There needs to be a contest... Brainstorm with me!!!

Darn it, as much as I love old-fashioned, crazy-fingers tickling, there needs to be a contest for tickling devices. I'd love to see the ingenuity of my fellow 'lers (and maybe get some new and interesting ideas), in creating the most effective tickling tools...

Mind you, this would mean genuine invention -- the creation or significant modification of tool or tools -- not just novel use of old devices.

It should be split into at least two categories -- manual tools and automated/motorized tools, and (maybe) even divided by two more for two types of tickling: surface tickling (light) and pressure application tickling (heavy). Also, target areas would have to be considered, though I don't think categories should be divided further -- but I imagine typical and accessible target areas willing to be exposed by judges for testing would include armpits, stomach/torso, and feet. Perhaps all target areas would be tested for a rating of overall versatility? I don't know... Any thoughts are welcome. 🙂

I come from a creative background, and so I'm always thinking about some new tool or technique, as I'm sure others are as well... I'd just love to see what other people have come up with...

Tell me, folks, do you think some sort of contest like this would be a good idea to have at a gathering or something? To see just how creative and innovative our community is? It's something I'm thinking about, but I'd love to hear feedback...

how bout a device as an incentive for exercise? It would be powered by an elliptical machine--as you move it, the device moves. It would be mechanical, not electrical. Say maybe a wheel of feathers that whirl as the person exercises on the machine, or a set of thin threads. Just have to be careful to avoid rope burn.

For pratcical usage, though, we should put our minds into using everyday household objects as tickle devices.As I gaze around, I see a bunch of those rollup thingies for quarters. Those would work. As might a twist-tie.

Hey, tie a bunch of twist-ties together. so that you have 6 or 7 pointing outwards. Then tie a couple to fit your hand. It's now basically a combination brass knuckles /wolverine's claws, only it'll inflict tickling instead of pain.

letter opener... too sharp.

Alcohol... makes them agree to it 😀.

This has possibilities, cap'n

Tickling Technology.

Excellent! Thanks for participating, Avenger! I was originally hoping to see if anyone thought such an idea (a tickling device contest) would be feasible, and what all would be required to bring it to fruition, but I will certainly open the thread to discussion of tickling technology and inventions themselves.

The exercise incentive is interesting, but it would be tricky... Would they be exercising to avoid the tickling, or to receive it? I'd have to see something more fleshed-out first...

It's funny you'd mentioned the twist-tie idea... I'm playing with something right now (a simple, cheap manual device) and was looking for the right material with just the right amount of resistance... I passed on twist-ties as being stimulators because the metal wire, if accidentally pressed upon the wrong way, will bend and limit its effectiveness... I've settled on nylon "zip-ties" or "cable-ties". They're very flexible and gentle, like a feather, but are fairly good at bouncing back into shape even if squashed a bit, unlike anything with a wire core.

And I found in the needlepoint area of a craft store 9" round "plastic canvasses" (see pic below). Only about $0.49 a pop. These have holes just about the right size to slip standard 4" zip-ties through. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm pretty sure melting the ties a bit and placing the melted end in the hole would help affix them to the "canvas". If this works, you could place as many zip-tie stimulators as you like in (though I'm trying to keep the number fairly low on the theory that if the stimulators are too densely packed, it may actually lessen the tickling), as well as arrange them in a custom design, like a smiley face or to spell out words... It wouldn't improve its effectiveness as a tickle tool, but there's something to be said for appearance.

On the opposite side from the zip-tie stimulators, I'm planning to put loops for my fingers to slip through so I can hold them, and by moving my hand, control the arc of the flexible plastic canvas. I don't know if this flexibility will improve the device's effectiveness, but I'm happy to experiment. I envision this to be a nice, gentle tickling tool, made for easy but maddening light sensations, and using one for each hand, will hopefully mimic the use of a couple dozen feathers stroking lightly up and down -- probably best used on a person's torso. It should produce some good giggles, shivers and goosebumps, I think. 🙂

Who else plays around with making tickle toys? What have you come up with or planned? C'mon -- I know there must be some real MacGuyvers of tickling out there! And is there any interest in a contest?

I'm not gonna be the guinea pig for this.

It sounds like an accident waiting to happen, and I'm not gonna be the one explaining to the doctor how I got the lacerations on my feet or the gashes on my ribcage.

They don't make tickling like they used to... It's all about the fingers.

