Another Robot

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My story on the robotic "fashion model."
Yes, I did ask the scientists why of all possibilities they have to come up with a robot for entertainment _ the very jobs people want to keep for ourselves and can hope to express our human-ness.
Unfortunately, they said, the technology isn't good enough for robots to do work that humans don't want to do.
So make them do the work that people want to do?
Have no fear _ it's not good enough to take away any modeling jobs either.
People do it better.

Mobile Fashion

Xavel is the company behind the Tokyo Girls Collection fashion show and mobile/PC sites for electronic shopping that showcase some of Japan's biggest brands _ fashion houses puzzling to anyone other than young Japanese women with names like Deicy, Titty, Cecil McBee, Spiral Girl.
The shows, which attract thousands of people, work more like catalog shopping.
The people can order clothes right then and there as the models prance on the runway before their eyes.
It's a great business idea.
And these women are certainly having fun.
Whether their energy and goodwill can be channeled into something other than just-looking-good remains to be seen.

Driving simulator 2

This gives you more of an idea of the dome's size. Toyota says the purpose of the machine is to see how people respond in driving when they are tired, sleepy, etc.
But it'd be a good machine to simply test people's driving skills and see if they're fit to drive.
Toyota says that's not the purpose of the machine.

Driving simulator

This is the view from inside Toyota's new driving simulator: The Lexus is real, but the landscape is all computer graphics.
The simulator is a giant ball that tilts and cocks, and swooshes on a rail in a huge warehouse-like building (See the other photo above to get an idea of its size).
NHTSA has a similar machine.
Toyota refuses to say how much it spent on the simulator.

Robot crashes 2

Another photo. Another link.

Robot crashes

Some reporters were oooohing that this robot from Hitachi was "kawaii." It has a cute voice, displayed cute arm movements and wheeled about on its knees, sitting Japanese style, pretty cute. Hitachi invited us to their research center, more than an hour-train ride away from Ueno, so the environment would be controlled (just like their test conditions) so their robot would move properly. Little good that did. As soon as it approached noon, and everyone went on their lunch break like good obedient conformist Japanese salarymen, the network server and wireless got jammed with traffic. And the robot failed to work properly. We had to wait an hour for a repeat of the demonstration. Can you imagine what would happen if the robot was in real-life _ eg., talking to a kid or carrying something delicate _ when it suddenly goes dead? I asked Hitachi officials if they agreed the robot wasn't practical yet because of the remote-control glitch, they replied, yes. At least, they were honest. They also said the days of pursuing entertainment robots are over. Robots have to be safe and useful, and they have to make business sense, they said.

Supercomputer

Teraflops are what measure the superfast rates at which supercomputers process calculations.
My story about a new supercomputer from NEC.
To be ranked high as a supercomputer, it has to be put to actual use _ not just have peak processing possibilities of teraflops.
NEC is still the underdog in the battle among supercomputers.

Sony's new display

I played photographer as well as reporter at Sony's announcement of a TV with a new kind of display _ a world first.
It's OLED, for organic light emitting diode or organic electroluminescence display, which means that unlike LCD or plasma, the material is glowing on its own.
But the screen is only 11 inches, and it costs 200,000 yen.

Virtual worlds

As though we weren't busy enough dealing with reality, welcome to the virtual world.
We are about to get a whole range of cyberworlds to live in and do all the things like shopping and meeting people you do in the real world but were probably too busy to get to.
But people will always be people.
The same social ills and cultural differences in the real world seem to be playing out in these second (third, fourth, etc.) lives.
"Meet me" is the Japanese version and so it's more subdued _ in the same way NTT DoCoMo's "i-mode" is a more controlled and orderly network on cell phones, including ensuring payment of fees.
The question is: Do Japanese want this?
The popularity of DoCoMo as a carrier is dwindling in Japan, but it's not because people are fleeing in droves from a regulated universe.
They are defecting to cheaper carriers (belive it or not, unlimited calls aren't taken for granted here).
Another competition has been music downloads (just as regulated in choices/fees).
"Meet me" is designed to be a hit for Japanese outside the city areas.
If you can't come out to Harajuku, then jump into "meet me."
Non-urban Japanese ("chiho") are the biggest patrons of electronic shopping _ the same target for online worlds.
Similar tendencies are observed for "Second Life."
New Yorkers, for example, aren't the biggest fans of "Second Life."
Not much going on there in Seattle?

