Wearable tech is commonplace today, but a wearable robot? Or to be more specific, a wearable robot that feeds you with tomatoes while you are running? That has got to be the first and we are no kidding cos’ there is really such a contraption. As might have guessed, it hails from the Land of the Rising Sun. Surprised? I am sure you are not. Dubbed Petit-Tomatan, this wearable robot is a marketing effort by Japan’s tomato giant (yes, tomato giant) Kagome and was used by one of its employee to run the Tokyo Marathon. Apparently, tomatoes are good for combating fatigue by providing the nutrition needed. So I get it. Tomatoes. Nutrition. For running. But seriously? Eating while running? I guess that’s not a side activity doctors would advise when one is running, eh? Anyways, the bot is a real thing (see video after the post).

Petit-Tomatan Tomato-dispensing Robot image 1
Looks pretty sinister, eh? On the contrary, it is anything but sinister.

On the side note, we really have to give it to Kagome, who worked with mechanical artistic studio Maywa Denki to create Tomatan, for the originality. The ‘mato bot which, not surprisingly, looks like a tomato man complete with legs and arms, is strapped to the runner’s shoulders and when activated, Mr. Tomato will pick up one tomato from its back and position it front of the runner’s mouth so the runner can munch on it as if he/she is eating an apple. There is even a timer to ensure the runner don’t finish the nutritional supply too soon. We are not sure if the nutrition gained or recuperated is enough to compensate for the extra weight the runner has to carry, though. But we have to remind ourselves, this is but a publicity stunt. Surely, no one except for that one employee tasked to do so will ever use it. Right? Right? Dramatic intro video after the break.

NOW READ  XREAL Air 2 Ultra Augmented Reality Glasses: Affordable, Full-featured Spatial Computing

via Engadget

Published by Mike

Avid tech enthusiast, gadget lover, marketing critic and most importantly, love to reason and talk.