What is it? Game 43

By Alex in What Is It on Nov 1, 2007 at 12:09 pm

Yay! Here’s this week’s collaboration with What is it? blog: if you know what this strange object is for, then you can win a Free Neatorama T-shirt!

Contest rules are simple: place your guess in the comment section, one guess per comment but you can enter as many times as you’d like. Please don’t post any URL – let others play! First guess to get it right will win the free T-shirt.

For more clues (i.e. where this object is found), visit What is it? blog!

Update 11/02/07 – the answer is:


A piece of exercise equipment, to use, stand on a round plate, hold the handles tight with both hands, and turn the waist left and right.

Congrats to Algonkin #3 who got it right first!


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  1. Kiera
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 12:12 pm

    Looks like a pump, probably to ciphen water out of the ground or something. Three guys stand on each side and pump up and down.

    Just my guess.

  2. danielo
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 12:15 pm

    A hand-powered ground hole-driller.

  3. algonkin
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 12:15 pm

    It’s an exercise machine to tone the waist. Sort of a twist side by side motion if you will.

  4. ted
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 12:15 pm

    Yes, it’s a three-person bidet.
    Three naked people squat over the sprinklers, take hold of the handles and pump vigorously up and down.

  5. Dave Bullock
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 12:22 pm

    Looks like a fire sprinkler, maybe one that spins for wetting down a roof.

    Or maybe it’s a rack for holding toilets or some type of tank.

  6. Susan
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 12:25 pm

    people hold onto the handles and able to clean the bottom of their shoes off on those circle things or some sort of holder/stand that the business men/women use for holding something nutty

  7. Alex
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 12:25 pm

    Three person bidet! Bwahahahaha!

  8. Drew
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 12:32 pm

    merry-go-round for banannas.

  9. schmitty
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 12:33 pm

    It’s a golf bag holder.

  10. biff diggerence
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 12:37 pm

    A device for washing the soles of shoes.

    Similar to a spike cleaning brush at a golf course.

  11. Josh
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 12:39 pm

    3-person shoe-shining station

  12. uur
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 12:40 pm

    it’s a public gym equipment.. up to three person can ride it.. holding the “u shaped” bars and twist their bodies.

  13. Andrew Pratt
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 12:41 pm

    Oh, this is a small stand to exercise on. One stands on the small rotating pedals, gripping the handles with both hands, and rotates ones body however they need to exercise and stretch. These strange exercise-type parks and gadgets are all over the city, and the young and old, blue- and white-collar alike use them to work out.

  14. Jonn
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 12:41 pm

    Could it be some sort of a demented drinking fountain?

  15. Jedidiah
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 12:50 pm

    Looks like one of the exercise machines they have in public places in China.

  16. attilla
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 1:05 pm

    It is a childs bidet/ bottom washer in someplace like China or other place in Asia where communal nudity is no problem. Children hold on to handles, Moms help to clean up.

  17. Sean
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 1:15 pm

    It’s found near the beach and is used to remove sand and salt from your “undercarriage”.

  18. megan
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 1:25 pm

    I think it is a guitar stand, for three guitars of course! =)

  19. Charles McBride
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 1:27 pm

    I think it’s a bilge pump, maybe.

  20. Rosi
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 1:28 pm

    It’s a coat rack for midgets that washes your feet while you hang your coat. It’s all the rage in Japan.

  21. James Laughton
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 1:35 pm

    They have them in spain and Ive been on one…its an exersise device, you hold the handles and step on the discs, they spin round which enables you twist round 180 degrees back n forth.

    They have loads of strange things like this on beaches.

  22. James Laughton
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 1:35 pm

    I meant Exercise by the way!

  23. adriana
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 1:42 pm

    Its a machine for stretching that 3 people can use at the same time… after you jog or something

  24. Wren
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 1:46 pm

    It is for exercise. They have them all over China. You hold the handles and then rotate your body. I can’t really see how it burns calories, but maybe increases flexibility(?).

  25. Craig Clayton
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 1:53 pm

    I believe you put in money and the machine spins or moves up and down for to children to ride on.

  26. Thespian24601
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 1:54 pm

    Excercise? Nah, I’m definitely going to have to go with a sprinkler. Some weird kind.

