It happened; I got sick before CES 2025 even officially started. Hopping on a 12-hour flight straight after recovering from a cold will do that to you, and I’ve lost my voice entirely after just 24 hours in Las Vegas thanks to a delightful case of laryngitis.
As you can imagine, I’m keen to recover quickly, with talking to people being a fairly large component of my role as a journalist and host of the TechRadar Podcast. Along with a litany of drugstore solutions and a good amount of vocal rest, my shining hope for a swift recovery is in downing an unholy volume of hot tea to soothe my vocal chord inflammation.
However, between my tight schedule and generally impatient nature, I’m not one for waiting around as my drinks cool down, which is exactly why this adorable gadget caught my eye at CES Unveiled.
Made by the (some may say twisted) minds behind Amagami Ham Ham and the also newly debuted Mirumi bag bot, Yukai Engineering’s cup-cooling oddity is the Nékojita FuFu, and during CES Unveiled, I was able to get up close and personal.
According to a representative from the brand, Nékojita in Japanese literally translates to “cat tongue”, but is used to describe someone who has a low tolerance for hot food or drinks, and FuFu is the onomatopoeic word for the sound one makes when blowing on a beverage to cool it.
We’ve covered much of the basics already when news first broke about the new Nékojita FuFu, including details about its randomized “breathing” technology, which cycles through eight different settings to mimic the way we’d approach the task of cooling down an especially hot tea or even a bowl of soup.
In person, though, the device makes a lot more sense, slotting easily onto the side of mugs, cups and bowls to help gently cool contents ready for consumption. It’s nearly silent in operation, too, blowing out a steady but soft stream of air to avoid spillages. It’s an excellent set-it-and-forget-it gadget and is plenty child-friendly if you’re looking to offshore the dinnertime task of cooling children’s meals to your new robot companion.
Being unwell is a lonely business, and as I’ve rested my voice today ahead of CES’ official opening tomorrow, I’ve had Nekojita FuFu on my mind. In place of my partner, my friends and my home comforts, this little breathy faux-feline would have been a welcomed companion during my recovery, and that’s very much by design.
The real charm in Yukai Engineering’s whacky robotic devices isn’t, after all, their utility, but the slightly uncanny approach the brand takes to creating companion robots.
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