Photos taken without people's knowledge can violate privacy. For example, photos may be posted online, along with metadata including the time and location. But by wearing this device, you can stop your privacy from being infringed in such ways.

"You can try wearing sunglasses. But sunglasses alone can't prevent face detection. Because face detection uses features like the eyes and nose, it's hard to prevent just by concealing your eyes. This is the privacy visor I have developed, which uses 11 near-infrared LEDs. I'm switching it on now. It prevents face detection, like this."

"Light from these near-infrared LEDs can't be seen by the human eye, but when it passes through a camera's imaging device, it appears bright. The LEDs are installed in these locations because, a feature of face detection is, the eyes and part of the nose appear dark, while another part of the nose appears bright. So, by placing light sources mostly near dark parts of the face, we've succeeded in canceling face detection characteristics, making face detection fail."

Compared with previous ways of physically hiding the face, this technology can protect privacy without obstructing communication, as all users need to do is wear a pair of glasses.

However, because this system utilizes the difference in spectral sensitivity between human vision and imaging devices, another method is needed for cameras that aren't affected by infrared light.

"In that regard, what we're thinking of is a visor that doesn't use electricity, but uses reflective material. For example, one like this. This makes light from outside look white, or absorbs it. That pattern breaks up the features used in face detection. So you can prevent face detection even without using electricity, by wearing this visor. It is also very cheap to make."

"After 60-plus years of local research, currently in areas inhabited by 92.8% of Japan's population of 128 million, the remaining evergreen forests consisting of deep and straight-rooted trees including shrine forests only make up 0.6% of Japanese land."

Iwanumi City in Miyagi Prefecture suffered tremendous damage from the Great East Japan Earthquake. To prepare for the next disaster, Miyawaki is promoting natural selection through mixed and dense planting of multiple types of trees as he advocates the creation of forests that do not require oversight. Iwanuma City has incorporated Miyawaki's philosophy in establishing the "1,000-year Kibonooka Project" in preparation for the next disaster.

"A big challenge was how to resurrect the areas affected by the disaster. Given this background, we launched the "1,000-year Kibonooka Project" as something that will last forevermore into the future. One of the goals is to limit the destructive force of tsunamis, as well as to use the forest as an emergency shelter and on a regular basis as a place where children can come to learn about protecting lives. We also want to make this a memorial park that will remember the tragedy for a thousand years into the future. We encountered various limitations, but we created this project also with the goal of achieving efficient use of debris."

Tide protection forests to date have primarily consisted of a single type of tree such as red or black pine. But shallow-rooted pine trees were uprooted by the tsunami and did not serve their purpose.

Miyawaki proposed to efficiently use the tremendous amount of debris created by the disaster as a resource excluding toxic and non-decomposable material. Sorted debris is mixed with dirt and used to fill dug-out holes to create large mounds that are further covered with dirt.

In planting trees, primary constituent trees are selected that grow long, deep roots and match the potential natural vegetation of an area. Three to five saplings of various other vegetation that make up the forest in addition to the main constituent trees are planted per square meter. This will require weeding for the first two to three years, but no maintenance is required after that. Twenty years after the tree planting there will be an abundant forest that will remain generation after generation until the next ice age predicted to occur in 9,000 years.

The forest will function as a green barrier, and by making the mound high it will also protect against large tsunamis. By reducing the energy of a tsunami, the mound will reduce the height and speed of the tsunami, thereby increasing the potential to protect people and property.

"To date, based on decisions made by leaders of companies with foresight, we have created Miyawaki-type forests in Japan and abroad."

"38 countries including those where we have conducted local surveys. We have planted trees on four continents.We talk about greening deserts, but two-thirds of the deserts on earth have been created by humans. The remaining 10% or so of absolute deserts will not support forests. These absolute deserts should remain as is. But areas that have been destroyed by humans can support forests."

Pride One Entertainment's Yasushi Akutagawa, who has expressed interest in Miyawaki's simple efforts to protect the environment, is thinking of supporting the forest building movement through film.

"We want the people of the world to become aware of Dr. Miyawaki's great work. We are thinking of using film as a way to make this possible. We want to assemble a group of leading Japanese actors, screenwriters, and film staff members to depict Dr. Miyawaki's life. "

"Humans have survived by turning crisis into opportunity. Thus we want to do what can be done now to survive the next natural disaster that will definitely come--which is to create forests that protect lives--and spread this know-how from Japan to the world. We want to turn crisis into opportunity by spreading forests of the 21st century from Japan to the world and have the world recognize their value."

"Ordinarily, to change the direction a camera faces, you move the camera mechanically. But in this system, it's not the camera that moves, it's the mirrors. This makes it possible to change where you're looking really quickly. In this demonstration, we're tracking a table tennis ball. The ball moves extremely fast, but this system can keep compensating for the ball's motion, so the ball stays in the middle of the image."

This device consists of two mirrors for pan and tilt, and a group of lenses. The Saccade mirrors can be controlled at high speed, on the order of milliseconds. The mirrors move independently, so this system doesn't lose its high-speed response even if it's connected to a large, heavy camera.

Also, by connecting a projector instead of a recording device, images can be projected onto a fast-moving object. This could also be used in AR applications, showing interactive content on moving objects.

"Using a rotating mirror is a common method, but usually, the mirror is in front of the camera, so a very large mirror is needed. But a feature of this system is, it can even capture wide-angle images with a small mirror. That's because the system contains special optics called a pupil shift system."

"Another important point is, this system does very fast image processing to recognize the subject. It captures and processes an image every 1/1000th of a second. In this way, it can track the subject stably and continuously, simply by feeding back the subject's position, without particularly predicting its behavior."

"For example, this system can record, in great detail, the instant a player hits a home run, including how the bat bends and the ball reacts, and the ball's subsequent path. Or in soccer, it can record things like penalty kicks in amazing detail. We think this will make it possible to shoot sports in a really compelling way."

"Right now, we're actually taking this outdoors to where sports are played, to check how accurately it works. We hope it will be usable for actual broadcasting in about two years."

"Using this system, you can create the effect of stopping time, and moving the viewpoint all around the subject."

"Previous methods used a fixed camera, so they could only capture subjects moving in a narrow or limited space. But this multi-viewpoint robot camera system can film dynamically moving sports, or subjects at lots of locations in an extensive space."

Each robot camera has two motors, for pan and tilt. The cameras also share lens data, so they can zoom in unison.

"Pictures taken with robot cameras inevitably have discrepancies in direction control. So simply switching between them doesn't give smooth pictures. To solve that problem, we've brought in a computer, which redoes the direction control virtually. Image processing is done, to virtually orient the cameras in the direction of the subject, making it possible to switch between the cameras."

"Pictures from this system can be sent out about one minute after filming is finished. First of all, we intend to use this for live sports broadcasting. We'd like to make it easy to understand what's happening, by providing multi-viewpoint pictures instead of the current slow-motion replay."

