¡¯s body.
The science behind the product is explained on the product¡¯s official site: "If you put the applicator in your mouth and suck, your mouth is then filled with the sweet taste of chocolate. Each inhalation contains 40¨C80 mg of chocolate and is, in essence, intense chocolate air containing particles small enough to travel through the air and onto your tongue but big enough not to enter your lungs."
8. Selfie Toaster
Well, there isn¡¯t anything that can surpass a selfie in popularity on the internet. Ever since the beginning of Y2K, the selfie has been the ultimate pop culture ritual. Whether it be meeting a new celebrity or posing in front of the Eiffel Tower, everything needs to be on a cellphone with a compulsory pout.
Well, playing on this very craze of the selfie, Vermont Novelty Toaster Corporation came up with the bizarre idea of selling a selfie toaster. Yes, you heard that right! A toaster that imprints selfies on pieces of bread using heat.
This customised toaster became the hit of the season when it came out in 2014. It cost about $75 (nearly Rs 6,000) to buy the product, which would burn your face onto a slice of bread. Only the most bizarre people bought into the deal. Well, that is more people than you could ever imagine, as the toaster even went on to become a national talking point, securing slots on daytime shows.?
Tell us what you think about these bizarre innovations in the comments below.
For more trending stories, follow us on?Telegram.