As the pic below indicates, the Electro Smile—a dreadful gadget that can only come from Japan—is fitted onto the head of a willing (or unwilling) child. What it does is send an electric current (a mild one) up through the jaw, triggering a muscle reflex that produces a smile.

The Electro Smile was conceived in the mind of an unnamed inventor. We’re suspecting only one particularly cultivated higher intelligence could ever devise the Electro Smile. Not the guy who created Astro Boy, mind you, but the reigning sovereign of nerddom himself—Dr. Yoshiro Nakamats, whom we paid tribute to last year. Just give us a few minutes to do some research.

Nope, it’s not his invention.

Still, it is strange why kids need electric shocks to smile. Are the younglings in Japan sad these days? Also note the Electro Smile’s worrying side effect—there’s some head twitching after usage.

Look, if the kid doesn’t wanna smile, tell them a fart joke; works most of the time. Or watch any Shrek movie. Then again, if you’re a parent whose style is somewhere along the lines of Baron Von Trapp, yeah, maybe the Electro Smile will work on the sullen kiddos.

Via Newsweird

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