This multi-viewpoint robotic camera system can also be used as an image capture system for integral 3D TV, under development by NHK. By generating integral 3D video from multiple-viewpoint footage, 3D video of sports events will be viewable on integral 3D TV.

"This device assists people with a visual disability, through what's called the tactile or kinesthetic sense. It communicates a 3D shape or 2D graph of an object shown on a TV, such as a work of art, as a sensation felt by the hand."

"The system detects spatial position data for the fingertip in 1/1000 of a second. The finger moves freely if there isn't anything present, but when it approaches something, it becomes unable to go into the object. By tracing with your finger like this, you can feel that there's a continuous rough surface there. Also, the jagged feeling of the tooth makes the sensation similar to that of touching an actual object."

In previous systems, a force was applied to the entire fingertip, and when angular parts of an object were presented, the fingertip tended to deviate from the virtual object, making it hard to understand the object's shape. But this device makes the corners of an object, in particular, feel natural, by generating a force at five points.

"Now, Domo-kun's body is one object, while the tooth is another object. The texture can be changed for each object. Here, the tooth alone has been made slightly hard. In that case, if we create a different object using CG, we can do this kind of thing."

"This is slightly different from a texture that's actually felt by the skin. For instance, if you hold a pen, you can perceive textures through the pen. This system reproduces that kind of sensation."

"From now on, we'd like to simplify this device. We want to extend the range of movement of the fingers so that curved surfaces are also recognizable, while keeping the advantages of the current version."

The camera head, co-developed with Astrodesign, has been made much lighter and more compact. They achieved this by packaging a 33-megapixel image sensor and its drive circuits in a housing just 10 cm square, with a total weight of around 2kg.

"The image sensor is small, just 25 mm diagonally. So, the lens can be made small, too. In particular, this lens is used for digital cinema, but it'll also be usable for Ultra HD. So, a feature of this system is, it can be made very small overall."

"The monitor has 4K resolution, but the signal processing is 8K. The image sensor itself can run at 120 Hz, but the signal processing component isn't ready yet. So here, the display is running at 60 Hz."

NHK, in collaboration with Mitsubishi Electric, has also developed the world's first HEVC/H.265 real-time encoder for 8k Ultra HD.

HEVC is the latest video encoding system, which became an international standard this year. It has four times the compression efficiency of MPEG2, widely used in current digital HD broadcasting.

"This video is encoded at 85 Mbps. Considering the encoder input, it's being compressed from 30 Gbps by a factor of 1/350. To encode Ultra HD video, which has very high resolution, encoding is done in real time by dividing the screen into 17 strips. Compression to 85 Mbps enables one Ultra HD channel to be transmitted using one satellite transponder."

Information about the speed and direction of moving objects is shared across several segments, which minimizes loss of picture quality where segments join.

Currently, the encoding is done at 60 Hz, but NHK plans to work on 120 Hz real-time encoding, which is a part of the Ultra HD specifications.

"This exhibit is designed with retail stores in mind. The system determines how people choose products, whether they were interested in a product already, and what products they compare, using Kinect and a camera."

With regular POS systems, the only information obtained is how much merchandise has been sold. But by using this system, it's possible to find out how customers acted while contemplating the purchase of a product. This system could help with marketing by showing how customers behaved when they were thinking about buying a product, but didn't complete the purchase.

"For example, we think this system will make it possible to analyze how a person considered two products, found it hard to decide between them, and finally chose one of them. It'll enable analysis to go deeper, regarding whether a person who had difficulty deciding was a man or woman, and how old they were."

"Rather than using this system by itself, we think it could be used in conjunction with RFID tags and other sensors. Also, rather than using Kinect to detect people coming and going, it could be combined with more specialized sensors. In fact, all this system does is collect data, so when it comes to analysis, it could be cross referenced with point of sale data and big data, or the system could be used to correlate information regarding the effectiveness of introducing customer loyalty points programs. So, we hope this system will be utilized in combination with Fujitsu's all-round solutions."

The display is the first in the world to use E Ink Mobius, a new flexible electronic paper display technology developed by E Ink in collaboration with Sony. Technology developed by Sony for forming high precision thin film transistors on plastic instead of glass has been used, making the display flexible and light. It is scheduled for mass production this year.

"We've succeeded in mass-producing these large flexible panels, by combining E-Ink's flexible paper technology and Sony's mass-production technology."

"Usually, devices are made by sandwiching TFTs between glass sheets. But these panels use plastic instead of glass, so they're much lighter. Another feature is that, unlike glass, these panels are very durable."

This prototype digital notepad weighs 358 g and is 6.8mm thick, with the 1200x1600 pixel display itself weighing around 60g, 50% less than if glass was used. The prototype also features a battery life of approximately three weeks.

"This is a PDF document. You can page through it with your finger. Of course, you can also write comments and draw lines in the PDF document. Also, if you choose the marker, and move your finger over text, you can highlight text like this."

"This is still at the prototype stage. But we're designing it to work smoothly. Also, with paper, you can rest your hand on it while you write, but with a tablet, you can't always do that. This digital paper makes it possible to write while resting your hand on the panel."

"We'd especially like this to be used in universities. From the second half of this year, we're planning to do trials with Waseda, Hosei, and Ritsumeikan Universities. We also plan to release a commercial version during this year."

"As blood circulates through the body, the amount of light absorbed by the face varies, depending on how much blood there is in it. The first point about this technology is, it identifies minute changes in light intensity on the face, and converts them to a pulse. Also, it accurately detects people's movements, to distinguish noise. Consequently, it can make a measurement in as little as five seconds."

When the user is sitting still, the system continuously detects changes in light intensity on the users face, as shown by the green waveform. The red waveform shows the resulting wave with noise associated with movement removed. Fujitsu has found that that accuracy of the system is within about three beats per minute.

"The main point about this technology is, it can make the measurements naturally. All the person needs to do is be in front of the camera, without operating a device. For example, when you're working on a computer, you often stop moving for at least five seconds while you're thinking. We think that, by detecting those moments and measuring your pulse rate, this system could be used to support health management, by recording changes throughout the day."

"In the case of a security camera, it might be possible to detect suspicious persons, based on the assumption that people about to do something risky have a high pulse rate. However, we don't think that can be done using this technology alone. We think it might be possible through all-round analysis, by combining this with other technologies."

"We'd like to release this as a device embedded in our products. Right now, we're working to bring such products out this year, including smartphones as well as PCs."

"For example, suppose you want to send a message to a friend via a social network, maybe because you know your friend is tired. You can use this to send a relaxing scent along with your message. You can also use it to add scent to the notification sound whenever you get a new e-mail. We also think this device could be used with games. It could have all kinds of applications, so for example, in a shooting game, shots could be accompanied by the smell of gunpowder."

