TOKYO: Japanese tomato company Kagome has developed a robot, which is capable of feeding you tomatoes during a marathon race. The robot named as Petit-Tomatan which weights 3kg only.
According to details company explained that if you run marathons, chances are you might have tried a variety of supplements to help keep your energy levels up and to keep you hydrated, and while bananas are a great source of energy, Japanese juice and ketchup company Kagome is trying to promote the idea that tomatoes might be a better idea.
Why tomatoes? Well, Kagome specializes in tomato-based products for one. Naturally, it is advertising the superb qualities of tomatoes in combating fatigue, something that is definitely needed in a marathon.
But eating a tomato by hand would require the runner to stop for a while. He or she must also be able to pace the tomato eating. Such considerations require some form of automation, and what better automation tool is there than a robot.
The fruit-marathon theme might remind you of Dole’s wearable banana and that association, dare we say rivalry, is evident in the video below.
Lest you think Tomatan is just a advertising gimmick, the robot is an actual existing robot built by Maywa Denki, an artistic studio known for its eccentric devices and instruments. Kagome employee Shigenori Suzuki took Tomatan to the first day of the Tokyo Marathon last Saturday. It’s not joking matter, however, as the robot weighs a good 8 kg (18 lbs). Yesterday, however, the company sent a more seasoned marathoner to road test a lighter version of the robot, aptly named Petit-Tomatan, which weighs only 3 kg. Still a strange sight to behold, and one you will probably not see outside of this marathon. Or outside of Japan for that matter.
