As much as we enjoy conjecture and extravagant speculation regarding the future and the treasures it holds it’s a shock when something from the pages of the professional speculators, aka sci-fi authors, worms its way into our disappointingly nonfictional reality. Though in all fairness, less so when it comes from Japan.

Yet the newest way in which the metropolitan Japanese surprise and confound we less progressive western dullards is a bit surprising even with the knowledge of its origins. Frenetic salarymen dissatisfied with the pink-cheeked rush the pharmaceutical melange of energy drinks has to offer can now pop in to Tenteki10 for a vein full of “vitamins and other nutritional supplements”.

Yes that’s right; if you’ve got $20 (2,000 Yen) and 10 minutes you can have a doctor stuff your veins with the mysterious “vitamins and nutritional supplements” for what they describe as a “pick-me-up”. While I’m intimately familiar with the potentially less than pleasant effects of a botched intravening (to say nothing of potential “supplement” overdoses) I can’t help but wonder when we’ll have similar set ups in the States.

Even now you can swing by your local plastic surgeon’s office for a speedy syringe full of botulism for all your muscle paralysis needs. How long until Starbucks trades baristas for nurses? And further, how long until our “supplements” are supplemented with the wares of illicit chemists and old-fashioned coffeehouse snobbery is supplanted by a caste system of stat-boost aficionados?

My hope is not long; my daily ritual of chasing down a handful of No-Doze with three or four Viente Quad-Americanos has long since stopped clearing away the borderline somnambulance of the morning.

Drop-by IV drip service helps stressed Tokyoites [Japan Today : Inventor Spot]

Before you is the culmination of all my post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk fashion dreams. Oh sure, my compatriots and I clothe ourselves in all manner of garb designed with futurelust in mind, but not a stitch of those epic high-collared wardrobes is really functional. We’re simply playing dystopian dress-up.

But with this piece by Tim Smit — made of neoprene, lined with kevlar, and seemingly designed with my ilk in mind — we’re really getting into the business of being the no-nonsense, disaffected futuretots we’ve always known ourselves to be.

While it’s not specifically stated that this is just a conceptual design I can’t imagine it’s anything but. Yet simply knowing it exists helps to soothe the hurt of being unable to rush out and buy my first piece of Apocalypse Couture.

Hit the jump for a few more shots of this exquisite design.

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The constant struggle against the ever-mounting morass of wires, culminating in a cyclical orgy of power strips and extension cords, is familiar to all of us engaged in the painfully plodding progression of technology. While the number of cords snaking their way throughout our humble shrines to technology decreases exponentially, there are still all manner of power cords that remain, for which you have Edison and his thuggish sense of competition to thank.

While there have been several power strip designs that either attempted to consolidate or obfuscate your Gordian knot of cabling, they simply end up only slightly improved versions of their forebears and the dream of a organized domicile is shattered once more. However, designer Joris Laarman has approached the problem from a different perspective. Instead of developing another means to do away with as much cabling as possible, he has integrated the frustrating coils into his design, a stroke of genius resulting in the Wirepod.

Now this is normally the part of our program where I regrettably inform you that whatever item I’ve been rambling incoherently about is simply a conceptual design and thus unavailable for purchase. But not today my friends, oh no. It is my exquisite pleasure to inform you that Arctecnica will be releasing the Wirepod as part of it’s new line of products, called Wiremore, that seek to expose, rather than hide, our collective rats’ nests. So whether you’re the type that appreciates the decidedly cyberpunk look of cabling criss-crossing the vast expanse of a dank apartment floor, or you simply want a bit of art-snob design added to your abode, Arctecnica have you covered.

Wirepod [Dezeen : cribcandy]