Remember the Necomimi, those wacky brainwave-controlled cat ears we featured around this time last year? Well, the same Japanese company that makes those, Neurowear, has just released a fluffy mind-controlled tail to go with them.

I have to admit it’s kind of strange seeing a company that has the knowledge to create mind-controlled gadgets create stuff like cat ears and tails for humans, but then again this is Japan, so the weird factor is still pretty low. Anyway, much like the Necomimi cat ears, Shippo, the new tail developed by Neurowear is able to read your emotions and reflect your mood by wagging. Depending on how your heart beats and the extent to which alpha and beta brainwaves are activated, the tail moves from side to side or top to bottom at different intensities. The feline accessory also communicates with an app that records your mood and broadcasts it out via your social network, so anyone can know when you’re happy, sad and even in love. There is even a  database of places other people wearing these wacky cat tails found relaxing, so you can check them out whenever you’re looking to find some peace and quiet.

Photo: Tomonori Kagaya

Shippo is still just a prototype, but following the success of Necomimi, there’s no doubt in my mind this mind-controlled tail will be a commercial hit pretty soon. I mean there are a lot of cat people out there who have been dreaming about having their own fluffy tails for years. The only problem I see here is the tail actually replicates dog-like emotions. Cats really only wag their tails when they’re angry. But who cares, right? I mean you have a fluffy cat tail attached to your butt, the rest are just trivial details. Check out the promo video for the Shippo cat tail below:

via Io9