"Regarding our business model, the idea is that customers will be able to buy all kinds of scents in tanks like this."

"When we release this, we'd like to offer several kinds of game and social content ourselves. We've already released an SDK that links applications and devices. So, we hope that developers, both companies and individuals, will turn lots of ideas into apps."

"This is still a prototype and it uses the dock connector compatible with smartphones up to the iPhone 4S. We'd also like to support Android phones, so our version for release this September will connect to the phone's earphone jack. The design will also be a lot more stylish. So, this is really something to look forward to."

"When an expecting mother has a check-up, a 3D/4D echogram is made, and that contains 3D data. So, we suggest taking pre-birth photos of the baby, by skillfully processing that data."

This device can record full color card-sized Lippmann hologram in 120 minutes with one color holograms taking 90 minutes.

"Previously, holograms were produced by making a model of the subject, shining two lights on the model, and photographing it. That method involved a lot of work, because it required a darkroom, knowledge of techniques, and specialized equipment. But with the device we've developed, even if you don't have the actual object, as long as you have a CG design, then that can be used to record a hologram easily."

The recording medium is a high-performance film specifically for holograms, called Bayfol HX, from Bayer Material Science. The hologram is visible within a 23 degree viewing angle, and is 200 components high and 300 wide, with each component containing 60 points of view vertically and horizontally.

"This method works by shining light containing information about the object from one side of the recording material, and reference light from the other side, and recording the state of interference between the two light sources in the material. A hologram is created by regularly arranging the recordings on the medium."

As these holograms can be used to commemorate births, and Lippmann holograms can be viewed clearly in white light, Pioneer is exhibiting holograms in card-case holders and jewel-boxes with white LEDs.

"Image searching technology is quite practical now. So, by linking our algorithm to that, we've enabled the system to identify which characteristics are important by itself, and to remember that what kind of thing the subject is."

These are pictures of rickshaws, taken in India by the Group. When one of these pictures is loaded, the system hasn't yet learned what it is. So, it recognizes the subject as a "car," which it has already learned. The system is then given the keyword "rickshaw." From the Internet, the system picks out the main characteristics of pictures related to rickshaws, and learns by itself what a rickshaw is. After learning, even if a different picture of a rickshaw is loaded, the system recognizes it as a rickshaw.

"In the case of a rickshaw, there may be other things in the picture, or people may be riding in the rickshaw, but the system picks out only those features common to many cases, such as large wheels, a platform above the wheels, and a roof, and it learns that what people call a rickshaw includes these features. So, even with an object it hasn't seen before, if the object has those features, the system can recognize it."

"With previous methods, for example, face recognition by digital cameras, it's necessary to teach the system quite a lot of things about faces. When subjects become diverse, it's very difficult for people to tell the system what sort of characteristics they have, and how many features are sufficient to recognize things. SOINN can pick those features out for itself. It doesn't need models, which is a very big advantage."

The Group is also developing ways to transfer learned characteristic data to other things. For example, the system has already learned knives and pens, and possesses the characteristic data that they are "pointed objects" and "stick-shaped objects" respectively. To make the system recognize box cutters, it's made to look at the similarities between box cutters, and knives and pens, which it has already learned. And it's made to transfer the basic characteristic of being stick-shaped and pointed. If characteristic data for box cutters can be obtained from other systems, SOINN can guess from the transferred data that the objects are box cutters.

"Here, you've seen how this works for pictures. But SOINN can handle other types of information flexibly. For example, we think we could teach it to pick out features from audio or video data. Then, it could also utilize data from robot sensors."

"With previous pet robots, such as AIBO, training involved patterns that were decided in advance. When those possibilities are exhausted, the robot can't do any more. So, people come to understand what it's going to do, and get bored with it. But SOINN can remember an amount of changes. So, in principle, it can develop without a scripted scenario."

"Regarding the technology, the case is made using electrostatic flocking. When the five different colored fiber particles are dropped from above, they form this kind of texture. There are all kinds of iPhone cases, but we think this is the first with a grassy texture. Also, it feels different when you stroke it and when you grip it. The green color is really fresh, and easy on the eyes, too. Another part of the concept is that you'll sometimes want to turn your iPhone over, and rest your eyes by looking at the green."

"The studio we work from, called co-lab Shibuya Atelier, is a shared office. We have shared access to 3D printers, laser cutters, and digital machines, so we can turn PC data into tangible objects. Here, we can try all kinds of ideas quickly and cheaply, taking those ideas closer to commercial production. In Japan, there are lots of small businesses with all sorts of technologies. We've produced this iPhone case to express our goal of creating new, exciting things, by combining small businesses' technology with our ideas and prototyping abilities."

"When we market this, we'll initially do a limited run of 100. They'll be available from the end of April, at eight stores throughout Japan. The price will be 3,980 yen. Meanwhile, we're gearing up for mass production to meet future needs."

Fujitsu Laboratories has developed a next generation user interface which can accurately detect the users finger and what it is touching, creating an interactive touchscreen-like system, using objects in the real word.

"We think paper and many other objects could be manipulated by touching them, as with a touchscreen. This system doesn't use any special hardware; it consists of just a device like an ordinary webcam, plus a commercial projector. Its capabilities are achieved by image processing technology."

Using this technology, information can be imported from a document as data, by selecting the necessary parts with your finger.

This technology measures the shape of real-world objects, and automatically adjusts the coordinate systems for the camera, projector, and real world. In this way, it can coordinate the display with touching, not only for flat surfaces like tables and paper, but also for the curved surfaces of objects such as books.

"Until now, gesturing has often been used to operate PCs and other devices. But with this interface, we're not operating a PC, but touching actual objects directly, and combining them with ICT equipment."

"The system is designed not to react when you make ordinary motions on a table. It can be operated when you point with one finger. What this means is, the system serves as an interface combining analog operations and digital devices."

To detect touch accurately, the system needs to detect fingertip height accurately. In particular, with the low-resolution camera used here (320 x 180), if fingertip detection is off by a single pixel, the height changes by 1 cm. So, the system requires technology for recognizing fingertips with high precision.

"Using a low-res webcam gives a fuzzy picture, but the system calculates 3D positions with high precision, by compensating through image processing."

This system also includes technology for controlling color and brightness, in line with the ambient light, and correcting for individual differences in hand color. In this way, it can identify fingertips consistently, with little influence from the environment or individual differences.

Also, in situations that don't use touch, the system can be operated by gesturing. In this demo, when you move your fist, you can manipulate the viewpoint for 3D CAD data. So, there could be applications for this touch system by combining it with current gesture systems.

"For example, we think this system could be used to show detailed information at a travel agent's counter, or when you need to fill in forms at City Hall."

"We aim to develop a commercial version of this system by fiscal 2014. It's still at the demonstration level, so it's not been used in actual settings. Next, we'd like to get people to use it for actual tasks, see what issues arise, and evaluate usability. We want to reflect such feedback in this system."

