Moving Cat Ears to Be Sold in Japan This Month: Update Info & Videos
The Japanese project Neurowear showcases its Necomimi prototype. Rather than a standard headband with cat ears on it, Necomimi claims that the product detects the brainwaves emitted by the wearer and moves the ears accordingly — twitching, folding down, or perking back up. The footage was taken at Smile Bazar, an event that is taking place in Shibuya, Tokyo from April 29 to May 8. (2011)
Neurowear posted videos of the Japanese pop singer Miu Sakamoto and the musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, her father, demonstrating the cat ears.
Neurowear has not yet revealed when it will sell the product or what its price will be. Mattel offers a similar brain-computer interface toy called Mindflex, and Uncle Milton sells the related Star Wars Force Trainer toy.
UPDATE
The Japanese project Neurowear announced that it will begin selling the consumer version of its Necomimi (a stylized romanization of the Japanese term for “cat ears”) headbands at the Nico Nico Choukaigi event, which will be held in Chiba Prefecture’s Makuhari Messe event center on April 28 and 29. Neurowear will offer the moving headbands at the special event price of 7,900 yen (about US$97), before the regular retail release at 8,980 yen (about US$111). The company also revealed last month that a North American version has been completed.
Rather than a standard headband with cat ears on it, Neurowear claims that Necomimi detects the brainwaves emitted by the wearer and moves the ears accordingly — twitching, folding down, or perking back up. NeuroSky, the company that developed the cat ears’ brainwave technology, will demonstrate Necomimi at the United Kingdom’s Gadget Show Live event, which will take place at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England from April 11 to 15. The American news magazine Time named the “smart cat ears” as one of the best 50 inventions of 2011.
Sources: Animenewsnetwork, ITmedia/Rocket News 24 & Neurowear.com