Docomo has unveiled a dual-screen smartphone, the Medias W. It features two 4.3″ displays, a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, an 8.1MP camera and runs Android 4.1. It will be released in April 2013.
“This is the MEDIAS W. Ordinarily, you use it folded up, like a regular smartphone. When you want to look at a picture or map, it can open up to become a 5.6 inch screen. So you can read maps or browse the Web easily, and it makes text entry easy, too.”
“Let’s display a map. …
“DIVE into World Heritage 3D,”exhibited by Panasonic at Digital Content EXPO 2012, is a system for creating panoramic images by shooting with five 3D cameras, then showing the images using five high-definition plasma display panels.
” In collaboration with UNESCO, we photographed seven world heritage sites around the world. The purpose of these images is to allow people to have an experience like they’d have if they went to these sites in person. 3D cameras used to be …
This power amplification robot, called Power Loader, is currently under development by Activelink, a Panasonic subsidiary venture.
The aim is to achieve a robot that can freely utilize power beyond human strength, in emergencies or on construction sites. Power Loader’s role is to link people with construction machinery.
“Power Loader receives the force input by a person through its force sensors, and amplifies it using motors. In this way, it assists the person, by producing a large …
Transience is an artwork by the Wakita Lab at Keio University. It is intended to represent a harmony between calligraphy and computers, by dynamically altering the color of calligraphy on paper.
“At first sight, it’s hard to understand, but if you watch for about two minutes, I think you’ll see how the color gradually changes. We suspected that this kind of transient effect could be achieved by combining calligraphy with the computer.”
To change the color of the ink on …
This table helps you to draw precise freehand circles and lines. It is under development by a group in the Yasuaki Kakehi Lab at Keio University.
By using a computer to control the XY position of a magnet under the surface of the table, it implements, on paper, drawing methods utilized in computer graphics.
“I’ll place an ordinary ballpoint pen on the table. Now, I can semi-automatically draw a precise circle, or a straight line, or an illustration prepared in advance. In other …
Sharp have updated their Cocorobo line of intelligent robot vacuum cleaners, with a new smaller model, as well as a Cocorobo Navi function, which allows the robot to be controlled when the user is outside the home.
Cocorobo Navi can be used to visually map out your house creating a floor plan, letting the robot know where objects are placed, so you can directly specify where the robot should go.
Sharp also unveiled a controller, which connects to the Cocorobo via it’s USB port, and can …
Crossfader has developed Version 1.4 of AR-MAPS, an iPhone app that supports augmented reality (AR) on maps. AR is one of visualization solutions. This map application represents the ground on the bottom half of the screen, showing a map there. On the top half, it shows a video, with AR tags attached to destinations on it. This makes navigation easier to visualize.
“AR-MAPS supports the iPhone. On the iPhone 5 (recommended models are iPhone 4S/5), you can choose between standard maps and …
In December, Fujifilm will release a 99x zoom lens that also achieves a wide-angle focal length of 8.4 mm, the top specification for a broadcast telephoto lens.
For this lens, Fujifilm has upgraded its optical shake compensation, to further increase the precision of correction for camera shake, which tends to occur at long focal lengths.
“This lens has an extremely wide working range, from 8.4 mm to 832 mm. It’s ideal for not just sports like baseball, but also activities such as …
Researchers at the CRNS-AIST Joint Robotics Laboratory, are working on ways to control robots via thought alone.
“Basically we would like to create devices which would allow people to feel embodied, in the body of a humanoid robot. To do so we are trying to develop techniques from Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) so that we can read the peoples thoughts and then try to see how far we can go from interpreting brain waves signals, to transform them into actions to be done by the …
The Gocen is a device which scans and plays handwritten sheet music in real time. It is being developed by a group at the Tokyo Metropolitan University led by Assistant Professor Tetsuaki Baba.
“First, the system looks at the stave, then at the notes, then at the position of the notes, to determine the high notes. In addition, it directly reads words such as piano or guitar. The computer automatically recognizes them, and changes the instrument. Also, for example, if this melody is in F …
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