“This is a lighting system, called Lighty. There’s a group of robotic lights on the ceiling, and their orientation and brightness can be controlled through this interface.”
“This feels just like Photoshop. To specify which places you want bright or dark, all you need to do is color in the corresponding areas.”
In this system, the interactive pen display is used to paint the room in light or darkness, with a camera placed in the ceiling returning the results in real …
3D is all the rage these days when it comes to the movies. The studios have opened up to the concept of shooting movies in three dimensions. It has been found to add to the viewing experience that people derive when watching the movie in a theatre. In fact, the most successful movie of all time was shot in 3D. Despite the cynics and critics lamenting how 3D is ruining the movie going experience, the technology is holding strong and may well continue to do so for the next many years to …
Another cool product we saw at Smart Grid Expo in Tokyo (Smart Energy Week 2013) was this portable solar-powered generator – ECO1800SJ – by Japanese solar company, XSOL.
Simple in concept, but really useful for the right situations, it is literally a solar panel on wheels, hooked to a generator. It is not incredibly powerful but you can bring it anywhere to give you energy without hassle anywhere there is sun.
With 6 total outputs (AC and DC), you can charge phones, smart devices …
Today, AkihabaraNews attended the 3rd International Smart Grid Expo at Tokyo Big Site. It was certainly exciting to see so many companies from around the world attending the event. Of course we saw solar panels and every kind of high-tech gadget to manage anything from a small array to an entire large-scale power grid. The show had a strong B2B focus and we found it quite difficult to find any consumer related products. But what we could not resist noticing were some of the sponsors of cool …
NTT is developing technology that faithfully reproduces pictures and sound from distant locations, creating a natural sense of distance and position, as if both people are in the same room.
“Regarding the picture, this system includes technology that uses 3D video. It continually generates pictures from such a viewpoint that, the other person seems to be right in front of you. Regarding the sound, the system uses technology that reproduces the sound wave-front, so you can hear the other …
This omnidirectional camera, currently under development by Ricoh, takes a full 360° panoramic image in one shot.
“It has two fish-eye lenses, each of which covers 180 degrees. The camera combines the two pictures, and sends them via Wi-Fi to a tablet or smartphone for viewing. The idea is, the pictures you take arrive automatically.”
“When viewing it like a regular panoramic image, you can also see up and down. When you pull out from the image, it finally becomes a circle, …
“This is the Xperia Tablet Z SO-03E. It’s the world’s slimmest tablet, and Japan’s lightest, too. Until now, tablets have been heavy and thick, so they end up getting left at home. But this one’s light and slim enough to carry in a bag, without it feeling like a heavy load.”
“For this tablet, we’ve used what’s called the Omni Balance Design. This looks very sleek, because it eliminates all unnecessary features.”
“This tablet …
“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 …
The Ikei Laboratory of Tokyo Metropolitan University Graduate School of System Design is developing virtual body technology that utilizes the five senses. In addition to using conventional audio and video footage , this technology can recreate smells as well as the feel of the wind and of stepping on the ground.
“This exhibition of a virtual body is for the purpose of having a vicarious experience. This technology aims to enable various experiences as if having assumed a different …
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