How about something vibrating placed inside a shoe like an insole?

You could have it controlled by remote. That way you could be walking about, just doing your daily business*, when your 'ler decides you need a little bit of a tickle...

Imagine the fun of trying to hold in your giggles in a board meeting. Hopefully you could engineer it so that it doesn't buzz... could be embarrasing.... 😛

But I agree with giggle about the fingers. Still, it's nice to give the imagination an outing every once and a while. 😀

*Warning: Do not use at work if your job involves heavy machinery, dangerous chemicals or other harmful environments.

ticklishgiggle said:

I'm not gonna be the guinea pig for this.

It sounds like an accident waiting to happen, and I'm not gonna be the one explaining to the doctor how I got the lacerations on my feet or the gashes on my ribcage.

They don't make tickling like they used to... It's all about the fingers.

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ROFLOL

ticklishgiggle said:

I'm not gonna be the guinea pig for this.

It sounds like an accident waiting to happen, and I'm not gonna be the one explaining to the doctor how I got the lacerations on my feet or the gashes on my ribcage.

They don't make tickling like they used to... It's all about the fingers.

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i agree 100% with ya giggle, something about fingers just make it all more fun...

Hmmmm, I should totally win this... behold my invention: I call it the bendy fleshy extendable thingumajig of pokey ticklish doom. This God dude totally sold me out and stole the patent years ago though. 🙁 Finger, schminger.

THIS thread is ~TRES~ cool!!!

Hey CapnMad (Scientist, isn't it...)
Sooooo refreshing to see intellect & ingenuity at work here
rather than

ho-hum (more of the same rough unthinking grabby paws.... 🙄 )

Thumbs up for the uber-cool geeky pervs!!!
This trumps Revenge of the Nerds!!!



(I can't think of anything offhand beyond a "motorized brush" attached securely & revolving in the prongs? of a cake mixer.....
Where's that other creative Freddy Krueger-metal guy.... He'd fit right in here!!)

ticklishgiggle said:

I'm not gonna be the guinea pig for this.

It sounds like an accident waiting to happen, and I'm not gonna be the one explaining to the doctor how I got the lacerations on my feet or the gashes on my ribcage.

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"Gashes" and "lacerations"? Please. You think we have no more sense than that? No one even said it's happening yet -- this is just the brainstorming phase -- and certainly no one has called for participant judges. Still, thank you for jumping in -- we'll keep your name on file for consideration. 😛

Red_Feather said:

How about something vibrating placed inside a shoe like an insole?

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There's a novel idea... Certainly it might tickle at first, if unexpected, but then it might well be used as a massager for aching feet... That idea's not just good for possible tickling, but practical applications for the weary traveler... You should give that one some more thought... I could totally see them being sold at Sharper Image -- esp. if sold as a complete and wearable shoe (more room for the batteries)... Neat!

It's like military technology -- soon it finds practical application in the mainstream!

David.s said:

Hmmmm, I should totally win this... behold my invention:

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Sorry, David. 🙁 This would be disqualified, unless it were significantly modified (perhaps your invention could be used by it), or if it could be shown to be controlled by the use of say, the Logitech mouse in the background, or maybe the cell phone... 🙂 Though that God dude has made a lot of cool stuff... But thanks for trying!

FrenzyTickles said:

Where's that other creative Freddy Krueger-metal guy.... He'd fit right in here!!)

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Ah -- I believe you speak of Alchemy! ALCHEMY!!! Where are you?!

Capnmad said:

Sorry, David. 🙁 This would be disqualified, unless it were significantly modified (perhaps your invention could be used by it), or if it could be shown to be controlled by the use of say, the Logitech mouse in the background, or maybe the cell phone... 🙂 Though that God dude has made a lot of cool stuff... But thanks for trying!

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Hey, I was the one who made all that other cool stuff too! I can't believe that beardy bum still walks around acting like He's the one who came up with the whole universe idea. I hate my life 🙁

A phone controlled finger could be pretty pigeontastic actually. I'll have to get some Japanese scientists on the case as soon as possible.

David.s said:

A phone controlled finger could be pretty pigeontastic actually. I'll have to get some Japanese scientists on the case as soon as possible.

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*Walks up to the front door, takes out his phone and dials a number marked 'No. 25, TMF Road'. When it rings, his finger automatically reaches out and rings the bell.*


Intriguing...