"The main difference is that the egg is beaten at a high speed without coming in contact with air, so no bubbles can form. This results in it's smooth texture."

"The beaten eggs are checked by shining light on them. When eggs don't let light through, it shows they've been mixed thoroughly. Next, we boil the eggs. Here, we're just using demonstration equipment. While the eggs are being boiled, the temperature is controlled. Here's the result."

"Even if the temperature is too high or low, the eggs don't get foamy. The time and temperature are controlled hundreds of times. By using our patent-pending technology to heat the eggs, we've succeeded in achieving soft, moist cooked eggs while they're in their shells."

"We're marketing Fuwatoro Eggs with the catchphrase, "a new sensation in eggs on rice." But this idea could also be used for sweet dishes, and many other possibilities, too. We're still in the process of getting suggestions from customers. So, we're very excited, as we expect these eggs will be appearing in all kinds of places."

This development is expected to enable personalized, tailor-made therapy to become widespread.

"This is the chip we've actually developed. As you can see, it's less than half the size of a business card. It contains everything needed for testing DNA. Once a drop of blood is inserted, the chip completes the entire process, up to SNP detection."

SNPs are variations in a single DNA base among individuals.

Detecting SNPs makes it possible to check whether genetically transmitted diseases are present, evaluate future risks, and identify genes related to illness.

"By investigating SNPs, we can determine that this drug will work for this person, or this drug will have severe side-effects on that person. Investigating SNPs enables tailor-made therapy. But with the current method, it has to be done in a specialized lab, so it actually takes three to four days. In the worst case, it takes a week from sending the sample to getting the result. Our equipment can determine a patient's SNPs in just an hour after receiving the blood."

Testing is done simply by injecting the blood and a chemical into the chip, and setting it in the testing system.

First of all, the blood and chemical are mixed. DNA is then extracted from the mixed solution. The regions containing SNPs are then cut out and amplified. DNA amplification uses technology called PCR, which cuts out the desired sections by varying the temperature. With the conventional method, this process took two hours.

"Through careful attention to thermal separation design, we've achieved high-speed PCR, where 30 temperature cycles are completed in nine minutes. We think this is one of the fastest PCR systems in the world."

The amplified DNA is then sent through a micropump to a DNA filter. Here, the DNA is separated for each section length. Then, a newly developed electrochemical sensor identifies SNPs while the DNA is dissolved in the chemical.

"To implement this system on one chip, and make detection easy, the first thing we focused on was the actuators. This system requires a very small, powerful pump. In our case, we used a conductive polymer for the actuators. A feature of these actuators is they're powerful, yet extremely compact. They can exert a pressure of up to 30MPa."

"Ultimately, we'd like to make this system battery-powered. We think that would enable genetically modified foods to be tested while still in the warehouse."

These two photos were taken using CCDs with the same sensitivity. The one on the right was taken with the color filter system used in nearly all digital cameras. The one on the left was taken with Panasonic's new micro color-splitting system.

Until now, image sensors have produced color pictures by using red, green, and blue filters for each pixel, but with that system, 50-70% of the light is lost.

"Here, color filters aren't used. So light can be captured without loss, which enables us to achieve approximately double the sensitivity. What's more, this technology can be used regardless of whether the sensor is a CCD, CMOS, or BSI type. The device can also be manufactured using current semiconductor fabrication processes. It doesn't use special materials or processes."

This photo shows a cross section of the the new image sensor. The sensor uses two types of color splitters: red deflectors and blue deflectors.

The red and blue deflectors are arranged diagonally, with one of each for every four pixels. RGB values can be obtained by determining the intensity of light reaching each of the four pixels.

For example, if white light enters each pixel, pixels where it doesn't pass through a deflector receive unmodified white light. But in pixels with a red deflector, the light is split into red diffracted light and cyan non-diffracted light. And when white light passes through a blue deflector, it's split into blue diffracted light and yellow non-diffracted light. As a result, the pixel arrangement is cyan, white + red, white + blue, and yellow. The RGB values are then calculated using a processing technique designed specifically for mixed color signals.

To design the micro color splitters in this way, it's necessary to analyze optical phenomena such as reflection, refraction, and diffraction, in 3D. Analyzing various wavelengths of light for each form of micro color splitter requires high-speed computation, which hasn't been practical until now.

"We've developed a completely new analysis method, called Babinet-BPM. Compared with the usual FDTD method, the computation speed is 325 times higher, but it only consumes 1/16 of the memory. This is the result of a three-hour calculation by the FDTD method. We achieved the same result in just 36.9 seconds."

"Here, we've used a two-deflector method. But various combinations are possible. For example, you could increase the S/N ratio by using four deflectors. You could use one combination for mobile applications, and another for security cameras. From now on, we'd like to shift the focus of our research to different systems for different applications."

Shigeto Takahashi is a leading expert in education and publicity regarding the Management Game. He's the representative of BM Network, which holds numerous seminars for government agencies and businesses, and for SME Universities and Junior Chamber International Japan. Recently, Takahashi gave a seminar on the Management Game in Akita.

"The Management Game was developed in 1976, when Japan's economic future became unclear after the "oil shock." It's an educational system, developed to train people how to utilize their company's business resources. All kinds of businesses have introduced this game, to teach their managers how to make decisions, understand financials, and think strategically."

In a management game, a group represents a market, and 5-7 people each manage their own company for a session. They hire employees, purchase materials, operate factories, do R&D, run advertising campaigns, bid for products, and sell them. Participants do the accounting for each process, and at the end of the session, they produce reports and compare performance. In a two-day seminar, there are 3-4 sessions, so participants can sharpen their business acumen by producing business plans, thinking up and implementing improvements, and testing them out.

"The Management Game is created to develop three aspects of business: performance, people, and creativity. One feature of the game is that participants run their companies by themselves. This means they have to think about things from a manager's viewpoint, and consider all aspects of business. Another feature of the game is that they foster a business mindset and profit consciousness. A third feature is, the Management Game is intended to nurture creative thinking and strategic thinking."

Because participants continually have to make decisions, they also become aware of how vital decision-making is in business.

"I think gaining the ability to make decisions right away is a major benefit of the Management Game. Until you reach management level, employees don't require you to make decisions. But in my current position, I get asked by various staff, "What should I do about this?" If workers get a decision from the boss, they can move on to their next task. So, I think making decisions on the spot, whenever that's possible, contributes to the workplace as well. "

As Japan's senior population increases, and more women also enter business, Takahashi thinks the Management Game for people in those categories may help to create new businesses.

The iPhone app can generate a mask from a photo of basically anything with a face, such as an animal, celebrity, or comic character, and show it superimposed on live video of your face. Yahoo Japan has also developed a library which is used to analyze and reflect expressions and head movements in real time.

The resulting video or photo can then be shared via Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.