  27. Wilbur
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 2:00 pm

    Its a trash can stand.

  28. Jerse
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 2:06 pm

    It’s a three-way pogo-stick

  29. anon
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 2:06 pm

    Add Korea to the list of countries that have this exercise device ^^

  30. nerfherder
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 2:14 pm

    I think it’s a device to wash your bare feet before entering a business building.

  31. steve ruckus
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 2:14 pm

    i think it is a system for removing chemicals in a factory. kind of like an eyewash station…but for your body.

  32. Peter Bonanno
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 2:21 pm

    It’s an core workout machine: you hold on to the handles, stand on the rotating circular platform, and twist your lower body side to side. it’s supposed to work your lats, abs, and back… though that seems dubious

  33. Marco McClean
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 2:22 pm

    It’s obviously an early-model Cylon made to infiltrate our dishwashing machines.

  34. cin
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 2:24 pm

    possibly a public chair…

  35. Pablo
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 2:30 pm

    Definitely a piece of exercise equipment for stretching your torso. Stand on the circle, hold the handles and watch the pounds shed away as you oscillate back and forth. I don’t know if you get extra points for naming country of origin, but I bet this idea started in China. They have a ton of stuff like that in their parks.

  36. lkskeith
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 2:31 pm

    i think it is something like a gym machine to do dips (A gymnastic exercise on the parallel bars in which the body is lowered by bending the elbows until the chin reaches the level of the bars and then is raised by straightening the arms)

  37. Josh
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 2:42 pm

    ….It’s illegal and I don’t like it.

  38. matt
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 3:20 pm

    is it used to get sand out of a bathing suit? at the beach?

  39. Miss Cellania
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 3:21 pm

    That’s an instrument of torture!

  40. Zen Blue
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 3:27 pm

    Boot scraper. Possibly for construction sites where 3 people at a time can scrape the mud off their boots at the same time.

  41. Joe H
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 3:32 pm

    I’m guessing it’s a sort of jackhammer.

  42. Joe H
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 3:33 pm

    ..Or something used to drill holes in the ground.

  43. Karl N
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 3:45 pm

    it’s an eyewashing station. grab the handles and bend down to flush your eyes out.

  44. christina
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 3:57 pm

    Some kind of shoe shinning stand

  45. judy t
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 4:02 pm

    its a playground ride for three
    one person stands on each disc and spins

  46. Nbob
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 4:05 pm

    It’s a Chinese fire drill !… or rather it holds 3 fire extinguishers for when it’s not a drill.

  47. eskimo
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 4:12 pm

    It’s a 3-person coin-operated shower for before and after using the public pool.

  48. Jacob H
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 4:14 pm

    Its for washing chemicals off the lower half of the body. We have those in Chemistry for our eyes, and a shower for our torso.

  49. sushirama
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 4:15 pm

    shoe washer for nuclear cleanup crews

  50. Kirk O
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 4:36 pm

    This is a kcikboxing/martial art exercise station. Just like in the Bruce Lee movies, but modern, and in metal!

  51. Ari
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 5:02 pm

    its a piece of playground equipment, you stand on the discs and hold the handles and then some form of unexpected excitable movement occurs, and a ‘playful experience’ is received… i have the exact same thing in my leather dungeon.

  52. MJ
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 5:08 pm

    It’s a golf bag stand (holds three bags)

  53. Eugenio Martínez Sierra
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 5:35 pm

    I think it´s a special sprinkler:

    When it´s turned on the upper zone spin and the lower zone let the water go out like a inverted shower.

  54. InSpain
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 5:40 pm

    I.think.it.is.called.Olivia.

  55. Snappy
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 6:02 pm

    It’s a three-person ass-on-fire extinguisher.

  56. Anthony Garone
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 6:09 pm

    It looks like some sort of lifting tool, possibly through the use of suction for something along the lines of a very heavy manhole cover. One person stands on each round platform and grabs two handles apiece.

    The weird thing is, though, that it looks as thought it’s designed for people to push down on the handlebars. Perhaps the platforms lift, but I can’t quite figure out why such a contraption would ever exist.

