It’s really difficult to know if this is a joke or not. There’s a part of you that’s appealing to your better sense of judgement and saying "come on, no–one would ever actually make this smartwatch and its accompanying promo video" and there’s another part of you comprehensively beaten down by the utter ludricrousness of the world that we live in, a part of you who knows all too well that it’s entirely possible that this has been designed in all seriousness, a part of you resigned to the fact the crushing inevitability that it has been made by engineers who think that this smartwatch will actually improve your sexlife.

Introducing "The Pick Up Girls Smartwatch", a new nadir in tech. On the IndieGogo crowdfunding page that’s attempting to raise $10,000 (£6,400), its makers promise that this smartwatch will build your confidence, rid you of your shyness and teach you how to be vulnerable. As far as we can tell, all the smartwatch does is plays two soundtracks simultaneously – your music and "the pre-programmed pick up girls subliminal and hypnosis messages". It also promises the "deep meditation frequencies that Tibetan monks reach" and some other totally standard features such as "Facebook".

The smartphone also comes with "beautiful watchfaces", so you can show a picture of flowers to a girl and say "I got these flowers for you", irrespective of the fact of whether you did or you didn’t and you’re just showing the girl in question a .JPG of flowers. "Every girl likes to get flowers", say the makers.

When we arrive at the "Get Her Phone Number Easily" section, we’re offered a strange feature that offers no new technology and just relies on you being a complete nut. Imagine doing this on the street to a stranger.

"We have included a camera in the face of the watch so you can easily take her picture. And then you say: "Do you want me to send you your picture, give me your cell number".

Oh right. Why do you need a camera to "easily take her picture", like some behind-the-bins anti-lothario? Asking someone for their number is OK if it’s not done in a "give me your number" kind of way, but why the picture? Just doesn’t need to happen.

If you are willing to part with $199 (£127) then you’ll not only get a hypnotic smartwatch, but also a 1oz silver coin engraved with the message "I AM LUCKY WITH THE LADIES". Once you have become a sex sensei, you pass it on to other men in order to inspire them that they too can stop women on the streets, take their picture and ask for their phone number, or show them .JPGs of flowers.

This has to be a hoax, right? If you watch the six-minute long promo video (we did), it’s impossible to comprehend the idea anybody is trying to peddle sell this to anyone. The maker does at least confess that this is, in some respects, a personal crusade. "In developing the Pick Up Girls Smartwatch I remembered the shyness I felt. I have been crying remembering."

Art Glass is the New York-based inventor who appears to be behind the project. He’s definitely a real man, and authored The Marijuana Diet, a book that promises to help you lose 1lb a day by getting baked. So Glass has previous for strange help-technique business models.

If it is a hoax, the "Pick Up Girls Smartwatch" appears to have gone to quite a lot of effort with not all that much payback and does contain some depressingly all-too-familiar attitudes.

Watch the video below and help us figure out if this is fact or fiction.