Anthrobotic.com

Japanese Technology from the Future Friday [via Akihabara News]

Jun 012013

Welcome to Japanese Technology from the Future Friday!
It’s already Friday west of the international dateline – here in Japan, it’s totally the future. The weekly JTFF is our somewhat technosnarky coverage of 2-5 particularly important, specifically Japan-related tech stories. Get yourself hip to the micro & macro that went down while North America was sleeping – check in every Friday morning and BOOM! Ahead of the game, you win.

Why Japan and J-Tech?
First, Anthrobotic has geographical superiority. In the future.
Second, Japan has lots of super hott (and odd) technology stuff going on.
Third, deliciously cathartic opportunities make fun of the Japanese invariably crop up.

:: JTFF – May 31, 2013 ::

• NHK’s Developing Touchable TV
The Japanese equivalent of American public network PBS, which apparently has some R&D cash laying around, is trotting out a bunch of new tech during an open house in Tokyo this weekend. Now, for some reason, no one’s calling this touchable TV “virtual reality,” but that’s kinda exactly pretty much mostly what it is – except in this case it extends to that place so often neglected in discussions of VR: haptics; the reality of touch. The basic workings seem to involve software that analyzes a 3D object and, coupled with a little robotic finger sleeve, delivers a high-res feedback equivalent to the remote viewer. Some readers might now be starting down an unsavory path for this technology, but that will not be discussed – you must provide your own conceptual context. We’ll follow up more on this tech next week.
[NHK’s TOUCHABLE TV – PC WORLD]

• NHK Has Even More Cash to Burn: 8K-Res Video
In addition the above, along with their buddies at Mitsubishi, NHK’s is also developing super-maybe-unnecesarily-high definition 8K cameras for television broadcasts. Such is the nature of technological leapfrogging – because 4K-capable stuff is just now hitting the market. Okay, but at some point we’re going to hit a point of… well, no diminishing returns, just a kind of point where resolution goes beyond our ability to perceive that it’s any better – anybody know how many Ks that would be? For moving pictures, it can’t be much higher than 8K… so, maybe we’ll just be able to take better screenshots?
[8K ULTRA-DEF SO ON AND SO FORTH – DIGINFO]

• Japan Giveth to Africa: New Malaria Vaccine is Awesome
Researchers at Osaka University have developed a malaria vaccine shown to cut infection rates by up to 72%; importantly, with no discernible ill effects. This is of course vital to the many African nations where malaria remains… well, malaria. The vaccine is several years from implementation, but such are the necessary cautions – more trials will clarify efficacy and safety, and more lives will be saved. One hopes people who attempt to shame developed nations for pouring cash into pure science and technology can appreciate just how much worse off the world would be if they didn’t – because there’s no malaria in Japan, dig?
[NEW MALARIA VACCINE DEVELOPED IN JAPAN – CHANNELNEWS ASIA]

• Japan Taketh Away from Africa While Givething (but not in a bad way probably)
JOGMEC, a Japanese governmental consortium with one of the more entertaining acronyms out there (Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation), is investing in a search for rare earth metals in Malawi. They’ve been at this game for 5+ years now, because apparently going to Africa is a better idea than going across the sea to China where most of the earth’s rare stuff is currently sourced. The giveth part of the equation is JOGMEC’s commitment to transferring technological know-how as part of the exploration and, one would assume, eventual extraction process. Also, try saying “JOGMEC” with a Japanese accent. Whee!
[JAPAN’S RARE EARTH EXPLORATION IN MALAWI – ALLAFRICA.COM]

That was the JTFF, and live from the future – that is all.

• • •

June 1, 2013 Posted by anthrobotic at 1:48 AM AkihabaraNews.com, Asia, Here First or Best Here, Japan 日本 Tekk, Japanese Technology from the Future Friday, Japan「日本」, Pure Science, Shameful Self-Promotion, Shameless Self-Promotion, Technology, Technology & Healthcare, Technology & Politics, TV

Dr. Kanako Miura Made Robots Walk Like Humans. She Will be Missed.

May 302013

(Mirroring via Akihabara News)
While riding her bike on Sunday, May 19th, at approximately 3:30pm, highly accomplished and well-regarded robotics researcher Dr. Kanako Miura was struck by a large truck near Charlesgate Park in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Miura, 36, died at the scene. Official reports conclude that it was simply a terrible accident on a busy road.