..............................................................gashes?......from plastic flex ties.....I'll be the guinea pig!!!!

I once invented an automated tickling machine. But I was denied a patent when they found out it was just a hobo in a box with a feather.

Freddy's back!

Inventions you say? I've got a few thoroughly tested ones right here. I've also got an idea for another (but vastly more complicated one also based upon the Freddy glove idea). The two I have now are fairly straight forward, feathers and brushes on a glove armature. The next one I'd like to be electric...kinda like the Freddy "power glove" he had in part 6...still working on that one...but one day...

To me , if it is a device , let it know the feelings through thought . Hook it up to my brain and let it sense what tickles me and what dosn't . Let it be designed with fingers and feathers to seeks every changing ticklish spot on my body , it would surely become tickling madness ...............

Red_Feather: I love the signature monkey. If you can find one that throws digital feces, let me know. I want one! 😀

tickles said:

.................................................. ............gashes?...... from plastic flex ties.....I'll be the guinea pig!!!!

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Well, there's a vote of confidence for this enterprise! Thank you. 🙂

Fire Sprite said:

I once invented an automated tickling machine. But I was denied a patent when they found out it was just a hobo in a box with a feather.

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Well, of course the patent was denied. David.s invented the hobo, don't you know? See earlier in the thread. 😀

alchemy said:

The next one I'd like to be electric...kinda like the Freddy "power glove" he had in part 6...still working on that one...but one day...

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Sounds cool. I'm not that familiar with the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series, though... Would this have rotary ends to it, powered by small motors, or what? I know I'd seen a Fukuoku "glove" a while back -- vibrating fingertips, but only three points of stimulation. I wanted a full five...

Tell me, where does one procure glove armatures? The nearest I could ever find were sets of three leather fingertip guards sold at archery shops...

Your stuff is definitely a leader in the style category, I don't think there can be much doubt of that. Thanks for posting the pics! 🙂

DannyMc said:

To me , if it is a device , let it know the feelings through thought . Hook it up to my brain and let it sense what tickles me and what dosn't . Let it be designed with fingers and feathers to seeks every changing ticklish spot on my body , it would surely become tickling madness ...............

Click to expand...

Well, since we're trying to discuss real possible inventions, let me rein this one in just a bit... What you're suggesting would be extraordinary, but perhaps not impossible. Still impressed upon my memory from a trip a while back when my sister and I took some kids from our church's youth group to Disney World was a device on exhibit in the "Innoventions" section of Epcot Center. Made by Hammacher-Schlemmer, it was a video game controller, but one unlike I'd seen before, or since. The only part exposed was a little gold square mounted on a small black box. You put your fingertip on the gold square. The videogame was a downhill ski race simulator and the instructions were to "think" where you wanted to go, and think "faster" if you wanted to go faster.

I didn't think it would work, because it didn't really make sense to me at the time that these things could be read just through your fingertip. But lo and behold, the little girls we took with us, after a few bumps into trees, were soon playing the game like pros. When I tried, I fared less well, but eventually got the hang of it. In the beginning, I found myself having to look to the right to turn right, and to the left to turn left -- indeed, so far as to look off the screen, which made steering accurately difficult. However, I found eventually if I just "attended" right or "attended" left, it would have the same effect. And while thinking "faster" for me did nothing to increase my speed, attending/concentrating hard toward the distance did. I imagine it gets much more intuitive and natural with practice.

My sister and I often wonder what happened to that device, as it never was brought out on the market for anything to our knowledge -- certainly not video games. But there are myriad applications such as controlling devices for the handicapped or even potential military apps. Who knows? Maybe DARPA picked it up... ...or maybe it just wasn't seen as profitable. I have no idea how much it cost to manufacture.

In any event, such a device, perhaps somewhat more elaborate, could theoretically be used in a tickling machine like you suggest, increasing stimulation in the areas of your body that your brain attends/reacts to most.

Probability of it happening? Pretty much zero. But the possibility, however slim, is there. That's the best I can wrap your thought into reality for you. 🙂


What else is cookin' in your minds, ladies and gents? I know there've gotta' be more toys than these! And certainly more ideas than toys! What else have you got, and are there any critiques, suggestions or recommendations on the contest design? Let us hear you!

The armatures have to be made. Every once in a while you can find one on ebay, but most of the time you would have to modify an existing glove. The last one I made out of leather and it worked pretty well...though that requires a lot of cutting and fitting.