When nature calls at the beachside Mumin Papa Cafe in the city of Akashi (Hyogo prefecture), patrons have the luxury of using an underwater restroom built into the side of a giant aquarium filled with exotic fish and a sea turtle that likes to watch. According to the cafe owner, the 30-million-yen ($270,000) sub-aquatic restroom […]
Simroid, a robotic dental patient with an eerily realistic appearance, has been spotted at the 2007 International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo. Designed primarily as a training tool for dentists, the fembot patient can follow spoken instructions, closely monitor a dentist’s performance during mock treatments, and react in a human-like way to mouth pain. Because Simroid’s […]
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has announced its shortlist of finalists for the 2007 Robot Award. The nominees include 9 robots in three categories (service robots, industrial robots, and public sector robots), as well as 4 robot-related items in the components/software category.
Here is a list of the robots by category (details […]
Hitachi has unveiled an office worker robot named “EMIEW 2,” which is a lighter, more compact and more sophisticated version of Hitachi’s 1st-generation EMIEW (Excellent Mobility and Interactive Existence as Workmate) robot developed in March 2005. The robot was demonstrated on November 21 at the company’s Mechanical Engineering Research Laboratory, where it was supposed to […]
On November 21, a group of small- to medium-sized venture companies based in western Japan unveiled an autonomous ladybug-shaped robot designed to clean public restrooms at highway rest areas.
The 1-meter (39-inch) tall, 1.35-meter (53-inch) long prototype robot — named “Lady Bird” — is equipped with water tanks, brushes and other tools needed for heavy-duty […]
Publisher Jiyu Kokuminsha has announced this year’s crop of nominees for Japanese buzzword of the year. The wide-ranging selection of 60 words and expressions — many of which come from the worlds of politics, sports and entertainment — were selected based on suggestions from the general public, and they provide an interesting look at some […]
To anyone planning a visit to Japan, please note: YOU WILL BE TREATED AS A POTENTIAL TERRORIST WHEN YOU ARRIVE. As many foreign residents in Japan are already painfully aware, a new law that takes effect November 20 will require non-Japanese people entering the country to be fingerprinted and photographed in the name of fighting […]
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and public broadcaster NHK have released a scaled-down online version of their much anticipated high-definition video of the Earth rising over the lunar horizon. The video was taken on November 7 by the HDTV camera aboard the KAGUYA (SELENE) lunar explorer orbiting the moon at an altitude of 100 […]
To the delight of divers, and to the chagrin of fishermen, the swarms of giant Echizen kurage jellyfish (Nomura’s jellyfish) that invade the coast of the Sea of Japan each autumn are back.
These photos were taken 5 meters underwater just offshore from the coastal town of Echizen in Fukui prefecture, where the jellyfish mobs began […]
A team of University of Tokyo researchers led by professors Hitoshi Sakano and Ko Kobayakawa have announced they have genetically engineered a mouse that does not fear cats, simply by controlling its sense of smell. By tweaking genes to disable certain functions of the olfactory bulb — the area of the brain that receives information […]