• • •

A guest of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Dr. Miura arrived last October for what was planned to be year of research at the world-class MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). She had been invited to share her pioneering work on improving the understanding of human bipedal locomotion and applying that practical knowledge to advanced humanoids, i.e., Dr. Miura made robots that walk like us.

“She was really part of the fabric of our group. She was not just a visitor in our group, she became a close friend and a member of our family. The energy she brought to her work was contagious, and her enthusiasm was easy to see. She loved giving tours, and showing off the lab, and she had an unfailing optimism in the future and importance of humanoid robots.”

–Professor Russ Tedrake, Director; Center for Robotics, CSAIL

Dr. Miura held a B.E. in Aerospace Engineering and an M.E. and Ph.D. in Information Science from prestigious Tohoku University. She also earned an additional Ph.D. in Electronics and Automation from equally renowned Université Louis-Pasteur in 2004. Such certifications alone evidence a formidable intellect; factoring in the linguistic challenges between Japanese, French, and English – well, that pushes the dial up a bit further.

The considerable expertise Dr. Miura brought to MIT arose from post-doctoral research at Tohoku University, a subsequent research position with communications giant NTT Docomo, and her eventual ascent to senior researcher at Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in the Intelligent Systems Research Institute’s Humanoid Robotics Department.

While at AIST, Dr. Miura worked on the world-famous HRP-4C Future Dream robot (nicknamed “Miim,” from the Japanese). You might not know the name, but chances are you’ve seen photos or video of the agile and strikingly human robot:

HRP-4C has also “met” with the highest levels of foreign government:

With the above robot as the platform and Dr. Miura as the lead researcher, the AIST team made several valuable and distinct contributions to mobility and agility in humanoid robotics. The video below, for example, demonstrates the “slip turn” motion. “Slip turn” is very human-like movement that allows a biped to rapidly change direction with minimal change in body orientation. How is this an advancement? Well, think about the baby steps a robot like ASIMO has to take when changing direction, as opposed to this:

Another project led by Dr. Miura was the development of a more human-like gait for bipedal robots. When we walk, movement in the pelvis precipitates and works in conjunction with movement in the knees. A natural human step ends with the back foot balancing and pushing off the toe, and this leads to the standard leg-swing motion of the human stride. Here’s that recreated in robot form – and again, sorry ASIMO, but your flat-footed shuffling must yield:

Dr. Miura also led a project that would allow a robot to mimic human movement based on motion capture technology.

After contributing so much to her field, in addition to eventually being courted for a year of study and collaboration at MIT, she was also recognized here at home with the 2010 AIST President Award:

Such is the noble reality of robotics research. No single person can crank out a perfect human facsimile, and there are no Tony Starks – there are researchers like Dr. Miura, diligently working through small but profound iterations and laying the foundation for generations of robotics research to follow.

Unfortunately, no one at Akihabara News or Anthrobotic.com knew or had ever met Dr. Miura. However, through the words of Professor Tedrake and other public and private discussions, it is easy to appreciate that she was not only a brilliant and motivated scholar, but also a warm and engaging person. How we wish to have had the pleasure of interacting with such a comprehensive intellect.

Though something small, we hope it a fitting memorial to share her work here. That awareness of her contributions might inspire others toward learning about robotics, engineering, or science of any kind is a fitting legacy.

Seems safe to assume she’d agree.

• • •

Sources: Boston Police Twitter; Boston Police Department; Universal Hub; Boston.com; MIT News; CSAIL Computer Science and AI Laboratory News; IsolateCyclist Blog; Fenway-Kenmore Patch; Worldjournal.com (Chinese); IT Media (Japanese/日本語)

Photos: LinkedIn; AIST; The White House

May 30, 2013 Posted by anthrobotic at 5:12 PM AkihabaraNews.com, Asia, Honda, Japan 日本 Tekk, Japanese Robots, Japan「日本」, Pure Science, Robot, Technology, Technology & Education

Japanese Technology from the Future Friday [via Akihabara News]

May 252013

:: JTFF – May 24, 2013 ::

