Seiko Epson has developed a paper-thin fingerprint sensor measuring 0.2 millimeter in thickness, which may help bring an extra level of security to a range of items in the future. When touched, the sensor reads fingerprint patterns based on the faint electric current emanating from the user’s fingertip.
The fingerprint sensor’s ultrathin profile means it […]
Wildly fantastic animated videos from the end of Denki Groove’s Nisenyon Summer (”Summer 2004″) DVD. On YouTube.
Mr. Empty, followed by Chuunen Punk (”Middle-aged Punk”)
Cafe De Oni
Hikenai Gitaa O Hikun Da Ze (”Play The Guitar You Can’t Play”)
A mutant tomato with a face resembling a Chinese lion mask was harvested from a field in the city of Yahata in Kyoto prefecture. The common momotaro tomato is 3 times the normal size, measuring 10 cm in diameter and weighing 150 grams.
The unusually long rainy season is believed to have caused the […]
Mitsubishi Electric has completed construction of the world’s largest high-definition video screen at a horse track in Tokyo. The screen employs Mitsubishi’s Aurora Vision LED technology and measures 11.2 meters (37 feet) x 66.4 meters (218 feet), giving it a surface area of 744 square meters (8,000+ square feet), or the equivalent of 3 tennis […]
Researchers at Akishima Laboratories (Mitsui Zosen), working in conjunction with professor Shigeru Naito of Osaka University, have developed a device that uses waves to draw text and pictures on the surface of water.
The device, called AMOEBA (Advanced Multiple Organized Experimental Basin), consists of 50 water wave generators encircling a cylindrical tank 1.6 meters in […]
There is a mailbox located underwater off the coast of Susami in Wakayama prefecture.
The mailbox is not some old sunken relic, but an actual mail collection point officially recognized as part of Susami’s postal system.
Each day the contents are collected from the box, which reportedly contains as many as 200 pieces of mail […]
Geminoid is a remote-control doppelganger droid designed by and modeled after Hiroshi Ishiguro, professor at Osaka University and researcher at ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories. Robot Watch has released some short videos, which you can see at the links below. Video format is WMV.
Video 1: Ishiguro introduces himself through Geminoid.
Video 2: This […]
The Risk/Benefit Assessment of Drugs-Analysis and Response (RAD-AR) Council of Japan has released a new batch of pictograms for use on pharmaceutical packaging. No more deciphering complicated dosage directions and warnings — a glance is all it takes now.
Get your copy of all 51 pictograms here.
[Via Iza!]
In squid-crazy Hakodate, squid fishing is big business, the local specialties include shio ramen (squid-topped ramen) and ikasomen (raw squid cut into the shape of somen noodles), the summer festivals have residents busting squid-like moves in a dance called ika-odori (a squirmy version of the traditional bon dance performed at summer festivals throughout Japan), and […]
A golden lobster has been placed on display at the Ginza Tanaka jewelry store in Nagoya.
Crafted from 500 grams (1.1 lb.) of pure gold, the creature is a detailed life-sized reproduction of an Ise-ebi lobster (Japanese spiny lobster, or Panulirus japonicus). It measures 34 cm (13 in.) long and 19 cm (7 in.) […]
