NEW YORK — The Koreans take their gizmos very seriously. Sure, local electronics behemoths like Samsung and LG use their homeland as a proving ground for cutting-edge wares—meaning many of the coolest gadgets and tech trends get years of use out East before they make it to the States. After all, this is a country where everyone's been watching television on their cellphones for years—while riding the subway, no less—and where video gaming is a major spectator sport on those very TVs. At the Koreanovation expo here this week, the brains behind some of Korea's more, shall we say, unusual toys gleefully showed off their new stuff in hopes of landing on American shelves. Some of these gadgets were whacky, some made dubious medical claims, and some were just pointless. We got a day's worth of hands-on time with a bunch of 'em, and here's a handful you're certainly not likely to see at the local Best Buy anytime in the near future. —Seth Porges

Pet Pavilion Pet Incubator & Hotel

These guys assured me that this toaster oven-looking device can create the "ideal" environment for just about any sick pet—be it cat, dog or bird. Plop Fido inside when he's got that Kramer cough, and you can control the chamber's humidity, temperature, lighting and ventilation all the way to a speedy recovery. Or you can save the $10,000 this semi-repulsive thing costs and take him to the vet like everybody else.

Ringbo Riding Intelligence Robot

Man, it's about time somebody got after that growing epidemic of our kids getting too much exercise. This Rascal-like "robot" scooter lets your tyke (up to 66 pounds) scoot around the room in style. While the brochure promises it's "fun to riding with intelligent Ringbo," I can only assume that similar toys are quite popular in Korea. So what makes this one different? According to the literature: "While existing conventional riding mobile toy could not be easily used indoors due to wide swing radius, this product can move in the room freely thanks to zero swing radius." Exactly. And an "obstacle detecting sensor" keeps you from running into furniture or felines. Hmm...

Pollex Xcube Ultrasonic Cleaner

Fed up with all the whooshing work it takes to wash your hands in public these days? Me too. Like Dyson's Airblade, this puppy zaps the grease with blindingly fast vibrations: I stuck my hands inside, and watched streaks of oil flee my hands. Pretty gross, but pretty solid—especially for dishes and your morning fruit.

Mega Quake Prime

It's long been the gadget-craving lazy man's dream to work out without doing much at all. And while it's long been up to late-night infomercials and snake-oil salesman to convince you, now the folks from JTrade promise the long-awaited "no-effort workout." We've seen these violent vibrators before, and this was more snake oil: The only weight I felt come off was my spleen leaving headed out of my system.