Hasta La Gadget!

Customers can step right into cyberspace until April 19th at Shibuya’s Parco department store. Promoting the 3D release of “Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex Solid State Society” web company Kayac Inc installed a large game booth that lets players immerse into the game and float in space.

The game uses the microsoft Kinect sensor to let players use gesture and movement to travel through space in a bid to capture Tachikoma. Controls use the whole range of movements from twisting to turn and moving forward and back to shift perspective then using an arm movement to zap and capture the characters. With the installed wrap around screen the effect is pretty absorbing and really feels like you are floating around.

The store itself has various anime goods and a display of some original shots from the Ghost In The Shell movie also for fans to see.

Users twist and turn below in the original video from Kayac:

The game is on the 5th floor of Parco, Shibuya in the S.A.C Premium Shop until April 19th.

Thanks to www.asiajin.com

Starbucks opened up a new concept store in the upscale Tokyo fashion district of Omotesando today. Designed by “The Godfather of Harajuku” Japanese designer Hiroshi Fujiwara

The “B-Side” Starbucks looks uniquely different from the ubiquitous designs of its other branches. Situated in his very back yard where Fujiwara came of age and gained inspiration, it is his first shop design project. Stepping inside it immediately feels different from the many other Starbucks shops around the city.

Tying in earthy materials with a long wooden counter the bench and stools add a distinctly metropolitan city feel to the cafe. Upstairs the brown stools and sofas also show off the main theme of the concept cafe, “natural” and “relax”. Combined with the large wrap around glass windows allowing natural lighting and looking out onto the surrounding trees, not always a common sight in concrete Tokyo, the store has a cosy atmosphere.

The upstairs is nicely designed although the seating doesn’t lend itself exactly to group relaxation, possibly to deter the would be university kids who take up residents nursing a single small coffee all day.

The most noticeable difference is the actual B-Side area of the shop which has a large sliding door and some stylishly designed furniture, a lot more in keeping with the “relax” theme.

The store has also incorporated some playful neon tube lighting signs that play on the mug wording and a selection of design and fashion books on shelves for customers to browse while sipping.

In the future the store plans on selling mugs and limited goods only available at the B-Side concept Starbucks and will host a number of live events.

After receiving a boost from Netgear it appears Roku’s plans for 2011 include hitting retail under its own name, as it’s officially announced the Roku XD (no NTV250 branding) is available at Best Buy, as well as Fry’s and Radio Shack. Previously Roku only sold its own player through online but after breaking through 1 million units it’s apparently ready for bigger things. We’ve been informed the Netgear-branded boxes will sell out their inventory and be replaced by these going forward, so those interested in grabbing one for the archives may want to do so quickly. 2011 should see a big charge into retail from Roku as it seeks to stay one step ahead of the media streaming competition and this is just the first step; for now one can only wonder exactly what the next move will be.

Continue reading Roku XD player comes directly to Best Buy shelves with no Netgear intervention

Roku XD player comes directly to Best Buy shelves with no Netgear intervention originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 08:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If Amazon were to venture beyond the web in favor of a more tangible medium to peddle its wares, it might consider something like Telepresence Tech’s new telepresence kiosk for the job. We got a surprise demo of the system at a Samsung event today and came away intrigued. The technology renders 2D images that float and rotate in space, giving retailers a way to let customers see their products as if they were actually there, and at a fraction of the cost — about $1.50 per hour — of paying meatbags to man a traditional brick-and-mortar store. A separate touchscreen lets shoppers scroll through available items, speak face to virtual face with customer service, and make purchases. Check the gallery to see more of what our retail future looks like.

TelePresence Tech kiosk to bring virtual shopping to a mall near you, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 23:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Adidas has just launched a new tryvertising service for its adizero shoes. Kutsukasu (literally, “lend shoes”) lets you borrow a pair of running shoes and even rewards you with a discount should you then decide you want a pair of adizero sneakers permanently.

Though you do have to pay the delivery costs, you may borrow up to four pairs of shoes from 19 adizero series models completely for free. The lending period is three nights/four days so you can get a real chance to test out how the shoes feel on you, rather than the usual relatively hurried few minutes’ worth inside a store.

The kutsukasu site is of course as much a platform for educating visitors in the features and style of the adizero range, which is then physically and experientially replicated when the users actually borrow a pair of shoes. While the tryvertising service will run until the end of May — and the 1,400 yen ($17) discount valid until the end of June — this kind of communication with consumers lasts longer than any of the hype about the campaign’s “freebie” dimensions.

Sports and outdoors retail is big in the news at the moment in Tokyo, with nightlife sports concept spaces, new brand stores opening and targeting female consumers, as well as plenty of tie-ups for the city’s popular marathon. Asics, Nike and Adidas have also all recently opened big flagship stores around Tokyo. Adidas itself just expanded its Harajuku “performance center” branch to include a neo Level store, stocking its new range aimed specifically at young shoppers.

There is also evidence of changing attitudes towards item rental, especially in fashion and with a recession forcing consumers to re-evaluate their wallets. Another “free rental” service, 4jigen (4D) Closet, recently began loaning out brand items, currently also shoes. This one works more like a community; you have to submit an offering for lending to others before you can then borrow something yourself.