I always enjoy reporting on the latest Conceptual Gadgets, so I couldn’t resist reporting on this one. It is known as the “Kage roi”, is a concept gadget that helps groups come up with more concepts.

Simply put, the Kage roi is a boardroom table that has built-in voice recognition ability. So the next time you and a group of businesspeople are having a vocal brainstorming session, the Kage roi picks up on your keywords, and provides each person a display of its internet search. In short, the Kage Roi is a brainstorming table with a brain.

But it isn’t just the table that is the concept. Apparently, the room is equipped with LEDs that can change the lighting. For example, if you want to make people feel like the sun is about to set, the Kage roi can accommodate you.

You might be wondering why you would need that feature. I believe it is there to facilitate a “mood shift” of the room. I guess people are more apt to spurt out ideas before the meeting is about to close, so the feeling of a sunset could prompt that.

The Kage roi is designed by the Japanese IT group Kayac, with researchers from Keio University in Japan. Kayac plans to field-test it soon, and I would like to see it used with Microsoft’s Surface.

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