"This app includes various masks, including dogs, as defaults. You can also make masks yourself. You choose a photo of a face you like, and edit the contour and so on to make a mask."

"The app tracks facial feature points, like this. It captures the movements of these feature points, in synch with the motion of your mouth and eyebrows. So it can change how your face looks by synthesizing the mask picture accordingly. A feature of this application is that it tracks in real time, even on a smartphone. We think there aren't many apps that can track facial feature points using just the processing power of a smartphone."

"This can track your face even if you vary the angle a lot. It even tracks unusual expressions, so it's fun to make all sorts of expressions with your mouth."

You can also take a picture of somebody who's with you, and use that as a mask. The eyes, mouth, and outline in the picture you've taken are detected automatically. If the facial feature points are misaligned, you can fine-tune them to make the mask.

Yahoo Japan is considering developing a chat application featuring this ability to make faces anonymous.

"We think Face Stealer could be used to talk easily with your face hidden. For example, a man could join in video chat using a pretty woman's face. This feature could be used in streaming too, so you could communicate your facial expression on a video broadcast, without having to show your actual face."

"This feels just like Photoshop. To specify which places you want bright or dark, all you need to do is color in the corresponding areas."

In this system, the interactive pen display is used to paint the room in light or darkness, with a camera placed in the ceiling returning the results in real time to the display. By coloring in white with the brush tool areas of the interior can be brightened, and by using black they can be darkened. This intuitive interface simplifies the controlling of complex lighting systems.

"Brightening a room up is easy, but combining dark and bright areas is hard for people to think about. The main feature of this system is, the computer does the hard work of calculation. So, the user can get a good result simply by coloring in the screen."

The brightness distribution levels input to the computer are rendered visible as contours. In this 1/12 scale prototype, there are 12 lights, which are moved on two axes by gimbals, to create accurate levels of brightness distribution. The optimal arrangement is calculated by parallel processing with a GPU, which makes it possible to reflect the result immediately.

"Currently, we've created test environments on a miniature scale. From now on, we intend to install this system in actual home environments."

"Of course, Lighty could also be used for large halls and stages. But we think that, in the future, it'll be usable in ordinary homes as well."

The software keyboards used in online banking are effective against key loggers, but by taking screen captures or looking over your shoulder, people would be able to work out your password.

With this system, only the user knows which cursor is the real one, so there's no concern about people stealing passwords just by being able to see the screen.

"At first sight, it looks as if the user, too, will get confused which cursor is real. But when you try this system, it's surprisingly easy to understand which one is your cursor. Observers though, don't know which cursor you're using. For example, now, I'm entering numbers. I think onlookers won't understand what I've entered. Here, I've entered 0825, and in this way, I know that 0825 was actually entered."

"Currently, the system uses five cursors, and the failure rate for password peeping is about 50%. If there are 20 cursors, 99% of onlookers will fail to see what the password is. That's what we've discovered by doing tests."

"With this system, the problem was, if you moved the cursor quickly while there were just a few dummy cursors, onlookers could figure out which is the real cursor. So, we've created a system called SymmetricCursors, where the dummy cursors move in a different way. Here, ten softkeys are arranged in a circle. In here, there's only one real cursor. With this system, even if you move your cursor quickly, you don't have just one cursor standing out, like there was before. In terms of speed, all the cursors are the same. So you can enter numbers after using the mouse direction to find out which is the real cursor."

"We still need to find out more about how people recognize their cursor. Now that we've discovered this phenomenon, we want to use eye trackers and fMRI to learn about the biometric relationships, and think about applications like security and games."

"Regarding the picture, this system includes technology that uses 3D video. It continually generates pictures from such a viewpoint that, the other person seems to be right in front of you. Regarding the sound, the system uses technology that reproduces the sound wave-front, so you can hear the other person as if you're actually there with them.

The real-time wave-front synthesis technology used in this audio system applies a sound pick-up and replay algorithm to large microphone and speaker arrays, maintaining the physical properties of the sound wave, and reproducing the wave-front of the sound itself in real time.

"This differs from simple stereo or surround sound, in that you can hear it clearly even if you move around. So, you can identify the spatial position of the sound source."

Here, 64 mics are used to pick up the sound, which is replayed using 96 speakers on the back of the screen.

This audio technology was announced by NTT last year. Now, by combining it with 3D video from the user's viewpoint using Kinect, NTT has achieved a visually and aurally accurate virtual communication space.

"For the background, pictures are synthesized in advance, so here, we're using a blue screen. In the future, we'd like to use entirely actual video, but currently, our first priority is displaying people exactly where they should be, and making sure the person's voice sounds as if it's coming from their mouth."

"One future possibility is, you could create a communication space in a living room, so family members in distant places can talk to each other as if they're right there. Or, for business, we'd like to create an environment for smoother communication, by making it seem as if long-distance participants are actually present at a meeting."

HEVC, is the next generation after H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, which is currently in widespread use. Compared with that specification, it can double the data compression ratio.

"The system called HEVC was approved by ITU and ISO on January 25. Here, you can see how good the picture quality is. On the left is the video format called H.264 AVC, which is currently the norm. On the right is the new HEVC. You can see the difference in picture quality achieved with the same data volume. Compared with the previous system, HEVC gives a considerably better picture."

Docomo has been a big proponent for the standardization of HEVC since it was proposed in 2007. Consequently, Docomo's own specification, to enable use for mobile applications, has been adopted. Docomo has also suggested ways to improve aspects such as compression performance. From now on, Docomo will consider incorporating HEVC into its video services, such as their video and anime store.

"This is codec software developed by Docomo. It uses a PC to play video four times the size of Full HD at 60 fps in real time. We think 60 fps video with a 4K display size like this is a world first."

"The data volume is about 10 Mbps, so as long as the environment's in place, in the future, we think using HEVC will enable video this good to be sent over the mobile network."

In March, Docomo will start licensing HEVC codec software for Full HD on smartphones. Because this software decodes HEVC video efficiently, it eliminates delays and drop-outs due to lack of processing speed, enabling smooth, real-time video.

"We'd like to distribute this software to service providers so they can move ahead with development. By enabling this system to be used worldwide, we'd like to reduce mobile traffic substantially."

"For example, you can show a CG character dancing in sync with an artist like this. Or a CG character can jump into the picture, and things in the picture can jump out. In this way, the system enables new forms of expression using video."

"In this scene, you can easily see what's happening. The system also recognizes the position of the screen that shows the video. You can watch the CG from different angles, by changing whether the screen is facing left or right."

NTT has developed mobile video watermarking technology which can be quickly detected by a tablet or smartphone. Digital watermarks are embedded in the video sequentially as time codes. The app then reads these time codes, confirms the timing of the video being played, and displays the relevant content.

