Is it so difficult to take a cloth and wipe off your screen? Yes it is- we need automated help with that. Meet Auto Mee S from Takara Tomy, the screen cleaning mini-robot. This tiny DJ Roomba-like device moves around on top of your smartphone or iPad and cleans the screen. Underneath the Auto Mee S’s palm-sized body is a rotating cleaning pad (replaceable) and the wheels so it can scoot around on top of your device. Watch it in action here:
It has edge detecting capabilities so it stays on your screen without rolling off. This 100% necessary device sells for $21 plus shipping from Japan.
At the 2013 Tokyo Gift Show, Takara Tomy unveiled a toy that’s at the cusp of being practical. The company calls it the Automee S, a tiny disk-shaped robot designed to clean the touchscreens on mobile devices. iRobot has nothing to worry about for now.
While the Roomba has brushes and a vacuum motor, the AutoMee S does its job using tiny cleaning pads. It also has sensors that detect edges and help it clean a screen evenly. According to Newlaunches, the Automee S can clean a tablet’s screen in about 8 minutes, which is depressingly long for a cleaning robot, but is just an endearing affectation for a toy. Here’s a short video about the Automee S uploaded by Robots Dreams:
The Automee S will go on sale in Japan on March for ¥1,575 (~$17 USD). It’s so stupid. I want one.
Halt, citizen! Put the goldfish down. You cannot take care of it, and it will not fill the hole in your heart that your ex punched through when she left. But if you already bought an aquarium, consider filling it with Robo Fish. Lifelike swimming is its prime directive.
Made by Takara Tomy, Robo Fish can move up and down randomly and at times even act like it’s foraging for food. It uses two LR44 watch batteries to power its waggling tail. Here’s a video uploaded by YouTuber Brandon Avery:
They’re not as lifelike as this one, but they’re good enough as toys. Or not. Some of the customer reviews on Amazon Japan – where Robo Fish can be ordered for￥2,980 (~$38 USD) each – say that the toy drains its batteries in just 2 hours. So maybe it really is looking for sustenance.
Light painting can be a pretty awesome technique, which involves the capture of a moving light source, using long-exposure photography. Photographers have created some prettyamazingimages using the medium, but it can be complicated to pull off unless you know exactly what you’re doing, and have a camera with full manual exposure controls. Now the fine folks at Japan’s Takara Tomy Arts have released a little gadget and app combo which makes it easy for anyone with an iPhone or iPad to make their own light paintings.
This little penlight gadget, thats name roughly translates to “Oekaki: The Night Sky” provides a bright, point source of light, and works with a companion iOS app to let you record long-exposure images. Simply start up the app, place your phone in the included base (or stand up your iPad), and start drawing in space. The penlight itself lets you choose from combinations of cyan, magenta or yellow light in 8 levels each, providing for a total of 27 colors for your images, and you can shoot either stills or time-lapse video with the app.
You can check out the app and pen in action in this clip (though it is in Japanese, it’s pretty easy to follow), or you can download the app itself for free here - though you’ll really want to have the light pen or a good point light source to make it work. I tried it out with a laser pointer aimed at the wall and it worked pretty well.
The app and light pen combo makes it shockingly easy to create light paintings. While the gadget was designed for Japanese markets, you can pre-order one for worldwide shipment over at Gizmine now for $69.99 (USD) with an estimated ship date of November 20th.
The latest in a long line of completely unnecessary gadgets from Japan lets you pretend you’re carrying around a lit piece of fire wood. Why, because it’s something that hasn’t been done before, that’s why.
TakaraTomy Arts’ FireWood Pocket is a keychain gadget that simulates the crackling sound and shimmering light of a real fire. And in case that wasn’t enough, blowing on this fake fire will actually make it glow more brightly – as if you’re giving added oxygen to your virtual flame. It also simulates a chunk of wood, for those of you who don’t have any real wood lying around.
There’s also a desktop version of the FireWood, which simulates an entire miniature bonfire. It also has a “music mode” which will respond to sounds from your MP3 player or smartphone. I found a video of the larger model in action over at Amazon Japan that’s so cheesy that I’m surprised it wasn’t shot with Vaseline on the camera lens.
You can find the FireWood Pocket for ¥1,080 (~$13 USD), and the desktop model for ¥5,800 (~$74 USD) over at Nigishow (JP). Chances are you’ll be able to find them soon over at worldwide exporter Strapya-World, since they are affiliated.
Star Fox 64 is as famous for its one liners as it is for its origami style vehicles. If you’re a fan of the game, these figurines by Takara Tomy won’t let you down, sir. They’re actually based on the 3DS remake of the game, but these are the first and thus only official models of the vehicles, so there’s no sense in nitpicking.
Although the models are available separately, Ryan Deaver of Nintendo Connect bought a whole set and was kind enough to share these pictures of his assembled vehicles. Although these are currently limited to Japan, Deaver says the instructions and labels are in English, so you don’t have to worry about messing up the Arwing, Landmaster or Blue-Marine.
Even though the models are not officially for sale outside of Japan, you can do what Deaver did and get them on eBay, where you can find a whole set for as low as $28 (USD).
The last time we saw someone move the game on for Rock'em Sock'em Robots, it was a motion-controlled experiment that was unlikely to see the light of day. Tomy must have been frustrated enough waiting for the practical reality to take matters into its own hands, as it's just unveiled the BattroBorg 20, a fighting robot that... lets you take matters into your own hands. The toy uses a Wii-style nunchuk motion controller that translates the player's own thrusts into the plastic robot's punches. Each robot can tell if it's been decked, although it takes just five punches to win by TKO -- these aren't exactly Queensbury rules. At an estimated $50 for each robot and matching controller on the July 14th release date, the BattroBorg isn't the cheapest way to relive the glory days of pint-sized fisticuffs, but it's certainly the most involving.
Takara Tomy's i-SODOG might not be as intimidating as otherrobotic quadrupeds, but it sure is a charmer. Freshly unveiled at the Tokyo International Toy Show, the puppy comes laden with touch sensors, 15 custom servos and a microphone, letting its master command it with up to 50 unique voice cues. The mechanical mutt's mind packs some basic artificial intelligence as well, allowing it to learn and modify its behavior based on the user's commands. If the pup flunks out of digital dog training, however, its owner can always assume control directly with the i-SODOG iOS / Android app or from a dedicated controller. Fido's chasing a Spring 2013 release for 31,500 yen ($400), but there's no word on a release outside of Japan. In the meantime, a video of the plastic pooch in action awaits you after the break.
