Terrifying condom slingshot hoping to win $100,000 from Bill Gates (but would YOU try it?)

Joerg Sprave has built a slingshot which can be used to apply a condom
It has to be fired at very close range and Mr Sprave admits it can be â€˜painfulâ€™
Created it following Gates Foundationâ€™s appeal for new condom technology
Put a video on YouTube of slingshot in action â€“ viewed 1.7 million times

By
Emma Innes

PUBLISHED:

05:41 EST, 9 April 2013

|

UPDATED:

05:45 EST, 9 April 2013

An inventor has created a terrifying means of using a slingshot to apply a condom -Â and says it is all in the name of beating sexually transmitted infections.

Joerg Sprave, of The Slingshot Channel, designed the Condom Applicator Slingshot Gun in a light-hearted attempt to win a Â£65,000 ($100,000) grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Mr Sprave, from Burgkunstadt, in Germany, created the gadget in response to the foundationâ€™s offer of grants for people who could cut sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies by creating the next generation of condoms.

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Joerg Sprave, of The Slingshot Channel, designed the Condom Applicator Slingshot Gun in a light-hearted attempt to win a $100,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

He created the gadget in response to the foundation's offer of grants for people who could cut sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies by creating the next generation of condoms

He created the gadget in response to the foundationâ€™s offer of grants for people who could cut sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies by creating the next generation of condoms

BILL GATES CONDOM CHALLENGE

On behalf of the Grand Challenges in Health programme, Bill and Melinda Gates are offering $100,000 worth of start-up money for an idea which could spawn the next generation of condom technology.

Condoms are seen as vital for preventing unwanted pregnancies and STIs but are often shunned on the basis that they are thought to reduce sexual pleasure.

Therefore, the Gates Foundation is looking for an idea which leads to the creation of condoms that increase pleasure in the hope this will encourage people to use them.

Mr Spraveâ€™s contraption allows the unlucky subject to attach a condom to the barrel of the slingshot gun.

They can then prepare the gun for firing before pulling the trigger at close range and releasing the condom at high speed.

Mr Sprave has posted a video of the eye-watering device on YouTube and in the two days since it appeared it has been viewed nearly two million times.

In the video the inventor says: â€˜The Slingshot Channel cannot stand back when someone poses a great challenge.

â€˜Of course there are problems â€“ like the lack of accuracy, and the fear.

â€˜There is pain.

â€˜But of course, it needs some improvement.

â€˜That is why I need the money.â€™

He adds: â€˜Nothing fascinates male human beings more than guns and sex so when we combine both you must see the huge potential this has.

â€˜So, come on, pass over the hundred grand and then we will make a product out of this.â€™

Mr Sprave's contraption allows the unlucky subject to attach a condom to the barrel of the slingshot gun

Mr Spraveâ€™s contraption allows the unlucky subject to attach a condom to the barrel of the slingshot gun

The trigger can then be pulled causing the condom to fire at high speed

Mr Sprave accepts that the device still needs some work as it causes 'fear' and 'pain'

Mr Sprave accepts that the device still needs some work as it causes â€˜fearâ€™ and â€˜painâ€™

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a private foundation that focuses on enhancing healthcare and reducing poverty, is offering $100,000 worth of start-up money for any inventor who can increase the appeal of condom use.

It is hoped that the inventor will manage to design a condom that does not reduce sexual pleasure meaning that people are not tempted to go without them.

Bill and Melinda Gates believe that this is important as a means of reducing the spread of STIs, including HIV.