"We're thinking of using this in several ways. For example, in a public signage video, if tourist information is being displayed, it will ordinarily be in Japanese, but if a foreigner places their tablet or smartphone near the video, information in that person's language could be shown in sync. Or if a person with impaired hearing brings their tablet near the video, the information could appear in sign language."

"Regarding the basic technology for this system, the mobile video watermarking, that's very close to being practical. For example, we're already doing field tests with terrestrial digital broadcasting, using this system to lead people from a shopping program to a shopping site. And regarding application to AR displays, we're getting feedback at events such as this, to see what kinds of applications people want. We'd like to use this feedback to improve the technology, so we can implement actual services."

"When you toss trash at it, a sensor detects the position of the trash, and sends the information to a PC. The PC calculates where the trash will fall, and communicates it to the can via wireless connection."

"The trash can has to move autonomously. To achieve that, I created a special mechanism, with a single axis for both the wheel rotation and the change in angle. So even if the wheels rotate, the position of the can itself doesn't change. That mechanism, the circuitry, and the motor controller all fit within the diameter of the can. If the center of gravity is high, the can will fall over, so I made the can low, narrow, and compact, to keep the center of gravity as low as possible."

"I've received inquiries about turning this into a commercial product. Right now, I'm working to patent the technology for the Smart Trash Can."

"The probability that the trash will go in is not very high, only 10-20%. Even making full use of the current sensor, it still has errors. So I'd like to improve the success rate. I want to either improve the sensor, or upgrade the control by reducing the error through a program."

"One element of the system is the use of a see-through head-mounted display to present a stereoscopic image. Unlike when typically viewing an image on a display, it is important here for the image to be viewed in space. An extremely important aspect in constructing this system is that the participant is able to observe in a natural manner a part of his or her body such as the hands making contact with the image."

First, a commercially available see-through head-mounted display is worn. An image of an object floating about 30cm in front of the eyes becomes visible. Presently this object is displayed as a ball of fire or ice to represent temperature sensation. The participant places his hands as if touching the viewed object so that the ball of fire or ice is observed resting on the hands. By adjusting the hands so that the object is touching the palms and then by gently shaking the head left and right so that a slow-speed motion is perceived, he can experience a subtle tactile sensation such as a slight breeze or cool or warm sensation.

"Feasible areas of application are entertainment or communication, or as a new form of media for producing visual content to induce tactile illusion. Or for more serious applications, there are various possibilities for consideration including rehabilitation as well as training and education where this type of system can be used effectively."

With the prototype system, the research group has discovered that the participant's perceived tactile sensation will change qualitatively, such as a sensation of warmth or cold, according to the content of the video image. The group will continue to conduct research on video content with associated tactile sensation and search for effective utilization of tactile sensation in fields such as education and social welfare.

"Until now, switching has been done with glass. But with this sheet technology, you can switch a window between transparent and mirror states simply by affixing the sheet to the window."

"On the back, there's an acrylic sheet, and the new sheet we've developed is attached at the corners using tape. There's inevitably a gap of 0.1 mm between the glass and the sheet. We fill the gap with hydrogen, which is produced by the electrolysis of water. In this way, the sheet can be switched from the mirror state to transparent."

As light-controlling glass, electrochromic glass has already been commercialized. But the disadvantage of that is that the temperature of the chromic layer rises, so energy is radiated into the room again as heat. With this new system, light can be controlled by reflection, making it possible to shut out sunlight more efficiently.

"Electrochromic glass, which is switched electrically, works more slowly if the window is large. For example, windows in the Boeing 787 take 30 seconds to switch, but with our system, windows of the same size switch in five seconds. So, another feature of our system is fast switching."

In this demonstration, the window takes ten minutes to return to a mirror state. But AIST has already developed a material that can revert in 30 seconds.

"This system works in a simple way. It electrolyzes moisture in the air, converting it to hydrogen, which fills the gap to cause the switch. Just by applying 3 V to this part, you can switch between the transparent and mirror states."

"Ultimately, we aim to use this system in building and vehicle windows. Windshields, by law, must have a transmittance of at least 70% in the transparent state. So, a major hurdle to be cleared is 70% transmittance for visible light. We're working on this, and we expect to succeed within a year."

It has a unique structure, with layers of a new electrochromic material that turn magenta, yellow, and cyan from their transparent state. In this way, Ricoh's e-paper enables a bright, full-color display, like ordinary paper, which hasn't been possible with e-paper until now.

This prototype is a 3.5-inch, QVGA display, with a pixel density of 113.6 ppi. Its reflectivity is 70%. Compared with current color-filter displays, this e-paper is 2.5 times brighter. It has a color reproduction range of 35%, higher than that of a newspaper, which is 31% in Japan.

"To produce colors, CMY subtractive mixing is ideal, and that's the model used in printing. We've implemented this by coating the panel with layers of yellow, magenta, and cyan. Ordinarily, if you try to use layers like this, you need an electrode driver for each layer. But in this display we're developing, the electrodes are active TFTs. So, we can achieve all colors with a single TFT, by switching the electrodes on the display side."

The material used for the chromic layers is transparent in its oxidized state, but becomes colored when it's reduced. To achieve a color display, rewriting is done three times in the order magenta, yellow, cyan. As the spaces between the electrochromic layers are narrow, at about 2 microns, the result is an ideal color-mixing display.

"The stage we're at right now is, we're checking that this model works with an actual active panel. Regarding the color drive, we haven't refined this yet, so switching takes over a second for each color. But the reaction speed of the chromic material is, ideally, about 100 ms."

"From now on, we'd like to increase the size to 6 inches, then 10 inches. We also want to work on achieving stable driving and faster response."

When the material has solidified, it's yellow, but if it's illuminated with UV light, it gradually liquefies and becomes orange. If you shine green light on the material, it hardens again, and reverts to yellow. This is the first example of a solid-liquid transition caused by light alone, deliberately and reversibly, in a single substance.

"This isn't a reaction where new bonds form and break. This material uses what's called an isomerization reaction, where the shape of a compound changes reversibly. Because the reaction is caused by light, it's also possible to attach this material in certain places only, and remove it in other places."

"The reaction depends on the amount of light. Here are two glass plates with an adhesive layer between them, about 10 microns thick. Under these conditions, using 80 mW light, the material liquefies in about 3 minutes. The light's wavelength must be in a specific range, from 365 nm to 385 nm, and it's better if other light is minimized. Now, with this green light, the material hardens in 1-2 minutes. Even with the light in a place like this, the material does harden, but it's most sensitive to this green wavelength."

The material's current adhesive strength is 50 N/cm2, which is enough to suspend a 5 kg object from an adhesive surface 1 cm square. It's about the same strength as double-sided adhesive tape.

"The adhesive strength is still weak, so we'd like to improve it. We'd also like to change the color, which isn't very attractive."

