Arque, the artificial tail
Forget about designer clothes, smart cars and expensive watches. This invention is what’s really going to get you what you want. This is artificial tail you've always wanted.
Enjoy attention? This invention is for you. This T-Rex style is the way to go. Sadly, the robotic tail developed by Japanese researchers at Keio University is only a prototype. Too bad, as this tail made me want to swing from tree to tree like a little monkey when I first saw a video of it.
The «Arque» tail is designed to help people keep their balance in everyday life or in a VR gaming world. It does so by acting as a corrective counterbalance. It’s made of several interconnected plastic vertebrae. Weights are added to adjusted to the wearer’s physique, emulating the elasticity and compression of the seahorse’s skeletal structure. The Arque features four long artificial muscles, which can be deflated or filled with air from an air compressor to produce contractions.
Our tailbone will be happy to get an extension and be freed from its miserable existence as an evolutionary leftover. Just imagine the potential of this prosthetic tail: it could be used as a skateboarding aid, an extra leg for dancing Rock'n'Roll lessons or even for climbing mountains.
Who knows – the Japanese researchers might add emotional intelligence to the tail. Would be awesome to wag your own tail, wouldn’t it? What would you use the tail for?
I find my muse in everything. When I don’t, I draw inspiration from daydreaming. After all, if you dream, you don’t sleep through life.