A real-life mega-robot...
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Transformer your life
If you’ve never watched an episode of the 1979 Japanese anime series Mobile Suit Gundam, don’t worry, because I have and I can fill you in. A space colony of humans calling itself the Principality of Zeon decides to wage war on Earth using a fleet of giant robot suits piloted from within. In response, engineers on Earth develop Gundam, their own supercharged version. For reasons too convoluted to go into here, it ends up being piloted by a 15-year-old boy, Amuro Ray, who spends subsequent episodes blasting Zeon forces to smithereens with Vulcan Guns and Hyper Mega Bazookas.
Gundam wasn’t a huge success initially, but it spawned a craze in Japan and south-east Asia for model kits called Gunpla based on the machinery from the series. Gundam would go on to become a cultural icon, with multiple films, novels and video games to its name and a legion of obsessive fans. One of those, Ryo Yoshida, took his obsession to extremes by founding a company, Tsubame, dedicated to making a Gundam-inspired robot suit weighing 3.5 tonnes and standing 4.5m tall. Says a company spokesperson: “We wanted to turn science fiction into science reality.”
By climbing inside the cockpit you can emulate the heroics of Amuro Ray, although evidently it isn’t equipped with Hyper Mega Bazookas or Vulcan Guns. What it does have is 26 working joints operated by two joysticks and two pedals, and four interior displays to show what’s going on around you as you stride purposefully to the shops. On command, it can transform from robot to vehicle (with you still inside it) and proceed at a stately 10kmph, which isn’t particularly fast – but speed isn’t really the point, is it?
Everything about the Archax, from the precision of the engineering to the scale of its ambition, makes me giggle with delight. “In the next step, there are plans to enable virtual combat between two or more piloted robots,” we are told. Any space colonies currently feeling mildly belligerent, take heed. Tsubame Archax, $3mn, tsubame-hi.com
A Mini adventure
MINI E-bike 1, €3,490, angellmobility.com
French firm Angell Mobility worked with BMW to come up with a blueprint for an agile, light, Mini-branded ebike. The results are an urban commuter’s delight – a sturdy but eminently portable aluminium frame, brightly flashing indicators, a 2kg battery that doubles as the rear light (and half-charges in just 30 minutes) and a simple screen free of unnecessary distractions. I rode it around central London in its “dry” mode (the mode most responsive to pedalling), and it was a joy – indeed, a joy that could have extended to a journey of 50km on a full charge. A note for the security-conscious: if your bike is locked and the (shrill) alarm is on, Angell promises to replace it, like for like, if it gets stolen.
Circuit training
Spintronics, £156.24, upperstory.com
Minnesota-based toy manufacturer Upper Story scored a hit with its first game, Turing Tumble, which taught the basics of computer programming using marbles and mechanical parts and won a Parents’ Choice Gold Award in the US. Spintronics brings a similar approach to electronic circuits: beautifully constructed, highly tactile mechanical parts interlock to teach the basics of capacitors, resistors, transistors and so on. As someone woefully ignorant of how electronics work, I found the puzzles fascinating and the steampunk aesthetic delightful. My lack of patience and slight hamfistedness led to occasional frustration when building some of the circuits, but I guess that’s one of the reasons I’m not an electronics engineer.
Pinball wizardry
While VR headsets like Meta Quest and Vive Pro are designed to bring physicality to video games, Stern has done it the other way around by incorporating elements of video games into pinball, such as levelling up potential, XP points and the ability to save game progress. Its three new Marvel-branded Venom machines are its most advanced yet, and represent the ultimate battle between flippers and gravity. Choosing your “venomized” host at the outset (such as Hulk or Captain America) not only changes the gameplay but, in the case of the premium and limited-edition versions, also the physical playfield, with ramps and pathways performing an astonishing switcheroo. Stern Venom Pinball Machine Limited Edition, from $6,999, electrocoin.com; sternpinball.com
Ski re-boot
Salomon Supra BOA ski boot, £520, ellis-brigham.com
Snowboarders will be well acquainted with the highly adjustable, knob-twisting BOA boot-fastening system. But skiers still rely on clips to tighten their boots, and, according to Steve Wells from retailer Ellis Brigham (he’s the expert), these can deform the plastic and cause discomfort. “They stop your foot moving,” he says, “but can also push onto nerves and send your foot to sleep.” In a traditional, quite slow-moving industry, Salomon has redesigned a boot to incorporate BOA, thus improving the fit and increasing power transfer. Wells, initially sceptical, is a convert. “It wraps the foot so much better,” he says. “It might not feel revolutionary, but it really is.”
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