Panasonic's furry carpet warms you up, provides companionship

It pains us to see the furry fad still lingering around, but joining the totally hairy Philips display comes the patent-pending "no constraints carpet," which presumably aims to provide warmth and companionship to the lonely house dweller. Reportedly showcased at the Tokyo Fiber convention, Panasonic has developed a electrified faux fur that comes in white, brown, or black / white color schemes to "deliver warmth only to the areas you touch when you cuddle it." Oddly, there was no word on where the internal heating elements get their juice, but considering that the technology isn't quite ready for commercial release, we assume the firm is keeping wraps on the nitty gritty. The fun-lovin' fur should be available in short (five feet) and long (23 feet) iterations, and while we aren't entirely sure if your local home furnishings store will actually have rolls of this stuff to cover your flooring anytime soon, those still living in yesterday can certainly hope for the best.

[Via PinkTentacle]

[RyanTV @ May 2nd 2007 2:51PM]

man, that really just kind of creeps me out.

[Rob @ May 2nd 2007 3:10PM]

Yes that's right, you too can own your very own baby sarlacc (now with 20% more stomach acid!!)

[ark_v2 @ May 2nd 2007 3:16PM]

That's just too weird, really.

[blackfeather @ May 2nd 2007 3:27PM]

Ok, geneticists... This is the kind of craziness that happens when you start mixing earthworm and tribble DNA: self-replicating carpet worms.

[nodnetni @ May 2nd 2007 3:36PM]

I for one will welcome our furry floor robot worm overlords.

looks like they could make for a good horror flick.

[tiuk @ May 2nd 2007 3:44PM]

Creepiest living room ever? I think so.

[Spyvie @ May 2nd 2007 3:44PM]

Shouldn't this be filed under Teledildonics?

[uros @ May 2nd 2007 3:53PM]

This is like having a cuddly, loving python in your living room, really. But, WHO decided to call this a "carpet"?

[Rick Lyon @ May 2nd 2007 4:07PM]

That's disgusting.

[englandp @ May 2nd 2007 4:19PM]

freaky... but i really want one!

[adelossa @ May 2nd 2007 4:27PM]

first thought when I saw the picture: WTF??!!?!?

thought now that I read the article: weird

[citizen @ May 2nd 2007 5:44PM]

its powered by a nano fission reactor of course.

[[e-mail] @ May 2nd 2007 6:32PM]

Yay! The first step to mechanical Tribbles! Now, how can we use them a a weapon of Mass Destruction? Nuke-proof Carpet Worms?

[Leon @ May 2nd 2007 9:30PM]

I would love one of these if only I weren't afraid it would coil itself around my body and squeeze me to death whenever I fall asleep on the couch..

[Leon @ May 2nd 2007 9:30PM]

I would love one of these if only I weren't afraid it would coil itself around my body and squeeze me to death whenever I fall asleep on the couch..

[richard baguley @ May 2nd 2007 9:59PM]

That's just weird. Get a couple of cats instead.

[cc @ May 3rd 2007 12:47AM]

Panasonic and other companies already have a ton of electrically heated household stuff out in Japan, from traditional kotatsu (heated tables with a blanket around to keep your legs warm), to electric blankets, "hot carpet", and so on... when you live in a country where the temperature goes below freezing at night for a couple months per year, yet few living spaces have central heating or even proper heat insulation, you'd welcome a hot, fuzzy appliance like this, trust me.

[Magnulus @ May 3rd 2007 7:49AM]

I think that a lot of you nay-sayers must live somewhere with either A: warm weather all year 'round or B: a damn fine central heating system. I have neither. My house is more than 100 years old. It eats electricity like it's Pringles. Once winter pops, it can't stop. I would love to have something like this coiled around my feet in the evenings.

Since they're saying nothing about the power supply, could it be that they're using their new wireless power source thingy for it? Wasn't it Philips that bought the rights to that new technology?