Ideas
IDEA・02
Dining table communication toy
"Cat Buddy Fufu"
Dining table communication - solitary and individual eating
Outline
Housework, childcare, work, pets and… what is next? People today are swarmed with an endless to-do list and we need every little help that we can get. Well, what about borrowing some help from our little buddy cat that can cool down hot foods? It might brighten up your table a little!
Challenge
Dining table communication - solitary and individual eating
The dinner table is a place where we can enjoy conversation time with family and friends. With the rise of the technology and decrease in household sizes, communication at the dinner table is on the decline.
Having pursued food safety and convenience, our next challenge is to create a dining table full of smiles.
Solution
Dining table communication toy
All it can do is to "blow (fufu) on foods"
Well, one may start to wonder… in order to cool down hot foods, isn’t all you have to do is to blow (fufu) on it?
Indeed, that is all there is to it, but have you ever noticed the amount of time taken away from this simple action?
During a family dinner, parent and child are supposed to start on their meals together, but when the child is sensitive to hot foods, the time might be spent by parents to blow on the foods, leaving the parents’ food untouched. During outing with friends, one may feel the frustration of being the last to finish their hot food as the time is being spent on fufu-ing.
Therefore, with a little assistance from our buddy cat, one may be able to have a little more time and peace of mind. Apart from its functions, it can also look and perform cute gestures, just like a real cat.
Also have cute looks and gestures.
Our little cat buddy can be placed on the edge of piping hot serving dishes and drinking cups to fufu the contents.
With a cute cat meowing to greet them on the edge of their plates, diners, especially children, will be attracted to it. Our little cat buddy works hard to fufu and cool down hot foods, to the point that sometimes they become out of breathe. When that happens, one will start to hear them panting (hwee hwee-ing).
By simply placing our cat buddy by the table, the dining atmosphere can be so much more cheerful!
Families who have experienced help from our cat buddy expressed joy over the fact that their children was so interested in the toy that they began to look forward to dinner time, picking up their utensils even before the dishes were served! This is especially helpful for Japanese families, whereby time is usually spent encouraging the children to hold onto their chopsticks properly.
Therefore, one can expect a reduction in the burden of housework and an increase in communication between parents and children at the dining table.
Spreading smiles among families
“It’s so cute!” “What’s this?” “Is this a cat? I thought it was a pig! ”
Above are the some examples of the reactions coming from children to adults when they are introduced to our little cat buddy during dining time. Some are amazed by its efficiency to cool down hot food, others adore it for its cuteness.
Should there be 10 people in the family, there will also be 10 different ways to enjoy the companionship brought by our little cat buddy, bringing smiles to 10 faces.
On top of food safety and convenience, we hope to spread joy and increase communication among families.
The development of this product was done in collaboration with Yucai Engineering Corporation, which plans and develops many robots and products. The design is not only functional, but also friendly to children.
