Tokyo: As the world`s electronic companies scramble to set the agenda for wearable devices, one Japanese vegetable juice maker went one better Thursday -- unveiling a wearable tomato machine.
The "Tomatan" is a backpack that can be loaded with six mid-sized tomatoes, enough, say the makers, to power runners through this weekend`s Tokyo Marathon.
"Tomatoes have lots of nutrition that combats fatigue," said Shigenori Suzuki of maker Kagome.
The Tomatan looks like a small humanoid robot -- with a tomato for a head -- and sits snugly on the athlete`s shoulders.
Tugging a tiny lever in the foot moves the arms to catch a tomato from the dispensing shoot. The arms then rotate the fruit over the runner`s head and hold it in front of his mouth.
"We used about 100 tomatoes to complete this machine," said Novmichi Tosa, of creator Meiwa Denki, a company known for its off-the-wall devices and musical instruments.
"We focused mostly on its visual design."
Despite the eight-kilogramme (18 pound) weight, Kagome`s Suzuki said he will don the device for a five-kilometre (three-mile) fun-run on Saturday.
"I will run by his side carrying my tools, just like an F1 mechanic," Tosa said.
In Sunday`s full Tokyo Marathon, a runner from Kagome will participate with a lighter wearable tomato machine -- the Petit-Tomatan -- which weighs only about three kilogrammes, Suzuki said.
The "Petit-Tomatan" has a delivery tube attached to a mini-tomato holster worn on the runner`s back, and even a timer that prevents the user from over-indulging and depleting their supply too quickly.