KFC is no stranger to unusual marketing ideas, but the Watt A Box takes it to a new level. Currently being handed out as a special prize in India, the Watt a Box has a battery bank and connectors on the side, so you can plug in your phone while snacking on biscuits. It’s a strange tech crossover, mixing a fast-food container and a phone battery, but not, perhaps, the strangest in a world where anything from an umbrella to a drinking cup can be appified, magnetized, and overengineered to within an inch of its life. Here are a few other ways people tried to mix technology into everyday life and overdid it just a little bit. Warning: as strange as some of these may seem, you’re probably going to at least be intrigued by some of them.
The Vessyl
The Vessyl is a cup designed to track your hydration needs. Most of us do this by drinking a glass of water and noting it on an app, but the Vessyl will do that for you. To be fair, that’s got genuine medical use, but this is still a water glass that costs $100 in part because it uses magnets to slide the lid open so you can drink. And it comes with a $20 coaster to charge it. And has a $15 carrying case. Look, overengineering something isn’t cheap.
Smart PJs
The idea behind these pajamas was pretty straightforward. The PJs were covered in seemingly normal dot patterns, but those patterns doubled as QR codes. Scan the code, and your phone will read off a bedtime story. Invented by a father of six, it’s a cute idea, but you do have to wonder what happens when you get two sets and the kids both want a story at the same time.
The Oombrella
The sad thing about many crossovers is that they take a good idea just a little too far. The Oombrella is a case in point. It’s an umbrella that, if you forget it, will ping your phone to remind you as well as provide its location. Handy! It will also ping your phone to tell you to bring it with you if there’s a high chance of rain, which is… clingy! And it shares weather data with Wezzoo, which is like Waze but for weather because… er… people are working in windowless rooms more often?
The All Wah Sneaker
Just announced by Converse, this sneaker connects to your Bluetooth enabled amp, or more likely your computer, to give you a wah-pedal effect just by moving your foot. Of course, you could just use a wah pedal, but this looks neater, right?
Call Me Gloves
If you live somewhere cold, you’ve probably got at least one pair of touchscreen-friendly gloves. They’re pretty straightforward, with a conductive weave in the fingertips that lets you poke at the screen. But, for some odd reason, somebody decided that you needed to be able to also make the “call me” gesture, with thumb and pinkie, to make a phone call. You know, because it’s a comfortable position to hold, and you won’t look strange doing that.
PancakeBot
We know what you’re thinking, and a robot that automatically makes pancakes would, indeed, be amazing. That is not exactly what this is, however. Instead, it’s a $300 griddle with a 3-D printer tool attached to it so you can make pancakes in any shape you can sketch. That’s undeniably cool, but first, you have to fill the batter reservoir yourself, and secondly, there’s probably only so many Spider-Man pancakes you can eat before you start to wonder if the $300 was worth it.
The Numi
Finally, there is Kohler’s masterpiece of a home stereo MP3 player, Numi. Numi uses a touchscreen to play your MP3s, will tune in the radio, will stream music from your phone, and even warm your feet while you do it. The only downside here is that since Numi is a toilet, you can’t take it with you. Although depending on what you eat, you might be able to listen to a whole album!
