Stop Scalding Your Tongue: This $25 Cat Robot ‘Blows’ on Your Drink to Cool It
Imagine the sound your lips make when you blow onto food that is too hot to eat. It may sound a bit like “fufu”. It is from this onomatopoeia that the Nékojita Cat FuFu robot gets its name and is CES showroom In Las Vegas, I experienced firsthand the cooling scent of Gita Fufu the Cat.
Unlike my real cat, who just sneezes into my hot drink, this feline robot hangs on the side of your soup bowl or coffee cup and blows gentle, cold air at whatever you’re trying to cool it down. There’s a fan inside that generates “breaths” in a random rhythm, designed to mimic human breathing.
As it breathed quietly against the back of my hand with its button-sized cat muzzle, it occurred to me that it might be more effective at cooling hot food than warm human breath—because it’s really cold. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to taste test anything the robot blew over to confirm it didn’t burn my tongue, but it should get your food and drinks to the perfect temperature in 3 minutes.
“Nékojita” translates to Japanese as “cat tongue” – a phrase used to describe an intolerance to hot food. Many adults have sensitive tongues, but the idea for the robot originally came from a team member at Yukai Engineering who wanted an easier way to cool baby’s food.
The robot is small and can be easily held in the palm of the hand, making it easy to carry. If you have a particularly sensitive tongue, there’s absolutely nothing stopping you from taking it to a cafe or restaurant in your bag.
The Nékojita FuFu will cost just $25 when it goes on sale on Kickstarter later this year. If you’re the type of person who buys Christmas gifts year-round rather than putting off until the chaos of the holiday shopping season, this would be the ideal 2025 Christmas gift. I’ve already specified it for some of my younger family members, and I know they’ll be instantly smitten with a Doraemon that cools hot chocolate.
