I'll be honest, it's been a tough week for me, so here's something a little silly to round out the week and give us all a much needed chuckle. Created in order to humorously draw attention to the fact that many creative individuals (myself included) often tend to drift off and procrastinate during the average working day. The NiceBalls are a kind of creative stress reliever that I 'd personally love to have a cheeky play with right about now.
NiceBalls is a dangling prosthetic accessory that sticks easily, discreetly and efficiently to the bottom of your desk for easy access during the working day. Created by Spanish communications agency Imaginarte, the balls themselves are poised as a “Galactic solution to the problem shared by millions of people,” which might sound rather grandiose for what is little more than a pair of makeshift testicles you stick to the bottom of your desk, but in this case, the hyperbole is honestly what sold it to me. The balls should feel pretty spectacular too, as they were created in collaboration with one of the special effects engineers for the Oscar-winning Gravity, Raúl Rodríguez Romeo. They have also scientifically been designed to reduce stress, as the suspension rate of the balls creates a Euclidean curve (me neither) that encourages relaxation and provides “The few moments of escapism that we all need once in a while.”
Imaginarte Manager, Antonio Piñero, said of his balls (chuckle): “The thing I miss most when going back to work is sitting around playing with my balls. Work is all about backlogs and stress. A few months ago we set about finding a fun solution to the problem. The main idea was to find that difficult balance between being continuously productive whilst, quite literally, playing with your balls.” Other Imaginarte workers added: “In the manufacturing process, the most difficult tasks were defining size (which confirms that size is indeed important) and the NiceBalls feel test. We wanted the sensation to be as realistic as possible when touching them.”
The balls were created based on studies made by experts in the field of work psychology, who have concluded that a certain amount of inactive time is crucial for recapitulating, digesting and developing new ideas and experiences. In the University of Wisconsin, a number of researchers have even discovered that there are some nerve cells that actually disconnect for long periods of time during activities that do not require their input. In other words, parts of the brain can actually 'doze off'. The NiceBalls apparently scratch that very specific itch, but if you want a pair for yourself then you're out of luck, as the product was created in limited stock that was only sent out to big names in the Spanish advertising industry. Looks like I'll just have to play with my own god-given balls for the foreseeable future.
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and struggling musician from Kidderminster in the UK who always washes his hands after a good fondle.
