The World Genius Convention

Back to Contents of Issue: January 2002
by Tim Hornyak
The salarymen flowing through the north entrance to Tokyo Station cocked many an eyebrow at the contraptions of 50 inventors on display at the 15th World Genius Convention, organized in November by Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu (known as Dr. NakaMats) and billed as the "greatest invention expo in the Far East."

From Japan there were disposable women's underwear with built-in sanitary pads, and an electronic muscle stimulator that provides a stationary workout. A Polish inventor displayed puck-shaped devices that allegedly change the molecular structure of water in food and drinks to aid the body's homeostatic balance. The South Korean contingent showed off a vibrating gemstone-lined mattress designed to increase the flow of qi, or vital energy, and purify the blood, as well as a counterfeit money detector that uses gravity to catch bogus bills.

The main draw, of course, was NakaMats' gizmos. One of his employees, clad in a Santa Claus costume, hopped about the venue in a pair of Pyon2 jumping shoes, while other staffers invited visitors to relax in the doctor's Cerebrex recliners or sink golf balls with his parallel-grip putter. The impresario's latest invention? "IT Ninger" footwear: motorized, wheeled boots that look like off-road roller skates.

The IT in IT Ninger "does not mean information technology, but Individual Transporter," said NakaMats, who pulled on a Ninger boot to pose for journalists. "It's driven by a fuel cell, which is my invention and is very important because (automakers) such as Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, and General Motors are going to use it." A pair of IT Ningers goes for a hefty JPY100,000, but users can travel up to 20 km per hour just by standing up and steering with their feet, the doctor said.

The doctor is nothing if not productive. Samples of NakaMats' automobile insulation tape, capable of withstanding heat of up to 1,200 degrees C, were stacked on a table. Nearby was the fruit of a collaboration with US inventor Shimon Gendlin: an optoelectronic nonvolatile RAM module for military and commercial use that can apparently store 3.2 GB of data -- enough to hold the entire human genome -- in one cubic millimeter, and up to 256 GB in a medium the size of a pill.

There was also a plastic kerosene pump on display; NakaMats invented it at the age of 14 to help his mother in the kitchen. And there were photos of a 1954 prototype of a digital watch, and an early synthesizer that he says is the basis of all electronic musical instruments. The Dr. NakaMats Engine was there, too; it is supposed to catch cosmic rays and convert them into kinetic energy.

And the good doctor didn't forget to display a 1988 proclamation by former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley declaring June 26, NakaMats' birthday, Dr. NakaMats Creativity Day in the city.

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