Pillow + Wig = Pillowig

Sculptor Joo Youn Paek must suffer from a serious case of narcolepsy. I can only imagine the Pillowig being practical if you are prepared to fall asleep anytime, anywhere. Still, I give her credit for looking cute and for wearing a bowtie to match the outfit.

Okay, so me being the guy I am, I am a sucker for cute girls. And maybe I would not be posting about this if I thought, "Awwww... How cute!" Actually, Joo Youn Paek takes this little invention quite seriously — to the point of calling the pillowig a "sculpture".

You can see how seriously she is in her own words.

"Pillowig" is hand made wearable pillow comforting trieness of people in daily lives, enabling users to sleep comfortably whenever and whenever they’d like. When user test is done in public spaces - subway, airplane, library, class room and laundromat, viewers commented: “I would like to have it for my trip.”, “Very funny.” “This is practical, but a laugh, too." I made 50 limited editions and sold 47 pieces at the exhibition of the work and gained “Pillowig” fans. Two months later fans did a group performance piece at the Old Palace, Seoul.

Pillowig - Joo Youn Paek

She wasn't lying when she said she got her fans to do a group performance. This performance entailed getting them together to dream their own dreams in front of Gyeongbok Palace. Oh, what I would have done to have seen that performance!

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SheWee -- An Invention that Allows Women to Pee Standing Up

The device you see above allows women an option that men take for granted: the ability to urinate without sitting down. Samantha Fountain, the inventor of SheWee has great hopes. She hopes that not only will her invention offer greater freedom to the average woman, but that it will improve the quality of life for the wheelchair-bound and the elderly. In fact, she hopes it will revolutionize the way women go to the bathroom.

Designed with women of all ages and occupations in mind, the compact Shewee will soon be as much of a handbag essential as your lipstick!

Whether you choose to use Shewee to avoid sitting on less than desirable public toilet seats, or if your job or favourite hobby makes going to the toilet in the usual squatting stance difficult, Shewee is a brilliant solution.

It will be interesting to see if this device takes off. I will say one thing, though. I will welcome the day when women can join me in snow-writing contests. Women, in general, are better spellers anyway.

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Ice Cream Cone + Pizza = Conopizza

The new convenient pizza snack is the Conopizza, a dastardly culinary contraption that seems to combine the best of both worlds. Forget Pizza Pops. That's too messy. The Conopizza, on the other hand, let's you enjoy your pizza with no fear of spillage.

Frankly, I think the idea is ingenious. The reason why cones work for ice cream is because they work. Ice cream is a lot more of a spillable item than pizza &mdash it melts, afterall. Pizza, on the other hand, has much nastier stain potential so it only makes sense to use the most effective means to prevent it.

The Conopizza also comes in three flavours: pepperoni, supreme, and margarita. While I have not actually sampled any Conopizza, I have all the confidence in the world that they are yummy. The inventor, afterall, is an acclaimed chef who has been featured in numerous magazines and has worked with Kraft, Nestle, and Haagen-Dasz. Just in case you are worried that the inventor is using the cones as ice cream cones, take heart. The cone he uses is savory, and is made from special dough that cooks crispy and a bit flaky. In other words, it's a lot like pizza dough but shaped like an ice cream cone.

I can't wait to buy this, to be honest with you.

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How to Solve the Crisis of Disappearing Vitamins?

VIZ is a bottle of water for those who are paranoid that they are not getting enough vitamins in water. What pray tell shall you do if you leave a bottle of water sitting there and vitamins are disappearing as we speak? Well, that's where the VIZcap comes in. After years of research and development, the folks behind VIZ have developed a cap that seals everything in. There's no fear then that somehow the vitamins will disappear.

I'm sure one of the burning problems of this world is "How shall we save all the vitamins in bottled water?" Well, now life can go on. We have found a patented solution. Yuppies, you can quit panicking now.

One question the VIZ folks haven't answered for me yet: does it have electrolytes?

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The Prayer Antenna

This prayer antenna was invented so as to better communicate with God. In other words, all you got to do is strap your head to one of these helmets while you're in the midst of prayer, and your thoughts will be broadcast more powerfully back and forth towards the Almighty. Do note that this helmet doesn't come with just one antenna, but many antennas so that one can access the omnipresent more readily.

The Prayer Antenna is part of a series of Religious Technological Artifacts that I am making. The Antenna receives signals from God (yes, your God). The Antenna currently takes the form of a surplus / thrift-store motor-cycle helmet (or similar) that is ornately ordained and fitted with sufficient technology to receive signals. The helmet bristles like a porcupine with many different antennas. The visor is blacked out. Integrated headphones allow the worshipper to experience the signals. Sufficient controls allow the worshipper to tune the signals. The helmet is mounted to the wall on an ornate arm (at around waist level) and a small kneeling stool is provided (like a prayer kneeler). To use the Antenna the worshipper must kneel on the stool and inset their head into the helmet. The wall and surrounding are painted with a decorative pattern.

The Prayer Antenna

While I don't think this is quite what organized religion has in mind when it comes to prayer, I still want one. Sure, I doubt the effectiveness, but it's about time religion took advantage of the wonders of cyberspace. While I've been enjoying broadband internet access for quite some time, I think broadband with God would really be where's it's at. I bet God would do better than some crappy flash site.

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Apparatus for Facilitating the Birth of a Child by Centrifugal Force

This was actually created in 1965 by "inventors" George and Charlotte Blonsky. It was awarded patent no. 3,216,423.

Basically, it's a centrifugal delivery table. What you do is strap the woman, spin her around like you're a contestant on the Wheel of Fortune, and hope for the best. Doing this is supposed to help the baby emerge.

This raises a few questions. Where's the obstetrician supposed to sit? Is the dizziness supposed to distract the mother-to-be from her pains? And while the baby is flying out of the woman's uterus, how is one supposed to catch it?

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A Device That Creates Music Out of Noise

An completely innovative invention is rare. A student out of MIT has come up with one such device. The Ambient Addition, as the video explains, is a device that not only changes the way you listen to music, but how you look at the world. It is completely interactive and it is insanely creative. Noah Vawter further explains the purpose behind his invention and how it works:

Ambient Addition is a Walkman with binaural microphones. A tiny Digital Signal Processing (DSP) chip analyzes the microphone's sound and superimposes a layer of harmony and rhythm on top of the listener's world. In the new context, some surprising behaviors take place. Listeners tend to play with objects around them, sing to themselves, and wander toward tempting sound sources. With Ambient Addition, I'm hoping to make people think twice about the sounds they initiate as well as loosen up some inhibitions.

Noah Vawter: Ambient Ambition

Ever since Brian Eno, ambient music has grown in popularity with each coming year. However, it has long been considered "background" music. What this device aims to do is systematically make you interact with each ambient sound your come across. Music, thus, is simply not something to passively listen to. In a sense, one is altering the Walkmen into a musical instrument. This is similar to what hip hop did to the turn table.

Now, I cannot wait till this device is mass produced. I'm not even sure if mass production is planned, but one thing is true: I want one. Hence, I believe it is the duty of every man, woman, and child who reads this blog to contact Mr. Vawter and tell him that there is a market for him.

Oh, and if you are interested in the further logistics of the Ambient Addition, you can read Mr. Vawter's thesis. Mayybe if you are more mechanically inclined than I am you can figure out how to build one yourself.