miTail Animatronic USB-C Clip-on Tail: Furrly Modern

The Tail Company is running a successful Kickstarter campaign for its latest animatronic accessory, the miTail. This is their third animatronic tail, and as such comes with several major improvements, such as USB-C charging, a clip that makes the tail equally easy to attach and detach, and a no-phone mode, which lets the tail resort to random movements if you don’t have its companion app.

Like The Tail Company’s previous tail products, the miTail has a removable cover, so you can choose from various covers or even make your own. The tail’s battery lets it wag, curl, and wave for up to 5h per charge, but thanks to its USB-C charging port, you can charge it on the go with a power bank.

I’ve seen far crazier things than people with tails and people not reacting to people with tails just this past 2 years, so I say whatever floats your boat. Wear nine tails if you want. It’s your butt. Pledge at least £145 (about $200 USD) on Kickstarter to receive a miTail with a cover of your choice.

This Augmentation Give Humans a Robot Tail

When it comes to augmenting the human body with technology, video games and science fiction movies have us dreaming of giant mech-like exosuits, arm-mounted flamethrowers, and superhuman vision and hearing. What we’ve got for now is a robotic tail.

Developed by researchers at Japan’s Keio University, the Arque is a robotic appendage that gives its wearer a mechanical tail. The mechanical tail was inspired by the tail of a seahorse, though in this case, its number of vertebrae are adjustable, and it has artificial muscles which are controlled by a pressurized air system.

 

Now the idea of a robotic tail might seem silly at first, but it turns out that this unusual device could be useful. You see, animals use their tails to help balance, and by giving humans a tail, it could help us balance in precarious situations, such as carrying boxes up or down stairs, or even to help people who have balance problems.

[via Fast Company]