Weird Of The Week: This is part of a series of articles that looks at some of the most bizarre and niche business ideas we see here at Springwise.
Dole Japan have been sponsoring the Tokyo marathon since 2008, handing out their nutritious bananas to runners to help them regulate fluid and energy levels during the race. But this year, Dole will apparently be giving the fruit a high-tech makeover, providing two marathon runners with what they have proudly named ‘the first edible wearable‘ — a GPS-powered banana with an LED display that integrates the latest fitness tech into the high potassium snack.
We at Springwise suspect Dole Japan may be poking fun at the wearable trend with this one, although recent advancements such as biodegradable organic LED technology mean the fruity device could really be attached to the wrists of two lucky runners this week. The edible device would enable the wearer to monitor their race times and heart rate, and will also convey messages of encouragement from spectators via twitter. The compact tech components will supposedly be sewn into the banana skin and the original fruit will be replaced by a smaller one before the skin is sewn back up. When the race is complete, the fruit will flash ‘Eat Me’, and the runner can do just that. Let’s hope they don’t get peckish before they cross the finish line and miss out on all those inspirational tweets…
Website: www.dole.co.jp/wearablebanana
Contact: www.twitter.com/DoleTweets
