In the past, the Internet was a constant flood of small knick-knacks and gadgets. Perhaps it is due to the fact that I have learned firsthand the severity of disposable income, but small trinkets on the Internet are no longer the hits they used to be. The only trinkets I see now are geek items like homogenous soup from Etsy and this ad that showed me that there is a niche market for guys who want to buy beard straighteners. But today was different. Today I found Pixel Window.

Pixel Window is a project in development by Japanese material designer and art student-turned-engineering PhD monoli. monoli's web shop translates to "wearable little laboratory," as Google puts it. Monoli is making a series of wearable, handheld prisms, including a color diffraction cube and a pixel mirror that produces an inverse pixel image of what is behind it.

Following the Pixel Mirror, monoli has been teasing its successor since February and finally announced the Pixel Window at the end of June. compared to the Pixel Mirror, monoli's latest creation produces a cleaner, sharper-edged, non-inverted pixel image It generates, in monoli's words, "minecrafting landscapes without electricity."

I want it very badly, and not just because I want to see what my cat looks like pixelated, without any filtering in Photoshop. Of course, I love quality pixel art, but when I was younger, I once considered pursuing a career as a professional artist. Instead, I chose the endless financial benefits of writing for digital media and kept art as a hobby. But tools like the Pixel Window, with its instant readout of hues and values in a scene, can be really useful to artists.

"Look at this. Look at this fat swatch. The detail is crushed. Incredibly readable value," said @Stretchedwiener, an artist with a very unfortunate Twitter handle. 'It's going to be the standard kit for every artist.'

Monoli is still working on Pixel Window, but is "aiming" for eventual sales. But those outside of Japan will need to keep an eye on Monoli's tweets. Until then, we'll be here watching the smooth curves of the world.