Bizarre Tech: Halloween gets weird
Image credit: Rex features, image source
As the Halloween season approaches, E&T takes a look at some spooky offerings from around the world.
Exorcist bed
Feel like you’re floating on air. And possessed.
If you haven’t heard of ‘The Exorcist’, then you’ve probably been hiding in a hole or something.
The film is one of the most influential and best horror flicks in the genre, and one of the highest grossing movies ever. So it’s bound to inspire inventors of crazy stuff.
One of the most iconic scenes is the possessed little girl, Regan MacNeil, being thrown around like a ragdoll on her bed, and floating above the mattress.
As Americans like to go all out when it comes to Halloween, there are probably a few people who would spend almost $4,000 on a bed that could cause injury.
Using pneumatics, the Exorcist bed gives the illusion that you are floating up to 1.5m from the surface of the mattress. It also thrashes around like the famous scene.
I’m not sure where you would put it, exactly, if you’re hosting a Halloween party, or inviting kids to trick or treat. On the driveway, perhaps? Give passers-by a free go? Hire a little girl to lie on the bed, look demented and scream expletives at the neighbours?
Haunted toilet paper holder
Scream if you want to poop faster.
Designed to scare the life out of you, this could really solve some people’s toilet problems.
Activated by movement, this holder makes some spooky sounds like howling, screaming and moaning, so you can claim that your bog is haunted.
Scaring your guests away will at least give lingering smells time to dissipate.
Ghost-detecting cell phone strap
I ain’t afraid of no ghost!
Back in the day, when we could hang little trinkets onto our phones like Hello Kitty faces and plastic Pokemon, there was this thing. Using good old algorithms, the small Baketan 2 Ghost Radar charm could apparently detect spirits at the push of a button. Even more science-y, when the gadget found a ghoul, it turned red. Not a positive colour when it comes to this kind of thing.
A Kotodama tuner – whatever that is, they don’t really go into details – used the algorithms around you to apparently translate ghostly energy into human speech. Creepy.
Whatever you heard (death threats, the weather forecast, shopping lists) was the ghostie having a chat with you.
Imagine if it told you where some treasure was buried? Or the lottery numbers.
ShockGunz
Scare your guests to death.
The steampunk-esque-looking portable cannon will probably make you the most-hated Halloweener in your friendship group, as you go around scaring the life out of people.
The ShockGunz come in a variety of poop-your-pants styles, including ‘ClownCrazy’, ‘MasterBlaster’ and ‘Smackyomama’. Essentially, they blast loud horns and bright lights in different configurations, ensuring you induce your victims to have a heart attack.
They cost between $275 and $500, and I think you probably have to search on the dark web to find one.
Just don’t go creeping up on anyone above a certain age...
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