"For example, in a manufacturing process, if you want to hold something in place temporarily, there are adhesive materials that can be peeled off. But that imposes a load on the objects. Using this type of material, things can be stuck together and separated without using force. So, we think it might enable new kinds of manufacturing process."

With this new film, sound distortion can be prevented even when the film is deformed, by making its elasticity depend on frequency. As a result, the film is both flexible and produces high quality sound.

"This film is normally soft, but it becomes hard in the audio frequency range. That's because it's designed so that, when the ceramic vibrates in the audio range, from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, the vibrational energy is transmitted to the entire film."

"The performance of the diaphragm in a speaker is usually expressed in terms of acoustic velocity and internal loss. The higher those are, the better. Currently, the diaphragms used in speakers are often paper cones. In the audio range, compared with a paper cone, our film has the same acoustic velocity and 2-3 times the internal loss. So, the film itself isn't prone to producing sound, which means it delivers very high audio quality."

This "origami speaker" is a sample, to demonstrate how flexible the film is. Although it's not a practical product, it can produce sound without breaking, even when it's folded in such a complicated way.

"Previously, there's been a 100% polymer material called polyvinylidene fluoride. This material combines a ceramic with a polymer. Until now, the conventional wisdom has been that such materials usually break when they're bent. But this film is for use at low frequencies, where it's very flexible, so it doesn't break."

polyvinylidene fluoride contains a 100% polymer material combined with a ceramic material.

"In the future, it might be possible to make a retractable, thin, flexible display, by using this film in combination with an OLED display."

The film can also be used as a sensor that converts sound to electrical signals.

"The film converts minute vibrations to electrical signals, like this. The frequency range of the human voice can be picked up like this. If placed on the vocal cords, it can also be used as a throat microphone."

" As long as there is even a small space, the device can be used in any type of hospital. It is just about the same size as a computer, so one of its features is being easily usable in any location. The technology to miniaturize the device is complicated, but I believe we were able to achieve this size by keeping it as simple as possible. As for ease of use, it has been designed based on the concept of being usable wherever it is located, so it is an easy to use machine."

At this time, genetic testing is typically only conducted at large research facilities, but PSS aims to create an environment where genetic testing devices can be used at more medium-sized hospitals, emergency testing hospitals, and even small clinics.

"Under the concepts of companion diagnostics and personalized medicine that have recently become popular topics in the US as well as Japan, the idea is to use medicine suited to the patient and conduct genetic testing for that purpose. As these types of devices become widespread, even the town doctor will be able to conduct these tests. We aim to create a world in which tests can be done right there so that patients can safely take their medicine. "

PSS, which is searching for a way to roll out the GeneLEAD globally including through OEM sales, is along with this also considering marketing test reagents it has developed. PSS aims to release the GeneLEAD between the end of this year and the beginning of next year at a price as affordable as possible.

"It has two fish-eye lenses, each of which covers 180 degrees. The camera combines the two pictures, and sends them via Wi-Fi to a tablet or smartphone for viewing. The idea is, the pictures you take arrive automatically."

"When viewing it like a regular panoramic image, you can also see up and down. When you pull out from the image, it finally becomes a circle, and you can also look at it as a sphere."

"This camera represents a step beyond SLRs and compact cameras. The project began with the idea that, if taking spherical panoramic photos was easy, the results might be fun."

"Currently, the camera takes still photos. But we'd like to enable it to handle video, too. We're still just presenting this technology, so the specs haven't been decided yet. Right now, we're at the stage of seeing how people react. If people think this camera is fun, we'd like to commercialize it, and make it a bit smaller. We want to keep developing it, so we can offer a version for consumers."

"This is a project we're discussing with staff at art colleges. We think this technology could also be presented as a "panorama ball," where the pictures are stuck onto a sphere."

Ubiquitous Entertainment exhibited their "enchant.js" technology for developing browser-based games at Digital Content EXPO 2012. This technology uses the cross-platform HTML5 and JavaScript languages to make it possible to write games for smartphones and PCs using very few lines of code. This makes it easy for many people, even elementary school students, to enjoy programming.

"With enchant.js, the emphasis is on ease of use and fun, rather than on details of the technology. The usual barriers to creating games are the programming itself, of course, but also the great difficulty in creating graphics and 3D models. We've put together a collection of graphics elements that people can use for free. Also, once a game has been created, it needs to be uploaded somewhere so it can be used on smartphones. We provide the servers and a full service to support this."

A key feature of enchant.js is that it pulls together into one place the ability to create content, show created games to others, and let them play the games.

"Our vision is that a fourth of all human beings can become programmers. Thinking about studying programming -- when children try to create a game program, you know, the kids have been studying various math functions in school without really knowing what they're used for. But trigonometric functions come up all the time in creating games. So kids will suddenly see the value in those functions they've been studying without knowing why."

Ubiquitous Entertainment believes that free, open-source software will become the mainstream in the future, and is exploring a new business strategy of earning profit through sales of software related books and the sponsoring of events.

"We're exploring mobile ambient communication. 'Mobile' refers to personal communication devices such as mobile phones, 'ambient' refers to roomware, software for rooms. So the idea is personal control of public shared displays."

Examples of mobile ambient communication include choosing an audio source by pointing a smartphone in different directions, or navigating panoramic images by changing the angle of the device.

The group is also developing a variety of games and other applications which support this interface.

"We envision developing smart toys, games that develop ones body and ones mind, for whole body entertainment. So instead of just using a keyboard and mouse for a computer interface, we engage the entire body."

"Poi," integrates dance and juggling, and features a weight whirled at the end of a tether. "Padiddling," akin to plate spinning, is a trick popularized by flying disc freestylists. The group has developed both poi and padiddling controllers for smartphones and tablets, taking classic performance arts and giving them a modern multimedia expression.

"Right now, were working on multimedia juggling, and a collaborative music performance. We're especially interested in augmented reality, the idea that a scene is composed of half sampled data, for instance photographic data or motion capture data, and half is synthesized data, for instance computer graphics."

Artificial photosynthesis is a technology that uses sunlight to produce oxygen and organic substances from water and carbon dioxide, like plants do. As an ideal technology that could solve both global warming and energy issues, artificial photosynthesis is currently being researched worldwide.

"This device is a demonstration model of the artificial photosynthesis system we've developed. When light hits this electrode, a CO2 reduction reaction occurs. The place the reaction occurs is yellow now, but it gradually becomes green. This is the part where CO2 actually reacts, and the energy source is created."

Here's how the reaction works. First of all, the photo-electrode is filled with water and illuminated. The light is absorbed, and the water molecules react, producing electrons, oxygen molecules, and hydrogen ions. The electrons move through wires to a catalyst electrode, where they react with CO2 and hydrogen ions. This reduction reaction produces organic substances, mainly formic acid.

To convert CO2 in this way, electrons must be excited to a high-energy state using light. In the current system, Panasonic is using a nitride semiconductor, as in LED lamps, for the photo-electrode. In this way, Panasonic has discovered that electrons can be excited to the energy state required to react with CO2.

