DIY Colonoscopy and Other Weird Inventions at Tokyo Show

There were many odd inventions at this year’s new Tokyo exhibition, but a few that stood out were a DIY colonoscopy, a “babypod” that plays music for unborn babies and a device that translates dog barks for their owners.

The Tokyo museum celebrates weird innovations created by scientists for the Ig Nobel Prize, also known as “anti-Nobels.” These inventions are designed to make people laugh at first, but really think about it as time progresses. One winner, Japanese medic Akira Horiuchi, created a do-it-yourself colonoscopy.  

Horiuchi demonstrated his invention at the museum based on his 2006 study, “Colonoscopy in the Sitting Position: Lessons Learned from Self-Colonoscopy.” The researcher said he never found it embarrassing since colon cancer is such a serious thing.

“I knew the importance of colonoscopy and that the number of colon cancer patients was increasing,” said Horiuchi to AFP. “Not many people take the test… so I wanted to create an examination that would be accepted by everyone.”

The babypod speaker creates a “concert” for unborn children, and research showed this was more effective than playing music on the belly.

“In most of the world, when people behave in very eccentric ways, that’s considered to be a very bad thing,” said Marc Abrahams, prize founder. “You don’t kill your eccentrics. You love them.”