Name a meal that makes everyone sad and I’d be quick to call out instant ramen as one of the loneliest dishes you could have. The thing comes in either a plastic package or paper cup, and cooks in three minutes so you can slurp the salty, tear-like soup by yourself when you can’t be bothered to make or buy real food. Lastly, if you’ve ever watched The Ramen Girl, you’d be even quicker to link ramen to one of the most depressing single person’s meals. It’s pretty much an all around last resort type of food regardless of how guilty-pleasure-delicious it is, but one design team aims to make ramen seem a bit less anti-social.
Introducing the Anti-loneliness ramen bowl: A soup bowl outfitted with a smartphone slot so you can place your portable device in front of you as an eating buddy. Instead of awkwardly staring into space when you’re chewing on noodles, you can watch LOLcats, stalk Facebook at an unhealthily close eye distance, or perhaps attempt to FaceTime with a friend to make the experience a little less lonely. While you’re not eating, the circular bowl shape also doubles as a sound amplifier when you want to play some tiny violins on a cold, winter night. It’s almost as good as setting up a fake blow up doll across your dinner table, except your iPhone is probably slightly more interactive depending on what you consider a good dinner conversation.
So yes, this ramen bowl design errs far on the side of the Forever Alone meme, but not gonna lie, this would have been a good addition to my dorm’s kitchen supplies. When you’re looking for a quick meal and just want something to help pass time, nothing’s better than your smartphone to keep you distracted. Just remember to make sure you have a screen protector slapped on unless you like your Retina screen with a side of chives and chili powder.
There’s no pricing or availability date on the Anti-loneliness ramen bowls just yet. Designers Daisuke Nagatomo and Jan Minnie of MisoSoupDesign claim it’s still in prototype mode and want to offer them in three different colors, so hold on to your tear ducts while we await market confirmation. Could we recommend the 2D interactive poster that reacts to kisses while you wait?
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