  57. Anthony Garone
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 6:13 pm

    Perhaps it’s a pump of some sort operated by three people? Or a stamping device? There are grooves in the metal yellow piece that make it look like the handles are meant to be pushed down by three people standing on those small platforms. So weird.

    This is quite a puzzle!

  58. Jim
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 7:01 pm

    A water sprayer found at parks for the kids. Oversized sprinkler essentially.

  59. Clarem
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 7:26 pm

    Something for electrostatic experiences

  60. aaron
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 7:29 pm

    it’s a fire hydrant

  61. Justine
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 7:41 pm

    It’s a lawn sprinkler.

  62. Rich
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 8:46 pm

    To me, it immediately screamed “lawn sprinkler” — perhaps I should seek help about inanimate objects (or images of them) screaming at me?

  63. d
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 8:56 pm

    exercise equipment used to twist and turn

  64. Cori
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 9:23 pm

    Its used to drill holes to China, to reduce postage fees.

  65. Jung
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 9:53 pm

    Emergency shower, for chemistry labs, water shoots up to clean between the legs.

  66. Ivan
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 10:08 pm

    A 3-person pogo stick of course. I used to have one of these :)

    Sent from my mobile using FeedM8

  67. Jewbacchus
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 10:27 pm

    Three person exercise machine.

  68. Raistlin_qjx
    Nov 1st, 2007 at 10:35 pm

    It’s a kind of exercise equipment for three people. They can hold the handles and stand the rolling panels. The rotating panels can help exercise their waist. I guess

  69. Bergan
    Nov 2nd, 2007 at 1:00 am

    Many have already said what it is, and I fully agree, it’s an exercise machine of sorts located in Beijing China. They are everywhere here! Entire sections of parks and public places full of random exercising machines, some even weirder than this one.

  70. RuFo
    Nov 2nd, 2007 at 4:11 am

    It’s an exercise machine!

  71. Jim
    Nov 2nd, 2007 at 8:45 am

    Looks like a bidet to me!

  72. DrJones
    Nov 2nd, 2007 at 9:56 am

    It looks as though there are no moving parts. Everything is bolted down. It looks to be an excercise machine, primarily to work the Triceps. You support yourself on the handle bars, pull your legs up and lift your body up and down. The different handle bar heights accomodate for different heights of people.

  73. Eddy
    Nov 2nd, 2007 at 10:15 am

    It is an exercise equipment.
    It should be called 3 person seated trunk rotation, here is the picture of 2 seated trunk rotation: wwrc.virginia.gov/images/ExerciseEquipment2.jpg

  74. axtapi
    Nov 2nd, 2007 at 11:27 am

    Its a bike rack!

  75. puchasgracias
    Nov 2nd, 2007 at 1:45 pm

    It’s a rack for golf club bags. You put your bag there on the way into the pro shop or clubhouse.

  76. matt
    Nov 2nd, 2007 at 1:53 pm

    Is it an eyewash station around a construction site?

  77. sushirama
    Nov 2nd, 2007 at 3:43 pm

    High Pressure Ball Washer – hence the handles

  78. Zen Blue
    Nov 2nd, 2007 at 4:10 pm

    It’s a manual pole driver (no joke). The device is place on top of a fence post or pole and three guys hang on to the handles and jump up and down at the same time to drive the post/pole into the ground or wherever it’s supposed to go.

  79. lotophage
    Nov 2nd, 2007 at 4:20 pm

    A lawn spinkler

  80. MQQNEYES
    Nov 2nd, 2007 at 5:37 pm

    its a jack stand for a semi trailer

  81. aaron
    Nov 2nd, 2007 at 8:06 pm

    is it a shoe scrape?

  82. Scot
    Nov 2nd, 2007 at 9:30 pm

    Isn’t that a stand used to hold scuba tanks when thay’re being refilled?

  83. Alex
    Nov 2nd, 2007 at 9:31 pm

    That was great, guys. The answer is exercise equipment for the waist. Congrats to algonkin #3 who got it right!

  84. Scot
    Nov 2nd, 2007 at 9:38 pm

    …on second thought, a stand that holds welding tanks or some kind of tanks. Co2, helium, any type of tanks.

  85. Snappy
    Nov 3rd, 2007 at 8:52 pm

    Bah! I still think it’s a three-person ass-on-fire extinguisher.


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