Ouch! Finger

"Most people test whether an iron is hot by touching it with one of their fingers" I just heard that on radio 4, so it must be true.

It is true that the index finger is used to test many qualities from hot to cold surfaces; on liquids; the sharpness of a blade, or the spines on a cactus. We run our finger along a surface to measure its texture, and for some reason, many people find it hard to resist touching their finger on a fast rotating wheel. There are even those who will flick their finger against a bare wire to determine if it's live.

None of this is a good practice, which is why I have devised the Ouch! Finger to replace the use of the human digit as a tester.

Ouch! Finger looks exactly like a human finger, complete with nail. Being flexible enables it to reach into awkward corners and an extendable nail adds to its reach. Ouch! Finger is covered with sensors that transmit their contact results back to a hand held control box where the outcomes can easily be read on a simple screen.

In the event of a potentially dangerous encounter, a noise is emitted by the device, which gets louder in proportion to the harm factor. ie boiling water, a stinging ant, mains electric or acid will result in a very loud Ouch! being emitted. The actual warning sounds can of course be customised with strings of appropriate swear words. (see quick illustration for initital prototype rendering)

Mobile Phone Attachment Plug in version under development.

de luxe version features convincing motorised twitching action.