I dislike doing household chores. Who doesn’t, really? I do love to cook and do it practically everyday without any issues but when it comes to doing the dishes, I balk. And when it comes to doing laundry. Man, let’s not even talk about that!
With the invention of Lee Wei Chen, an MA student from Kingston University, though, laundry time just might take on a whole new hue. The invention is a washing machine that incorporates the most fun thing in the world for many people – arcade games. Think about it, when you were a kid, how much did you look forward to spending an hour (or two) playing arcade games? Even now, as a grown up, your eyes still probably light up at the prospect of being able to go to the arcade and let your hair down, so to speak.
That is exactly what Lee Wei Chen is counting on: that the idea of playing a game as a means of getting clean clothes. Chen is 27 years old, and from the looks of it, he loves to play games. While he does have that child-like side, he seems to be growing up as well. He says that he realizes that the time spent playing games may not be all that productive. (Although I am sure there will be many arguments against this.) As a result, he came up with the idea of coupling playing games with a productive activity. And what can be more productive than doing your laundry?
As you can see from image above, the washing machine looks just like most consoles that you can find at an arcade. There are marked differences, of course, the main thing being that the bottom part is a washing machine. In order for the washing machine to work, one has to put coins in – just like at an arcade or at a laundromat.
The cycle of the machine then depends on the success of the player at the game. The more you suck, the more coins you have to put in so that your clothes will actually get washed and dried. Now I don’t know if that’s a good thing in terms of boosting productivity, but the Chen might have struck a gold mine here.