DS beauty tips/bacteria buzz/church vs. PS3

My article on a new Konami game for the Nintendo DS that gives beauty tips has this blogger response. But I do have to ask: Isn't the idea behind the game a trifle too sexist for people outside Japan? One of the recommended etiquette tips: Don't put on makeup on the commuter train. That's so Tokyo!
Net buzz about my bacteria story.
The scientists aren't saying they can stop mutation. But they've figured out a way to put the message in four places in the bacteria to increase the chances it will survive intact.
An interesting news story this past week is the controversy over a PS3 game called "Resistance: Fall of Man."
Some scenes take place in what looks like Manchester Cathedral, and cathedral officials say they didn't grant permission and they're complaining.
The Sony spokeswoman in Tokyo says the company is talking with cathedral officials.
Overnight in London, our reporter there talked with a cathedral official who denies Sony is talking to them at all.
There was no comment from Sony in that story about the denial although Sony has an office in Europe.
I contacted the spokesman there by email, and he confirms (once again) Sony is in talks with Manchester Cathedral officials.
But there will be no further public comment, he says.
Is a bloody shooting in a cathedral different from other similar violent scenes involving landmark buildings like King Kong and the Empire State Building/Godzilla and the Tokyo Tower?
And aren't such virtual bloodbath games offensive to some people, regardless of where they take place?
This is from some time back but someone found my cultural take on the difference between MySpace and mixi interesting.
And finally:
A great place to keep track of my stories complete with color photos!

Buzz on bacteria story

Some buzz is abuzz on my story about using bacteria as a storage medium on this fascinating exchange among people who are into what's called ID for "intelligent design," and argue living things were designed by a higher intelligence.
They oppose a materialistic approach to science, and are saying, "No," to Darwin.
If Man can encode bacteria, then who encoded bacteria in the first place?
... Datte!

Paper-like Display

My story about Sony's thin display that bends like a piece of paper.
Some technological breakthroughs are more than just a gee-whiz.
If prices are the same, then the switch to ever thinner displays is the way to go.
Another link to my story.
This story shows how business/technology stories often make for the biggest news out of Japan.
I already said this, but we must be vigilant about what Sony (and other Japanese companies) are up to.

Sony proves important, professor reads bacteria

My story on Sony was the most e-mailed technology story on Yahoo! the other day. It was the only Japan news on the Top 10 List (including general news).
It goes to show how crucial it is for us to intelligently pick what intrigues ordinary people (not just investors).
There's more to a story than what drives stock prices.
I also did a story about research on storing information on bacteria.
Hard drives, memory cards and paper get lost/destroyed. But bacteria will be around millions of years from now.
The professor was telling me all this with a straight face, sitting in a cottage-like office on a campus filled with trees and tranquility on the outskirts of Tokyo.
But I had to burst out laughing.
I asked him if it bothered him most people would find this odd, if not outright amusing, maybe ridiculous.
That doesn't phase him at all.
Science is like art _ meant to entertain and fill people with the dream for eternity.
It's someone else's problem to figure out practical applications or implications of Pure Science.
At least he had an answer. But maybe that's why I'm a reporter, not a scientist.

Chips EveryWARE

Adam Greenfield, who has written "Everyware, the Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing," had some harsh words on his blog for my Chips Everywhere article. But there's always a happy ending to Yuri's endeavors: He is willing to be that expert who will be interviewed for comment for my next technology story!

Chips everywhere

It's still a test, but computer chips stuck in buildings and corner posts in Tokyo's Ginza won't stop talking to you, as evident in my participation in a recent demonstration. The chips are an upgrade of the more common RFID chips in widespread use, which are more like barcodes to identify products. The chips from Professor Sakamura of TRON fame relay information that can be updated on servers. He denies they will be used for "Big Brother" monitoring of human individuals. But that would seem one obvious potential use. Another link to my story.

Robot serves tea

Of all the things you can make a robot do, University of Tokyo is having it serve tea . Professor Tomomasa Sato is serious this is an important chore for robots as companions and caretakers. He says he doesn't like to ask a student or his wife to serve tea. He feels guilty. He acknowledges human beings are still going to do the most important caretaking, family interaction and yes, tea serving. But sometimes it's asking too much of a person. Another place to read my story and watch video.
Also here.