Why it matters to you
It’s probably best you don’t try this at home, but Colin Furze’s solution for killing time is nevertheless entertaining.
If you just can’t stand waiting for your microwave to nuke your potato or whatever other morsel you choose to chuck in, then Colin Furze’s latest creation could be just the ticket.
The bonkers British inventor and YouTube star has just cooked up the “Play-O-Wave” machine, essentially a game console built into a microwave oven. The absurd appliance eliminates the stress of having to listen to your food hiss and pop, as well as the pressure of trying to choose a smartphone app within a very tight time frame.
Furze built the contraption in response to a viewer’s request — a regular feature of his YouTube channel where fans are encouraged to send in ideas. This particular challenge was posted by a guy called Dan, someone evidently partial to the occasional onion topped with peanut butter.
Dan’s problem? He can’t stand waiting around for the two minutes that his wacky snack takes to cook, so he called on Furze to formulate a fix.
After racking his brain for all of a few seconds, Furze, who in the past has also built the world’s fastest bumper car, a fully operational thermite cannon, and an enormous 360-degree swing (in his yard), came up with the idea of inserting a video screen into the door of a microwave oven and adding retrogaming functionality.
It took a bit of work, Furze said, as his initial effort saw the oven’s microwaves playing havoc with the display, prompting him to build something that offered a little more protection. Besides a thicker-than-usual door, the design also includes several switches and inputs, and of course the all-important game machine.
Keen to try out his finished Play-O-Wave, Furze plays a blocky bike game as the microwave cooks Dan’s diabolical onion-and-peanut-butter combo. The YouTube video (above) ends with Furze taking a bite out of the vile-looking snack, with his response, hardly surprisingly, one of utter disgust.
Furze describes his Play-O-Wave as a work in progress, though somehow we can’t see the likes of Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo knocking on his door with an offer anytime soon.