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technology (Page 41)

Who Needs Photoshop? Instantly Apply Makeup to Any Photo With This Amazing Camera!

Ladies, have you ever taken a picture that you absolutely love, but wished you were wearing a bit of makeup at the time?  Ever had to take a headshot for a job application but were too lazy to throw on a bit of eyeshadow and lipgloss?

Now there’s no longer any need to spend hours in front of the mirror putting your face on.  With the Panasonic Lumix FX80 camera, makeup application is simply a click away. 

Also, fellas, we know you’ve been secretly wondering what you look like wearing makeup but were too embarrassed to actually put some on…this is the camera for you!

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Briefs in Brief: Top Underwear Developments in Japan

Things are getting busy for the unsung hero of clothing, underwear.  In recent years developments in the underwear technology sector have been coming in fast and furious.

The following is a report of some progressive underpants that promise to cut smells, back pain and will rub your belly while you sleep.

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Tokyo University Makes Calculator Using Robot, What It Lacks in Usefulness It Makes Up for in Cuteness

Japan is well known for both its love and skill of robots.  Free of the terminator-induced prejudices of western cultures, they have blazed the way for robotic tour guides, waitresses, fish, singers, hairdressers, waste baskets, cyclists, rock-paper-scissors players, cockroaches, butts…

With so many robots, it’s hard to come up with an original one.  But they are still out there. Tokyo University’s Center for the Study of Robotics came up with Denta-kun, the calculator using robot.  Just to make it clear, the robot does not calculate. It just uses a calculator.

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A lucky Twitter user came across a pamphlet the other day outlining some great deals on smartphone services.  These people will go through the painstaking task of installing your smartphone apps for you at the low low price of 1,000 yen (US$12) an app!

In fact, they offer a wide range of useful services, such as installing Facebook, Twitter, or Skype— also for 1,000 yen each!  And I always thought those were apps too.  Boy, is my face red. I’m going to leave it to the professionals from now on.

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Immortalize Yourself as a Plastic Figure for Just $260!!!

Ever since I saw Han Solo get encased in carbonite in The Empire Strikes Back, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have a plastic mould of my friends and family, albeit without sealing them inside the stuff…

Thanks to a little company in Japan called Omote 3D Shashin Kan, though, my dream may be about to become a reality!

Using both 3-D scanning and 3-D printing technology, the ingenious company has made it possible to turn yourself or those you love into a tiny, ultra-detailed figure, with three sizes to choose from.

You’ll have to excuse me if I’m jumping the gun slightly when I say this, but this is clearly the best thing ever!

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  • Nov 16, 2012

Musical Magic! From 2-Dimensional Notes to Real Music With the Swipe of a Scanner

Music undeniably plays a huge part in our lives. We’re constantly surrounded by it, and I’m sure there are many of you who would say you simply couldn’t live without music. But when you think about it, isn’t it fascinating that all the music you’re so used to hearing comes down to some circles and dots and squiggles drawn on rows of five parallel lines? For those of us not musically inclined, these notes and symbols may seem like a baffling code, but now, there’s an amazing device that instantly transforms these notes into actual music!

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【Video Magic】 Hatsune Miku in 3-D, Minus Glasses or Fancy Screens!!!

A video released on NicoNico Video by a group going by the name of Shichoukaku iinkai “The Audiovisual committee” has wowed Japanese internet users this week by managing to create a pseudo 3-D effect on 2-D monitors.

The video has since gone viral and, as of this afternoon, has reached more than 100,000 views.

Of course, it probably helps that digital idol Hatsune Miku is the star of the video, which sees the character dancing around while surrounded by thousands of (3-D!) shards of glass.

With a little concentration, the video’s 3-D effect actually works, even if it does require the user to look faintly ridiculous to see it…

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Japan came up with Gandam, a huge robot that, along with his driver, protects the world from all sorts of evil, so it is likely that they would come up with KURATAS, a true to life robot that can be manipulated from a cockpit inside.

As we reported awhile ago, KURATAS is the creation of a blacksmith iron and steel artist Mr. Kogoro Kurata. And, as we mentioned a few weeks back, the mech was opened to orders in October after two and a half years of tinkering around in the workshop.

So just how has demand for KURATAS, which carries a hefty $1.25 million price tag, been?

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New Touch Panel Technology Provides Intelligent Feedback, “Like pushing real buttons!”

At last week’s Digital Contents Expo 2012 held in Tokyo, cutting edge technology company Kyocera unveiled something that will no doubt appeal to tablet and smartphone users the world over, potentially changing the way we use our modern-day gadgets forever.

The company has produced an intelligent touch screen that mimics a variety of sensations, from soft and squidy jelly, to rigid, clicky buttons. What does this mean for handsome folk you and me? It means all the speed and convenience of touch screens, but with fewer inaccuracies and silly– albeit amusing- typing mistakes. It could also mean that our beloved touch screens will become far more versatile in the future, not to mention becoming accessible to a much larger audience.

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The clever minds at prestigious Keio University in Tokyo have created a new device that makes the rear seat “disappear” when reversing, and have released a new video demonstrating how, with its help, the sometimes arduous task of reversing into a space could soon become a breeze.

