Hasta La Gadget!

Toshiba have launched a new marketing campaign aimed at promoting their vision of the Smart Cities of the future. The, not hugely catchily titled, M/E/S/S/A/G/E “Symphonic Balance Of Smart Community” uses Facebook and is a pretty fun video that users can personalize.

The lego town in the video represents Toshiba’s smart city with the balls rolling around in it color coded to represent the different green energy alternatives or technologies needed for the community to function. Visitors to the site are instructed to link to their Facebook accounts and can then type in a personalized message into the site. A fun video is then played which features different avatars and characters from your Facebook friends as the balls which roll around the town symbolizing the ways in which energy and technology are used to make it function. The final scene then has the balls roll down to display your personalized message which can be captured and uploaded onto your Facebook wall.

The site also links to “Toshiba’s Technology Vision for Innovation” page which shows off some of the company’s leading technology that they see “contributing to safer and more comfortable lifestyles and a sustainable society”. As with many major industrial companies in Japan this year, Toshiba have ramped up their CSR activities since the energy concerns precipitated by the Fukushima power plant events, focusing particularly on society and new energy saving technology. Companies have seen the new focus on energy as an opportunity to push a message to the public showcasing their sustainable commodities in a way that isn’t just focusing on their reaction to environmental issues but more trying to prove that they are doing their part to help the country in it’s time of need and attain energy security.

It is this strategy, of focusing more on the concrete real issues that the public can actually see and benefit from, whether it be in staving off energy shortages or simply meaning lower prices for petrol, that stands to have far greater chance of success in driving new green technology, not just in Japan I would argue but further afield. Focusing on real tangible activity rather than the tired practices of images of polar bears or arctic ice melting, that the everyday consumer has no true connection with, which will align the consumer more coherently, and ultimately therefore really driving investment into sectors that work toward a real sustainable future.

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Continue reading GE’s new factory will push out one solar panel every ten seconds

GE’s new factory will push out one solar panel every ten seconds originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week an incredible crop of sun-powered prefabricated houses popped up in Washington DC for the 2011 Solar Decathlon, and Inhabitat was on the scene to bring you exclusive coverage of this year’s stunning homes! We took a look at all 19 of this year’s ultra-efficient projects, we rounded up seven stellar teams set to take the competition by storm, and we’ll continue to keep you posted as the results roll in, so stay tuned. We also highlighted several inspiring projects from MIT’s $1,000 house challenge, we saw a massive solar LED installation light up the night in Croatia, and we spotted plans for a futuristic floating island paradise at sea.

Green transportation got things rolling this week as Chicago launched a lush green subway car filled with plants, and Edison unveiled an electric version of their X-Prize winning Very Light Car. Two-wheeled transportation took off as well as an all-electric Tron Lightcycle hit the streets for the first time and researchers developed a nylon bike that is as strong as steel using satellite technology. We also took a spin in the 2012 Honda Insight Hybrid and we showcased plans for a Lockheed Stratoliner hydrogen jet that can travel anywhere on earth without refueling.

As September winds down schools across the county are now in session, but if you’re still scrambling to pick up a few last-minute supplies don’t miss our roundup of 14 green gadgets for back to school and ten solar-powered designs to charge your life. We also saw eco-fashion go high-tech as researchers developed a smart t-shirt that can monitor hospital patients’ vital signs, designers created a motion-sensing interactive window display and a Star Wars fan made a remarkably realistic stormtrooper helmet entirely from Adidas sneakers. Finally, we shined a light on a Swedish daycare center’s plans to track kids with GPS tracking devices.

Inhabitat’s Week in Green: Solar Decathlon, hydrogen jet and a solar LED installation originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Sep 2011 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fisker Nina — sounds more like a Bolshoi ballerina to us, but these codenamed, future EVs are now on course for a German heart and soul infusion. BMW has recently inked a deal that will see its four-cylinder turbocharged engine and additional components included in 2012 production models of the American auto maker’s mid-sized sedans. The line of electric cars are currently slated for an early 2013 debut, but we’d sprinkle a cup of salt on that date considering the Karma’s long road to launch. Skip on past the break for the company’s official eco-meets-luxury handshake announcement.

Continue reading Fisker inks BMW deal, Nina EVs gain Ultimate Driving Machine DNA

Fisker inks BMW deal, Nina EVs gain Ultimate Driving Machine DNA originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 11:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Omron, a Japan-based global company that focuses on developing MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) products for customer solutions, has attempted to address Japan’s recent energy concerns with three particularly interesting innovations that were on display at MEMS 2011. The lineup included a full office energy management solution featuring: the “Indoor Environment Monitor,” new facial recognition security system, and an automated air-conditioning adjustment system.

The Indoor Environment Monitor utilizes MEMS technology to create a comfortable (and safe) working environment. The monitor aggregates information such as the room’s temperature, relative humidity, air velocity/airflow, and occupant’s active metabolic rate to calculate an effective body temperature. The system then determines the severeness of heat illness in levels in ascending order from “Need for Care, “Caution,” “Heightened Alert,” to “Danger.” What’s interesting about this monitor is that it wirelessly transmits this information to a smartphone app or PC, which can be used remotely to monitor a grandparent or young child left by themselves at home. Innovation such as this that allow remote care via sensors is a particularly useful advancement.

With the recent increase in software security threats causing a slight panic among the general public, and growing concerns of unsafe and unprotected passwords, Omron also introduced an “intelligent” security system that takes into account “setsuden” (energy saving) as well. In the form of a webcam, this system adds the concept of using thermal detection on top of facial recognition, and combines these two security measures to solve two challenges: unauthorized access to users’ computers and energy saving.

The process is fairly simple in the sense that the thermal camera detects faces of registered users and only allows access if body temperature is detected. Holding up a picture of a registered user would not grant access to the computer. Not only does this make logging in easier and convenient, with regards to “setsuden,” it saves energy by going into sleep mode the second the user leaves their computer (laptop). This reduction may seem trivial when compared to the rest of energy saving products that we have introduced in previous articles, but the Japanese have a popular saying: “even ashes can pile up to form a mountain.” What is most fascinating about this new system is that the whole process is instant and takes less than a second to turn itself on and off.

Omron’s third product involves using SSMs (Smart Sensing Module) to significantly reduce air conditioning power by using adaptation features while maintaining production standards. Using the same technology from the two innovations above, the SSMs are placed in strategic places, acting as a human detection sensor, air flow, and temperature/humidity sensor. The SSMs then transmit their calculations to the air conditioner, which adjusts accordingly the amount and temperature of the air flow it releases. Omron’s Semiconductor factory, which monitors clean room conditions in real time, has been testing the effectiveness of their new technology and so far, have successfully achieved a power consumption reduction of 25%.

New products that use cutting-edge technology never fail to impress us, and Omron has certainly done a fine job of appealing to society’s latest concerns like the aging community and “setsuden”. Energy saving measures have been rolled out across all industries as a result of the disasters in Japan, and innovations in technology aimed at reducing energy consumption due to blackout threats have become a noticeable selling point in consumer appliances.

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