At first glance it looks like a handy laptop case – but this shoulder bag can heat up your lunch while you’re on the move.
Wearers simply put their food in a Tupperware, slip it in the bag, zip it up, then use a smartphone app to choose the heat setting.
The world’s first ‘portable microwave’ is one of a number of ingenious designs being showcased at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show 2024 in Las Vegas. Also on show is the world’s first ‘flying car’.
The bag works thanks to a patented e-fabric lining that generates intense and consistent temperatures, powered by a rechargeable battery pack.
Users can carry on strolling as it cooks thanks to a cotton and aluminium outer layer that shields them from the heat.
Tokyo-based Willtex has won an innovation award in Las Vegas for its bag that can double as a microwave to cook a wearer’s lunch
The bag can reach 90C in ten minutes and 130C in double that, with a maximum temperature of 250C
The key to its consistency is that every individual thread is heated, meaning it heats perfectly evenly across the material
Called the Willcook, the bag weighs just 280g and can be washed just like any regular cloth if any leftover food spills inside. The Japanese firm behind the design has won an innovation award at this week’s show in Las Vegas.
Tokyo-based Willtex said it aims to release the product in the UK in May and it will be available on Amazon priced between £120 to £150. The bag can reach 90C in ten minutes and 130C in double that, with a maximum temperature of 250C. A normal microwave in comparison has an average cooking temperature of 100C.
Once food is heated, the layers of insulation mean that even if the device is switched off the item can remain at 60C for two hours.
The key to its consistency is that every individual thread is heated, meaning it heats perfectly evenly across the material.
A fully charged battery can heat for up to eight hours.
The Willcook can either be worn across the body with an adjustable strap or folded up and tucked into a rucksack.
The outer layer that protects the wearer can also be used to keep things cool inside the bag. Cold beers, for example, could be kept at around 4C to 8C for up to three hours.
Willtex is also embedding the e-fabric into clothing, such as jackets, with four temperature controls that can quickly warm up the person wearing it.
Anyone interested in the flying car won’t need a pilot’s licence – but they must undergo a two-week training course and be prepared to pay its £150,000 price tag.
The single-seater Helix has a range of about 20 miles and cruising speed of 63mph.
Regulations mean customers won’t be able to nip from one side of the city to another quite yet however. They will only be allowed to fly in daylight hours and over uncongested areas.
There is no legal requirement to notify Air Traffic Control of their presence but users must take ‘full responsibility for their own safety’.
Using a joystick, the pilot can raise the Helix into the air at 500 feet per minute. While it’s not yet available in the UK, the US company behind it – California-based Pivotal – said that this was ‘in its sights’.
