Japanese vegetable juice maker Kagome threw its hat into the wearable device game Thursday, introducing a wearable robot that gives you a tomato while you're out and about.
The machine, called the "Tomatan," looks like a humanoid robot and can be worn on the user's shoulders like a backpack, according to the Agence France-Presse. All users have to do is pull a lever in the foot, and the robot will dispense a tomato, rotate the fruit over the user's head and hold it in front of his mouth.
Kagome believes the Tomatan can be useful to runners, including those participating in this weekend's Tokyo Marathon. The company designed the robot to be able to hold six mid-sized tomatoes, which employee Shigenori Suzuki said have "lots of nutrition that combats fatigue."
Japanese artistic studio Maywa Denki, which makes unique musical instruments and other devices, helped Kagome in the robot's development, the International Business Times reported.
"We used about 100 tomatoes to complete this machine," said Novmichi Tosa, one of the founders of Meiwa Denki. "We focused mostly on its visual design."
Suzuki will run in the Tokyo Marathon on Saturday for Kagome and wear the eight-kilogram (18-pound) robot for the three-mile event, the Agence France-Presse reported, Tosa said he will run beside Suzuki with his tools in case the machine has a problem, "just like an FI mechanic."
A professional runner will represent Kagome in the marathon on Sunday and will use the Petit-Tomatan, a smaller version of the bot, IBT reported. The 3-kg robot comes with a timer to make sure the runner doesn't eat too many tomatoes in a short period of time.
