Are you a victim of ‘noodle harassment’? This $130 fork can solve your problem

Slurping a bowl of ramen is the norm in Japan.

But the Japanese are also known for their politeness, and Nissin, the company that first brought us Instant Ramen and Cup Noodles, knows that not everyone is comfortable with the jarring sound of slurps at the table.

So Nissin has gone to great lengths to create the world’s first noise-canceling table utensil -- its new Otohiko fork, which employs near field communication and a smartphone app too.

To some, including the folks at The Next Web, who’ve dubbed the Otohiko the “dumbest gadget of 2017,” it seems like a tall technological hill to scale to address something as innocuous as the scourge of slurping.

Indeed, the video announcement for the new product even claims it will solve something called “noodle harassment.” According to the video, the product development team first had to collect a huge amount of slurping sound data.

Then, they came up with a more pleasant sound to drown out slurping sounds. When a directional microphone within the fork, which resembles a bulky electric toothbrush, picks up the user’s slurping, it sends a signal to a nearby smartphone, armed with the accompanying Otohiko app.

The smartphone then plays a louder noise to drown out the sound of the noodles being properly enjoyed.

With Otohiko, “the more you slurp, the more fun you have,” the video claims.

The fork costs $130, and a press release (website translated) on Nissin’s website says they will only sell the item if they receive 5,000 or more orders by Dec. 15, leading some to wonder whether this is actually a real thing.

If it is a PR stunt, Nissin is certainly committed to the joke it’s playing on us all. One thing’s for sure, though, you can count these social media users among those who won’t be reserving one.

This story was originally published October 28, 2017 at 1:48 PM with the headline "Are you a victim of ‘noodle harassment’? This $130 fork can solve your problem."