The process of rubbing your smartphone or tablet’s screen clean with a cloth is a toilsome and sweat-inducing affair, according to gadget maker Takara Tomy, so much so in fact that they created a tiny robot that does it for you.
If you’ve ever seen a Roomba in action then this product will make sense to you. For those not in the know, a Roomba is a little robot that can be programmed to hoover or clean a room, intelligently finding its way around without bumping into obstacles.
The Automee-S from Takara Tomy works on the same sort of principle but on a much smaller scale. Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, this circular little robot can be sat on a smartphone or tablet screen and set off to work its way around the screen, lifting off any grease and dirt as it goes.
It uses a special cleaning paper in order to remove grease left on a touchscreen by your fingers, and a tiny little electronic brain that helps it know when it reaches the edge of the device so that it won’t topple over the side.
It’s a simple little device that is bound to evoke an impressed response to start with, shortly followed by the obvious question of “why don’t you just rub it on your t-shirt instead?” Nevertheless, if you really like the sound of the Automee-S then you can pick one up for around £15 as of next month, although it’ll only be available in Japan for the time being.
Pretty cool or pretty pointless?