Just can’t get enough cute oozing out of every single pore of your body? Silly not-from-the-future-run-of-the-mill stationary cat ears not doing it for you? Read on, my friends, read on.
We’ve all seen the Star Wars Force Trainer as well as many other hands-free devices that allow powerful sorcery to be done simply by the power of one’s brain alone. But have we seen a headband that turns you into a fully functional human sized cat? I think not.
Neurowear’s Necomimi promises to do just that. Well, not really. But almost! The hairband houses sensors that read and interpret the user’s brainwaves, which are then translated into the movement of the attached cat ears. For example, the ears perk up when you are concentrating and flop down again when you are at ease.
Necomimi is a combination of the Japanese words for cat (neko) and ear (mimi), but neco is also short for neuro communication. Pretty clever, no?
The team behind Necomimi consists of a robotics expert, a technology consultant, and an advertising agency. Collectively they have spent over five months developing the product. Brainwave technology used in medical equipment today costs a lot of money, but falling costs as of late have allowed for products such as this to surface. (Furries rejoice!)
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As it stands, the product is nothing more than a novelty item. However in the future, similar technology could be used to help mentally and physically disabled people express their feelings and emotions more clearly. There are many other practical applications that could make good use of similar technology as well. Only time will tell what new innovations the future will bring. (Can you say dog ears!?)
So what do you think? Would this be a product you would want to purchase? Do you expect it to catch on? Let us know in the comments below.
P.S. What’s better than mind controlled cat ears? Liking Tofugu On Facebook.
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