Simroid, the silicone-skinned, pneumatically-powered female patient robot designed to help train dental students, recently appeared on the Fuji TV show Idainaru Miraizukan. (Watch video.)
In addition to highlighting Simroid’s ability to interact with dentists and react to mouth pain, the show features an interview with Dr. Naotake Shibui of the Nippon Dental University in Tokyo, who […]
Rodents can learn how to wield tools with the proper training, according to new research from Japan’s Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN). In a series of experiments conducted over a 60-day period, researchers taught six degus (small rat-like rodents) to use a miniature rake to obtain food. Each degu was placed on one […]
Researchers at Toshiba have developed a talking robot that functions as a voice-operated universal remote control for multiple home appliances. The 2.3 kilogram (5 lb), 21 x 27 centimeter (8 x 11 in) prototype robot, named ApriPoko, learns how to operate various remote controls by watching and asking questions. ApriPoko sits in the living room […]
This minimalist version of “Smoky Bubbles” by Denki Groove (from the “A” album, 1997) was performed on a jailbroken iPod Touch 1.1.2.
Bass: Pocket Guitar (Electric Bass)
Synthesizer: iPhone Synth
Drums: BeatPhone
Guitar: Pocket Guitar (Acoustic Electric Guitar)
Piano: iAno (now known as “Pianist”)
This 1980s TV commercial touts an effective cure for athlete’s tentacle.
On March 8, pianist Yosuke Yamashita donned a fireproof suit and played a burning piano on a beach in Ishikawa prefecture. The improvised jazz performance went for about 10 minutes until the flames rendered the piano silent. This video shows a few excerpts.
Yamashita’s performance was a reenactment of a similar one he gave in […]
The music video for Ken Ishii’s “Space Invaders 2003” is a touching, behind-the-scenes look at a Space Invader family torn apart by war.
Long ago in Japan, human illness was commonly believed to be the work of tiny malevolent creatures inside the body. Harikikigaki, a book of medical knowledge written in 1568 by a now-unknown resident of Osaka, introduces 63 of these creepy-crawlies and describes how to fight them with acupuncture and herbal remedies. The Kyushu National Museum, […]
Do boomerangs return when thrown in zero-gravity? Japanese astronaut Takao Doi will soon find out by throwing some around inside the International Space Station.
Space boomerangs to be tested aboard ISS
When the Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on March 11, Doi will be carrying a pair of paper boomerangs presented by Yasuhiro Togai, a 2006 world […]
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a smart video goggle system that records everything the wearer looks at, recognizes and assigns names to objects that appear in the video, and creates an easily searchable database of the recorded footage. Designed to function as a high-tech memory aid, these “Cyber Goggles” promise to make […]
