The premise seems like a cruel Carrot Top joke by way of George W. Bush logic: Strap a device to your thigh to monitor your restless leg syndrome, and then make ‘creative beats’ from the vibrations emitted, in order to 'increase your brain power.'
The Yurex is an especially absurd gadget, but its creator, Maywa Denki, insists it works.
As an artist that bases his pieces on scientific principles, Denki developed the strap to visually monitor the patterns of leg movements, while also providing a healthy amount of social rebellion.
In Japan, shaking your leg aimlessly is seen as a sign of poor social grace and low intelligence. According to Pink Elephant, one of the reasons this is the case is because of a cultural belief that shaking a leg evokes the twitchy legs of poor street people. A Japanese myth says that if you shake your legs, you will be stalked by the Binbogami, or the God of Poverty.
The Yurex is made out of a two sensors (the silver disco balls things) that calculate the horizontal and vertical vibrations of the leg. The resulting data is then compiled and analyzed in a computer, where it is made into a "creative beat pattern." Once you have your personalized pattern, you can use it as a sort-of game where you can try to match the beats with your leg. It's kinda like Guitar Hero, but way weirder.
Denki believes that matching the beat while concentrating can be used as a positive mental exercise and increases creativity. Since the leg fits upend cultural convention, which is his main goal, it's not surprising he believes this.
The Yurex and (we assume) the accompanying software will be available in January. There's no price at the moment, but I can already see the infomercial for this thing:
“Is your loved one suffering from restless leg syndrome? Is our children learning? No? Then get the Yurex and he'll be a super brain in no time! It's just as good as playing an instrument! If you buy one, you get a second free, and a T-Shirt with a giant tag of 'Vaporware' on it.”
