40. The Voice-Activated Hairbrush
Long before Siri and Alexa, the 1960s brought us one of the earliest attempts at a “smart” grooming tool: the Voice-Activated Hairbrush. It claimed to respond to simple voice commands like turning on, off, or adjusting speed—an ambitious concept for its time.
Unfortunately, the technology wasn’t quite ready. The hairbrush frequently misheard background noises and turned on at inconvenient moments or refused to start when the user really needed it. Users reported awkward incidents where the brush buzzed unexpectedly or didn’t stop until manually unplugged. Though more of a novelty and prank than a useful tool, this invention showed early interest in voice-controlled devices and the rocky path of innovation. It’s a quirky ancestor to today’s smart personal care gadgets, proving even the future starts with funny failures.
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