Anyone who has ever trawled YouTube will have encountered videos of cats.
And probably anyone who had looked at more than a few would have soon encountered a subgenre of the YouTube cat video: cats sitting on Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners as they move around the kitchen cleaning. In fact, there’s another subgenre within this: cats wearing shark costumes while sitting on Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners as they move around the kitchen cleaning.
If you’re still uninitiated, what are you waiting for? Waste a few minutes of your life. Here’s one to get you started.
Now if you want to clean your own desk or table while paying homage to your new favorite meme, how about the Cat Desktop Robotic Vacuum Cleaner?
Available on preorder ahead of a full release in October, this handy gadget functions like a miniature Roomba. The vacuum cleaner has a cat figure on the top that makes cute noises as the device cleans. Like a regular robotic vacuum cleaner, it is able to detect and change direction when it reaches an edge or obstruction.
The cleaner is equipped with a touch sensor, too. This means that when you stroke the cat when it is in operation, the little feline will make a sound and change direction. Stroke the cat for a slightly longer time and the cleaner will start to spin and the delighted animal’s eyes will roll!
Memes being memes, they always inspire various products eventually — especially if they involve cats. This seems particularly the case in Japan, where people are almost obsessed with cats, from Natsume Soseki to Maru, Tama, the Mewgaroo, and everything in between.
The Neko Nabe Cat Puzzle (pictured above) is another great example, overtly based on the meme of cats sleeping in nabe pots. The goal of the puzzle is to get all of the cats into the pot so that you can place the lid on top without any hassle. It’s harder than it sounds!
