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It happened; I got sick before CES 2025 also officially started. Hopping on a 12-hour flight right after recovering from a cold will do that to you, and I lost my voice entirely after 24 hours in Las Vegas thanks to a delicious case of laryngitis.
As you can imagine, I like to recover quickly, with talking to people that is a fairly large component of my role as a journalist and host. TechRadar Podcast. Along with a litany of drugstore solutions and a good deal of vocal rest, my shining hope for a speedy recovery lies in downing an unholy volume of hot tea to soothe my vocal cord swelling.
However, between my tight schedule and generally impatient nature, I’m not one to wait around while my drinks get cold, which is exactly why this adorable gadget caught the eye at CES Unveiled.
Made by the (some might say twisted) minds behind it Ham Ham Amagami and also the newly debuted Mirumi Boot BagYukai Engineering’s cup-cooling oddity is the Nékojita FuFu, and during CES Unveiled, I was able to get up close and personal.
According to a representative of the brand, Nékojita in Japanese literally translates to “cat’s tongue”, but is used to describe someone who has a low tolerance for hot food or drinks, and FuFu is the onomatopoeic word for the sound that is made when blow a refreshing drink.
We covered a lot of the basics already when the news was first shared about the new one Nekojita FuFu, including details on its random ‘breathing’ technology, which cycles through eight different settings to mimic the way you approach the task of cooling down an especially hot tea or even a bowl of soup.
In person, however, the device makes a lot more sense, easily sliding over the side of cups, mugs and bowls to help gently cool the contents ready for consumption. It is almost silent in operation, also, it blows a steady but gentle flow of air to avoid spills. It’s an excellent set-it-and-forget gadget and is very kid-friendly if you’re looking to offshore the dinnertime task of refrigerating the kids’ meals to your new robot companion.
Being sick is a lonely business, and as I rested my voice today before the official opening of CES tomorrow, I had Nekojita FuFu on my mind. In the place of my partner, my friends and my comfort of home, this little breathing faux-feline would have been a welcome companion during my recovery, and that’s a lot of design.
The real charm in Yukai Engineering’s robotic devices is not, after all, their utility, but the somewhat odd approach the brand takes to creating companion robots.
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