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Five of the best (and one of the weirdest) tech April Fools of 2016

Posted by Nathan Mills on 1st April 2016

Today is the one day of the year where it’s hard to believe everything you see, especially on the internet. Yes, April Fools’ Day is upon us and what better way to celebrate than to pick our top five favourite tech April Fools’ jokes.

Catpay

First up is the incredibly useful CatPay. When paying with your mobile phone, cash or card becomes boring, why not pay with your feline friend? CatPay has a long list of useful features to protect your money such as CLAWS (CatPay Loss and Anti-Withdrawal System) and TEETH (Terminal Entry-Exit Theft Halters). Simply tap your feline friend against the reader and voila – your transaction is complete.

Going all out with the cat puns (other features include MEOW, HISS and FOLLOW) we’re left to wonder, what would life we be like if we could actually pay with our feline friend?

Google’s self-driving bicycle

Next up is the self-driving bicycle by Google. Are you walking out of work and want your bike to pick you up? With a simple tap of a button you’re able to call your bike directly to you. Why stop there though? Google shows you can continue to work while your bicycle takes you home.

A self-driving bicycle may be something of the future but do we really need it? That’s a question that may never be answered.

The Drone Taxi

Sticking with our theme of transport, Japanese company Sanwa Koutsu announced the Drone Taxi. The service is as simple as it sounds; you call a Drone Taxi and it comes to pick you up. Simply hold on to the handlebars at the bottom of the Drone Taxi and it will take you to your pre-booked destination.

Drones have come a long way from being used to spy on people, deliver packages and now take us to our desired destination. Just remember to hold on tight!

Sony’s Proton Pack

Sony’s Proton Pack is everything we’ve dreamed of. The latest ghost-catching equipment to hit the shelves looks like the sleekest we have seen to date. With a similar look to what you would expect to see in a Ghostbusters movie, we are almost disappointed that we won’t be able to get one of these for ourselves. Containing a host of jargon-laden features (Miniaturised Superconducting Synchrotron) and a snazzy video render, it leaves us eagerly awaiting the newest Ghostbusters film.

Google Cardboard Plastic

Google didn’t just give us the self-driving bicycle, but took a dive into Virtual Reality with its April Fools’ joke this year. The Google Cardboard Plastic is a see-through and lightweight headset, where you can see reality. Allowing you to view the world at 360 degrees, view things with 20/20 vision (eyesight dependant) and being compatible with all of your current applications.

With such high resolution and great compatibility, the Google Cardboard Plastic would definitely reach a wide audience. In striving for virtual realities maybe we’re forgetting the reality around us?

Lawson’s chicken-head selfie… thing

A stand out April Fools’ joke today is up next; a brilliant concept and well executed, Lawson has announced its Chicken-Head Selfie Contraption. Lawson is a Japanese convenience store famous for its Kara-age (fried chicken pieces). The Chicken-Head Selfie Contraption is a stylish chicken costume. Using the nifty trigger attached, you are able to open a hidden compartment in the head which hides your phone. This springs out to the perfect angle for a quick selfie, while you’re eating your Kara-age.

What do chickens have to do with selfies? Well the April Fools’ joke here is actually a play on words! The Japanese world for ‘selfie’ can sound very similar to the word for ‘free range chicken’. What a great combination of words though.

Have you seen any great April Fools’ jokes, and if so what has your favourite been?

Nathan Mills