• Square Mobile Payment System Comes to Japan
Sure, Japan’s had wireless mobile payment systems for lots of years, but that’s a different animal; this is meeting at a Starbucks and swiping my card on your iPad to pay for… whatever. Square is partnering with Sumitomo Mitsui, who brought the Visa card to Japan, but hey – let’s be honest, they still haven’t brought it that far. The land of the fax machine has ATMs that close. Seriously, there are ATMs that turn off and on, not for maintenance, but in line with bank hours! It boggles. And it’s been reported that 80% of small businesses in Japan still don’t even accept credit cards (or debit cards – that species still hasn’t arrived here). We’ll see how this goes.
[SQUARE’S GOING INTERNATIONAL, AND JAPAN’S FIRST – SF GATE]

• Once Horrendously Industrialized Now Super-Eco Kitakyushu
Partners with UNIDO for Green Cities
Kitakyushu, Japan, or Kokura, was the original target for the nuclear weapon known as Fat Man – the one that was instead diverted to Nagasaki. It was the industrial hub of the southern island of Kyushu, so one can easily see how that would have been the case. As the city developed, it really became a poster child for filthy, polluted, nearly unlivable urban industrialization. They managed to turn that all around, and now Kitakyushu is considered a global model of green, environmentally responsible industrialization. The city’s getting more props now, and is partnering with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to push an initiative aiming toward zero-emissions industrialized cities.
[JAPAN EXTENDS PARTNERSHIP WITH UNIDO – KUWA]

• Japanese Brain Research Organizations Partnering
with the European Human Brain Project
Interesting piece of news, this. One would have expected preeminent Japanese brain researchers to get all mobbed up with the American Human Brain Map project. Instead, they’re reaching a bit further across the globe and getting cozy with the European project. One can’t really blame them – no one’s sure exactly what, how, or exactly why the American project is… existing. So, the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) and RIKEN brain research teams are going Euro.
[JAPAN BRAIN RESEARCH ORGS PARTNER WITH EUROPE – MEDICAL EXPRESS]

• Kanako Miura, World-Class Roboticist, Killed in Boston, MA, U.S.A.
While it’s several days old, the news bears mentioning. Terribly tragic end for brilliant mind and, by all reports, a lovely and fantastic person. Ms. Miura, a guest researcher MIT working on human-like bipedal mobility for robots, was struck while riding her bike last weekend. We’ll have a full report, in English and Japanese, next Wednesday.
[JAPANESE ROBOTICIST KANAKO MIURA DIES WHILE BICYCLING – MIT NEWS]

That was the JTFF, and live from the future – that is all.

• • •

May 25, 2013 Posted by anthrobotic at 1:24 AM AkihabaraNews.com, Asia, Brain, Environmental Technology, Green Energy Technology, Japan 日本 Tekk, Japanese Technology from the Future Friday, Japan「日本」, Mobile, Robot, Shameful Self-Promotion, Shameless Self-Promotion, Technology, Technology & Environmentalism

Japanese Robot Fiction: Inspiring Pacific Rim, Looking Cool, Existing in Vast Quantities, Etc.

May 242013

The Art of Normal & Large-Sized Robots, Crazy Robots; So on and So Forth
There are several theories and reasons and hypotheses – some interesting and debatable, some braindead and insulting – but whatever the underlying why of it might be, whatever the origins of the proclivity, whatever prompts this particular socio-techno-cultural aesthetic, the fact that Japan produces miles and miles of the world’s best modern robot art, and has for like, well over half a century, is indisputable, yo.
(insert kilometers there if you’re one of those people).

Shame-Neutral Marketing & Presentation of Tasty J-Robot Art
So yeah, no doubt Japanese robo-art comprises a massive block of… whatever you’d call it – the robot artosphere. Fortunately, or tortuously if you’re uptight and humorless, there is one keyboard pounding WordPress debaser willing to attempt conceptual correlation of giant Japanese robot fiction vis-a-vís Pacific Rim (oh hell yeah, shrewd memetic SEO barnacle marketing), and after that, a broad, rough presentation of a few Japanese robot art styles – to enjoy, for fun, to inspire! And also, hott naked robots sometimes.

The technofetishistic robot lover attempting such a feat is Anthrobotic’s team leader for
Technosnark©®™ R&D, locked in deep dorky romance with Akihabara News.

