Japanese 'age prediction machine' is really just a mosquito tone test

And this, folks, is yet another reason why the Land of the Rising Sun is truly one of the world's greatest places. Japan, which is famous for having ridiculously polite citizens and some of the zaniest toys known to man, has just delivered its latest gem: the Age Prediction Machine. As you might expect, the device simply emits the now-famed "mosquito tone," which is an exceptionally high pitched frequency that can't typically be heard by older humans. Depending on the intensity of the sound, you're able to determine where the cutoff is between hearing it and not, thus discovering the age of whoever would be gullible enough to stand around and actually engage in this sort of lunacy. But seriously, don't use this the day before your mother's birthday -- just ask pops which number she's about to celebrate / not celebrate, cool?

[michaspi Posted Feb 27th 2010 2:49PM]

Future Engadget contest prize.

[IvanP91 Posted Feb 27th 2010 3:00PM]

are those new slacks?

what?

[markyb Posted Feb 27th 2010 10:19PM]

@IvanP91

I got these on special at Caldor

[To Hell Posted Feb 27th 2010 3:02PM]

"According to this device you're one thousand years old"

[onlymyrailgun Posted Feb 28th 2010 3:08AM]

@To Hell
"Only 800 years old I am. To hell you go!"

[MoonWalkerCTE Posted Feb 27th 2010 3:03PM]

Engadget sure likes to cover a lot of crap these days :/

[nerd Posted Feb 27th 2010 3:05PM]

crapgadget

[Xoy Posted Feb 27th 2010 3:06PM]

I got name for this Bitchslap cause thats damn sure what is going to happen if you play that sound to a person with headphones on.

[Jules0 Posted Feb 27th 2010 3:07PM]

uh..you can do exactly the same thing by uploading the sounds (they're somewhere on the web) to your cell phone and using that..

[geimsss Posted Feb 27th 2010 3:07PM]

No apple rumors = crapgadget

[Alexicov Posted Feb 27th 2010 3:10PM]

@geimsss

Apple fanbois=ENgadget
:P

[paul34 Posted Feb 27th 2010 4:46PM]

Those look like leftover past-gen Dodge keyfobs.

[Don Corleone Posted Feb 27th 2010 5:05PM]

You can't believe it!

[JetCityOrange Posted Feb 27th 2010 5:12PM]

Mosquito Ringtone? I got yer Mosquito Ringtone. Right here baby, right here.
Old news but we got it. www.JetCityOrange.com/mosquito-ringtone/

So what? Big deal. Who cares...

[BLEH is my middle name Posted Feb 27th 2010 7:33PM]

BLEH.

[prsiii Posted Feb 27th 2010 9:11PM]

But Officer Hanson, she couldn't have been under age, she couldn't hear over 18khz!

[sweet greggo Posted Feb 27th 2010 9:22PM]

What gave it away? The big ass screen printed picture of a mosquito?

[drumist Posted Feb 28th 2010 6:53AM]

This article write-up really isn't accurate. The device emits high pitch sound at different frequencies. Your predicted age is based on the highest frequency sound that you can hear. It is *not* based on the intensity of the sound, which would be equivalent to the volume of the sound.