The Japanese company “mui Lab Inc.” presents a product called “Hashira no Kioku” at the IFA. Translated, the name means “size marking on wood”. And that’s exactly what it’s all about: the nice pencil strokes on the door frames of the suburban row houses are replaced with the new product by digital strokes on a wooden beam with touch screen.
The first question: Who is the product aimed at? The answer is simple: Hashira no Kioku is aimed at people who have children and would like to record the changes in the height of their children. So far this is nothing new. As mentioned earlier, pencil markings have been used for this purpose for quite some time. The product therefore picks up on a proven idea and wants to break new ground in its implementation. But what actually changes with Hashira no Kioku? A closer look reveals: hardly anything. The pencil is replaced by a touch pen, the pencil stroke by a digital one and the door frame by a wooden beam, which miraculously simultaneously represents a touch screen.
But the discreet wooden beam can do even more: if a mark has been made, it immediately calculates the size and indicates it in a separate box. Furthermore, the manufacturer promises to keep the size mark as “a most beautiful life moment” forever – by storing the mark in a cloud. For personal edification, the wooden beam also displays a poem by Mizuki Mishima.
The product, first presented in Milan and now at IFA, is certainly a world first. However, the question remains as to how far it is superior to the classic pencil-door frame combination. It is up to each individual to answer this question.