Have some:

• Pacific Rim and the Legacy of Giant Japanese Robots
“So, there’s a giant robot/monster movie coming out next month (Pacific Rim). That’s cool, but it’s riding 60 years of giant Japanese robot precedent, and whilst avoiding overly dorky exposition, here’s a brief perspective – recognize, son! Also had to make fun of Robot Jox – goddamn irresistible.”

• Japanese Robot Art: Nice to Look At, and Don’t Forget the Inspiration!
“Art and robots and the inspiration of -FI that produces so much SCI-. Pop J-Robotics at Akihabara News goes all robo-art for the sake of robo-art, with a slice of “Oh, that thing from someone’s imagination is madd cool I should build one!” It happens – that’s where the cell phone came from (Martin Cooper, much respect due).”

Wanna add some stuff to the lists?
Drop your knowledge down below.

___

Who wants to buy a dorky t-shirt?
↓

May 24, 2013 Posted by anthrobotic at 11:51 AM AkihabaraNews.com, Asia, Japan 日本 Tekk, Japanese Robots, Japan「日本」, Robot, Robot Art, Robot Toys, Shameful Self-Promotion, Shameless Self-Promotion, Technology, Technology & Art, Technology & Culture, Technology & Entertainment

Japanese Technology from the Future Friday [via Akihabara News]

May 182013

:: JTFF – May 17, 2013 ::

• Japan Wants American Gas (the natural kind – from the U.S. Shale boom, that is)
The combined monetary instruments of Mitsui & Co., Mitsubishi, and Nippon Yusen (a global shipping giant in Mitsubishi’s pocket), along with some French cash, have secured an almost 50% interest in a US $10 billion Louisiana LNG venture. The why of it is that, outside of nuclear expertise and reserves of favorable public sentiment toward cleaner technologies, Japan doesn’t have much in the way of domestic energy resources. As such, and as mentioned in the JTFF two weeks back, Japan’s very necessarily been making global rounds to secure energy deals & resources. Not much choice, really – since the 2011 Tohoku disaster allowed neo-J-Hippies to successfully monkey-wrench the nuclear energy industry, importing fossil fuels is pretty much all that’s keeping the lights on here.
[JAPAN INVESTS LOTS OF CASH IN U.S. SHALE GAS – FINANCIAL TIMES]

• Where are Japan’s Startups?
Very decent discussion/overview of why startups can’t (yet) get a lot of traction here in Japan. Both domestically and in the pan-mutally co-dependent economies of planet Earth, the question of J-startups comes up a lot because 1. basically every other advanced economy has a healthy startup culture, and 2. Japan is just not innovating like it used to. What makes the most sense is that the lumbering giants of J-tech, your Sony, your Sharp, your Panasonic, etc., have reached a point of monolithic immobility that makes them either oblivious to the need for or incapable of re-working a pervasive corporate culture that rewards staying the path and profoundly undervalues initiative and innovation. Decent read. It should be translated and printed on the front page of every major J-newspaper (yeah, they still have those here).
[IN SEARCH OF JAPAN’S MISSING STARTUPS – FORBES]

• How Much Human and Human Stuff Can a J-Horse Comfortably Carry?
Uhhh… reasonable question, if somewhat amusing. Like, remember back in the day when that American research team was totally belittled and ridiculed for studying cow flatulence – but then we learned that one single cow farts out more greenhouse gases than a full-sized truck left running all day? It is curious though, that until now no one ever bothered to get horses up on treadmills and do this kind of research. Even more curious that it was undertaken here; Japan ain’t exactly lousy with horses. Well, this J-tech development might not do much for global warming, but horses will dig it – and it goes to show that applying science & technology to stuff that might seem inane and ridiculous might just have some merit. Oh, and there was probably a “horse sense” pun to be used there, but the JTFF is better than that. See what just happened there? And also probably nobody knows what that means anymore.
[HOW MUCH WEIGHT CAN A HORSE COMFORTABLY CARRY? – THE HORSE]

That was the JTFF, and live from the future – that is all!

___

May 18, 2013 Posted by anthrobotic at 12:51 AM AkihabaraNews.com, Asia, Energy Technology, Environmental Technology, Here First or Best Here, Japan 日本 Tekk, Japanese Technology from the Future Friday, Japan「日本」, Shameful Self-Promotion, Shameless Self-Promotion, Technology, Technology & Environmentalism

2013’s Best Online Robot Movies. You Will Watch them Right Now.