Tinkering around with a modified Toyota Prius, the university’s graduate research team have been putting their latest technology through its paces by having a driver with a particular fear of reverse parking give the maneuver a shot both with and without the device installed…

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As smartphone usage continues to grow in Japan, more Japanese developers are tinkering with the devices to make apps of their own. And since developer tools and information are made available for free online, just about anyone can break into app development so long as they have an idea and the willingness to learn.

In fact, making a smartphone app is so easy, even a grade-schooler could do it— just look at 12-year-old Gaiya Ohara, Japan’s youngest smartphone developer and sole creator of the award-winning iOS app, Math RPG.

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Creepy, Creepy, Creepy: Technology Forces Smiles on Sad-Faced Humans, Wins Award

Ah, so this is how Skynet starts…

Scientists at the University of Tokyo Sony CSL (Computer Science Labs) have come up with an ingenious way of cheering people up- forcing them to smile in exchange for easy access to their food.

Attaching a device called as a “Happiness Counter” to a regular refrigerator, Sony’s scientists are hoping to make us happier people.

The technology, which scans a person’s face as they stand in front of their food treasure trove, detects whether or not they are smiling and, reading anything other than a big, cheesy grin, makes the door difficult to open.

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Japan Set to Erect 7.5 Meter Middle Finger Salute to Incoming Tsunamis

Needless to say, Japan has had their fill of Tsunamis.  After the devastation of the 11 March Tohoku earth quake, the nation would like to give a huge FU to any future tsunami coming our way.

And so, three huge Japanese contractors are working on a special surprise for the next tsunami that tries to hit the shores of Wakayama prefecture in the form of a gigantic steel column. If successful it would be so poetically beautiful… if the Japanese only knew the beauty of the middle finger.

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SmartHan Rice Tubes Offer Japanese New Way to Snack! Is This the End of Onigiri?

Tired of stuffing rice balls in your bag only to have them get squished and smear sticky rice all over your important work documents?

Takara Tomy Arts is here to answer your plea with SmartHan (han means “rice”), a revolutionary new way to enjoy your favorite rice dish from home while on the go!

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Turntable Rider Converts BMX Bike Into Musical Instrument

Yo dawg, Japanese smartphone-based bike-sharing service Cogoo heard you like freestyling, so they stuck a DJ mixer into your BMX bike so you can freestyle while you freestyle.

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  • Aug 16, 2012

Annoyed by Buzzing Mosquitoes? A Smartphone App May Be the Answer to Your Problem

We’ve introduced some unique smartphone apps in one of our previous posts, but here’s one more unique app that’s caught our attention and may even be useful, if you believe what the developers say. If you’ve ever been annoyed by mosquitoes in the outdoors, and I believe most of us have at one time or another, then the Mosquito Buster app may be the solution to your pest problem. Yes, those small, buzzing blood-suckers can really be a pain, can’t they? But can a smartphone app really help you avoid mosquitoes? Well, the people at TABROID, a Japanese site that focuses on Android-related news and information, have apparently tested the app out in the field to see if it actually works. Read More

Now You Can Get a 3D Replica of Your Fetus (Because That’s Not Creepy at All)

For expecting couples, visiting the gynecologist for an ultrasound scan can be a memorable experience as it is often their first look at the precious life waiting to be born in the world. Many soon-to-be parents even ask for a black-and-white printout of the scan to commemorate the occasion and then later to embarrass their child in front of his or her friends.

Now, Japanese engineering firm Fasotec has taken prenatal memorabilia to literally the next dimension with “Shape of an Angel,” a miniature 3D replica of the fetus as it lay in the womb.

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Japan Makes POS System That Scans Bread Terminator Style

Ah, Japanese bakeries. Rows and rows of delicious, fresh-baked treats ready for you to harvest—if you can decide among all the variety. And if you think choosing which bread to place on your tray is hard (I usually spend at least 5 minutes walking in circles with hungry tongs in hand), imagine how stressful it must be for part-time bakery staff who need to remember the names of every baked good in the store.

Luckily, Japanese web development company Brain Corporation has teamed up with the University of Hyogo to develop a POS system that uses a camera to instantly identify the kind of baked good customers have on their tray.

Check out the video below, it looks a lot more impressive than it sounds.

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Smarter, Better, Faster, Stronger: Roachbot 2.0

The hottest toy of 2012, Roachbot, was released earlier this year amid great fanfare with its eerie resemblance everyone’s favorite kitchen guest, the cockroach.  But as Japan enters the middle of cockroach season, we find ourselves casting aside our robotic roaches to play with the real ones.

Sensing this, Japan Trust Technologies have given it a severe amping up, including support for the iPhone and iPad.

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Mankind Dealt Further Blow As Robot Which Never Loses at Rock-Paper-Scissors Is Developed

Rock-Paper-Scissors, the longstanding arbitrator of riding shotgun or eating the last slice of pizza has been celebrated for hundreds of years for its simple yet elegant balance of psychology and chance.

It’s such a part of the human experience that a robot could never out match the human mind in the RPS arena.  Until now that is, as Engineers from the University of Tokyo decided to stick their noses in and build a robot that never ever loses at Rock-Paper-Scissors – ever! So how does it do it?

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