Android experiment OBJECT took over 200 submissions for ideas and produced these four futuristic products.
Like it or not, most of our lives are entangled in the tricky web that is created by technology and the devices that we carry. While Apple has continuously been pushing their wireless agenda with iPhone after iPhone, Android-based phones have taken a lion’s share of the available mobile phone market. It might seem like everywhere you look you will see an iPhone, but actually there are seven times more phones that run an Android operating system than Apple’s. With such a stranglehold on market share, you would think there would be more innovative things coming out of the Android camp, especially with tech giant Google backing the little green robot. It turns out that there are, you just have to know where to look for them.
The Japanese division of Android recently released a video documenting four incredibly interesting ideas that might soon arrive for the millions of Android users out there.
From over 200 designs, almost 20,000 votes were cast to decide which objects would move forward past the paper design phase. Perhaps the coolest is the ELI, or English Language Intelligence. Based on Google’s Machine Learning API, this little device records and analyzes a Japanese-speakers’ everyday speech and then creates a list of English vocabulary so that they can learn English words that they would be using in their everyday life.
Also previewed was an on-the-wall “paper” calendar that would sync with your calendar app and keep itself updated, and a pretty neat “telescope” that could use location data in order to show you pictures of your surrounding at different times of the day and year.
The final OBJECT seems like it should be automatically addressed by the politeness of Japanese people, but the Maternity Mark allows someone to alert other users to their pregnant state through a notification on other people’s phone so they can get up and offer their seat to someone in need.
Overall, the OBJECTs just scrape the surface of the kind of interactivity that Android-based phones can offer. Hopefully, there are more of these products coming down soon, and the original four will reach the market with their functionality intact. Until we can turn over our lives to the technological marvels we carry in our pockets, we will continue to use them to document our cat–filled lives.
Source: Android, YouTube/Google Japan

Starbucks Japan releases first-ever Hinamatsuri Girls’ Day Frappuccino
Japanese restaurant chain serves Dragon Ball donuts and Senzu Beans this spring
Tokyo street sweets: The must-snack treats of Nakano’s Refutei
Japan Extreme Budget Travel! A trip from Tokyo to Izumo for just 30,000 yen [Part 2]
Miss World Japan: The great-times-20-granddaughter of samurai lord One-Eyed Dragon
Starbucks Japan releases first-ever Hinamatsuri Girls’ Day Frappuccino
Japanese restaurant chain serves Dragon Ball donuts and Senzu Beans this spring
Tokyo street sweets: The must-snack treats of Nakano’s Refutei
Japan Extreme Budget Travel! A trip from Tokyo to Izumo for just 30,000 yen [Part 2]
Miss World Japan: The great-times-20-granddaughter of samurai lord One-Eyed Dragon
Elephant nose ice cream: The treat with a trunk
Draw like a Studio Ghibli anime artist with exclusive watercolour set approved by Hayao Miyazaki
Retro game group in Japan donating 100 Super NES systems to families with kids sheltering in place
Man arrested in rural Japan on charges of leaving obscene DVDs in stores as gifts for “healthy men”
Yakuzen ramen restaurant in Tokyo is very different to a yakuza ramen restaurant
The 10 most annoying things foreign tourists do on Japanese trains, according to locals
Highest Starbucks in Japan set to open this spring in the Tokyo sky
Tokyo Skytree turns pink for the cherry blossom season
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japan’s new “Cunte” contact lenses aren’t pronounced like you’re probably thinking they are
Shibuya Station’s Hachiko Gate and Yamanote Line stairway locations change next month
Starbucks Japan adds new sakura Frappuccino and cherry blossom drinks to the menu
Japan just had its first same-month foreign tourist decrease in four years
Burning through cash just to throw things away tops list of headaches when moving house in Japan
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Foreigners accounting for over 80 percent of off-course skiers needing rescue in Japan’s Hokkaido
Super-salty pizza sends six kids to the hospital in Japan, linguistics blamed
Starbucks Japan unveils new sakura Frappuccino for cherry blossom season 2026
Foreign tourists in Japan will get free Shinkansen tickets to promote regional tourism
Take a trip to Japan’s Dododo Land, the most irritating place on Earth
Naruto and Converse team up for new line of shinobi sneakers[Photos]
Is China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning affecting the lines at a popular Tokyo gyukatsu restaurant?
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
Elephant nose ice cream: The treat with a trunk
Draw like a Studio Ghibli anime artist with exclusive watercolour set approved by Hayao Miyazaki
Retro game group in Japan donating 100 Super NES systems to families with kids sheltering in place
Man arrested in rural Japan on charges of leaving obscene DVDs in stores as gifts for “healthy men”
Yakuzen ramen restaurant in Tokyo is very different to a yakuza ramen restaurant
566 million yen in gold bars donated to Japanese city’s water bureau
Japanese karaoke now offers “Mask Effect” for people with face masks【Video】
Sweet potato sweets season arrives at convenience store Family Mart, so let’s go taste-test-crazy
One of Japan’s rarest sweets is a sell-out hit that looks and tastes like frost
Japan starts selling smart salads in its new AI vending machine
Highest Starbucks in Japan set to open this spring in the Tokyo sky