May 172013

2013’s Top 4 Robot Short Films:
Here they are – the best robot-themed short films of 2013 (up until now, but yeah go ahead – you got something better then prove it, yo!). Now, if you want to know why, jump on over to Akihabara News’ coverage of the details and the answers to other questions beginning with words that begin with “w.” Because that piece was also pounded out by Anthrobotic’s chief WordPress fiddler, so it’s not really like cheating. Technically.

•
The Film: ABE (8m:22sec – Live Action/CGI Hybrid)
Writer/Director: Rob McLellan; England

•
The Film: R’ha (6m:26sec – CGI/Animation)
Writer/Director: Kaleb Lechowski; Germany

•
The Film: Changing Batteries (5m:33sec – CGI/Animation)
Creators: Shu Gi, Casandra Ng, Hon JiaHui and Bahareh Darvish; Malaysia

•
The Film: Modin (2m:50sec – CGI/Animation)
Creators: Lam Ho Tak & Ng Kai Chung Tommy; Hong Kong

Well that was fun, yeah? Again, if you can call b.s. on any of these, or if you’ve got something better, drop your knowledge in the comments below. Or, if you just wanna say “Hey dork, did you know about this one?” – that’s cool, too – even older ones would be welcome. They’ll be added to the ANTHROBOTICvideos YouTube Channel. In fact, yeah – that’s a challenge.

Also don’t forget to remember that if you wanna get the full scoop on WHY these robo-movies are 2013’s best so far, jump to Akihabara News: Top 4 Robot-Themed Short Films of 2013 (thus far), and there you’ll appreciate a milder version of the Technosnark©®™ found here. It’s still fairly smartastic, so Anthrobotic’s 7-8 regular readers will probably dig it.

[DIRECT FILM LINKS: ABE – R’ha – Changing Batteries – Modin]

___

May 17, 2013 Posted by anthrobotic at 5:09 PM AkihabaraNews.com, Artificial Intelligence, Asia, CareBots, Internet Stuff, Japan「日本」, Lasers Pew-Pew, Multimedia, Robot, Robot Emotions, Shameful Self-Promotion, Shameless Self-Promotion, Technology, Technology & Art, WarBots

Japanese Technology from the Future Friday (Akihabara News Syndication)

May 112013

:: JTFF – May 10, 2013 ::

• Struggling yet Endlessly Gung-Ho Japanese Tech Giants – Part I: Sharp
Forgive a quick digression, but one has to mention the dictionary definition of dysfunction among the giants of J-tech: Sony. Spend 10 minutes studying Sony and you’ll already understand what’s going on with here with Sharp and Panasonic (Sony even makes robots sad). So yeah, Sharp’s going to cut 5000 jobs, including overseas workers and, admirably, some high-up suits at the Osaka headquarters. Of course they’re publicly optimistic, but what else can you be when your massive, ailing tech company owes $US billions and forgot how to make cool stuff? Best of luck!
[SHARP CUTTING 5000 JOBS AND TRYING TO MAKE MORE RELEVANT STUFF – ZDNET]

• Struggling yet Endlessly Gung-Ho Japanese Tech Giants – Part II: Panasonic
The modern company we all know as Panasonic has existed for around 100 years (under different names, divisions, depending on who you ask). We’ve all seen the name across a broad spectrum electronic devices for decades and decades, but seems we’ll likely see less now they’re keen to beef up the bottom line: the plan is to move away from gizmos & gadgetry and focus on their more profitable home appliances, machinery, and OEM-type stuff. They too have to do something, because like their buddy above (but not as bad as Sony!), they’ve also devalued by over $US 1 billion in the last two fiscal years. Best of luck!
[PANASONIC TO ABANDON GADGETS TO MAKE A BIG PROFIT MAYBE – REUTERS]

That was the JTFF, and live from the future – that is all!

___

May 11, 2013 Posted by anthrobotic at 1:13 AM AkihabaraNews.com, Asia, Here First or Best Here, Japan 日本 Tekk, Japanese Technology from the Future Friday, Japan「日本」, Shameful Self-Promotion, Shameless Self-Promotion, Sony, Technology, Technology & Work

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