This is an experiment using sunlight. Even in tests using actual solar illumination, the movement of electrons due to the chemical reaction can be measured as a current between the electrodes.

In addition, by designing the material for the metal catalyst, it's possible to vary the type of organic substances produced. At Panasonic's lab, the latest machines have been introduced to analyze the substances.

"When carbon dioxide reacts, the organic substances produced are of various kinds. Currently, the main substance produced is formic acid, but in the future, we'd like to produce even more useful substances, such as hydrocarbons or alcohol. Until now, researchers have been doing lots of individual experiments to see what substances can be obtained with different catalysts in various environments. But with this device, we can do eight experiments at once, using different materials and reactions. So, we can do R&D more systematically, and with higher throughput."

From now on, Panasonic aims to achieve an efficiency similar to that of plants in ethanol production. As a future prospect, the company wants to operate artificial photosynthesis plants, which could absorb CO2 from factories and produce ethanol.

"To date, Mitsui Fudosan has offered a car sharing service to apartment residents. Car sharing is available to residents who are able to drive, but this new service provides a full-time driver so that even residents who cannot drive can use this car sharing service. While only a test service, it provides rides for less than the fare of a comparable taxi ride. For occasions such as transportation to the hospital or to cram school for children, this service can be used without hesitation even for distances covered by the minimum fare in taxis. "

Reservations for this service are available by telephone 24 hours a day, but for immediate vehicle dispatch, reservations can also be made by smartphone (hours of availability are weekdays 8 AM to 7 PM). First, the user clicks on the LoopRimo icon and selects the category of interest. The map displays the location of the smartphone and location of nearby vehicles. The user then selects the pick-up location, drop-off location, and other option service data. After the transportation request is sent, a nearby driver responds as to whether a pick-up is possible. This enables the user to confirm the information of the driver that will provide transport as well as the scheduled vehicle arrival time.

"In the limo industry, services are primarily geared for company executives or foreign travelers, but we think that the service expertise gained from this industry should be offered to people in their everyday lives in the form of reliable service. We believe making this service available to people in their everyday lives will expand the market of the limo industry by orders of magnitude, so we will actively promote this project. "

This test service will use three vehicles and be made available to approximately 600 households. The Mitsui Residence Loop residents service serves 200,000 households in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama. Mitsui Fudosan Residential and Hinomaru Limousine will examine the state of service usage and hope to be instrumental in future service development.

"For this tablet, we've used what's called the Omni Balance Design. This looks very sleek, because it eliminates all unnecessary features."

"This tablet connects via NFC to the XPERIA Z smartphone, which we're releasing simultaneously. If you're sitting in a train, and want to look at a Web site on a big screen, all you need to do is place the smartphone over the tablet, to show the same site on the tablet. So, you can look at a big screen if you're at home or in a relaxed setting. As well as Web sites, you can use this feature with music, videos, photos, and YouTube."

"This model has full virtual surround capability. Here, the lifelike sound is coming from both sides. You can use this in places like a bedroom, even if there's no TV. It supports NOTTV and 1seg as well, so you can watch that, and use it with a Sony DVR or nasne. So, you can transfer recorded programs to the tablet, and watch them while you're on the move."

"This is the MEDIAS W. Ordinarily, you use it folded up, like a regular smartphone. When you want to look at a picture or map, it can open up to become a 5.6 inch screen. So you can read maps or browse the Web easily, and it makes text entry easy, too."

"Let's display a map. It's shown on both screens, like this, so you can check your map on a big screen. Although there's a line in the middle, you can pinch and zoom across the two screens. You can also show a different Web site on each screen."

"As the LCD screens fold on the outside, you can put the phone down and look at it, so you can see this side and that side."

"The keyboard is very easy to use, like with a tablet. When you turn the phone on its side, the whole bottom screen becomes the keyboard, so typing is just as easy. Because the MEDIAS W makes it very easy to enter text, we think this model is really convenient for customers who enjoy social media."

TeamLab exhibited its Media Block Chair at Digital Content Expo 2012.

"The Media Block Chair is a block-shaped object with three protruding sides and three indented sides. Protruding sides communicate information to indented sides. If a protruding side of a red block is connected to a blue receiving block, the blue block receives the red and becomes purple. Or, if a yellow block is placed on top of a purple block, the yellow turns to green. In this way, multiple blocks can be connected and colors change. "

Used alone, a shining cube-shaped multi-purpose block can serve as an illuminating device or a chair, but connecting blocks together by fitting protrusions into indentations opens up various possibilities such as use as a bench, display furniture, or partition.

"We were told that at an apparel shop in Shibuya, during the week they wanted to have tables to display fashionable bags and shoes, but then on the weekend when designers come for a workshop they wanted to arrange chairs in a wide open space. The space for an apparel shop and holding seminars is completely different, so we realized we needed to create something that would change the space. To change the space, we decided to create cube-shaped boxes that can be used alone as a chair, as a table when stacked, or as a bench connected horizontally."

Adhering to the concept of "New value in behavior," TeamLab aims to not only lighten the weight of the Media Block Chair, but also to use colors that children will enjoy touching and to include functionality such as emitting a sound when blocks are attached together.

Professor Yoichiro Kawaguchi of the University of Tokyo Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies is building a robot of a swimming jellyfish based on the theme of "space jellyfish." To artistically express the ambience of a wriggling jellyfish, he selected the theme of a jellyfish swimming in space.

"I don't believe there have been many soft-bodied creatures of this type that have been made into a robot. It requires creating numerous delicate movements. We put together simple configurations and focused on creating the elegant movements of the jellyfish. While skillfully integrating repeated wavering motions, for the future I would like to make it so that it can elicit various emotions. For this exhibit I would be satisfied to have people see both the design and movements."

"This model is made of a ceramic pottery known as Satsuma porcelain. I once asked the most famous local Satsuma porcelain artisan named Chin Jukan to make a CG model for me. I thought this could be further improved, which has led to the current model made."

Kawaguchi ultimately wants to make not just traditional handicraft but rather something capable of space travel.

"For the future I am thinking of incorporating traditional handicraft in the manufacturing process, so I am also considering lacquering. I am thinking of using previously unused combinations to draw out new possibilities."

With an eye towards creating a new industry and exporting Japanese traditional handicrafts to the world, Kawaguchi is considering the incorporation of high tech in future product development.

Professor Akira Ishii's research group at the Tottori University Department of Engineering is using a mathematical model to investigate how movies and music exhibit the "hit" phenomenon.

" Why do we go to see movies? We may decide it looks interesting based on advertising, word of mouth, or overhearing conversations while walking, commuting to school or work, or maybe from people talking about the movie at the next table while eating in a restaurant. We tried to take these three elements and, using our sense of physics, express them in an equation. When we did, we found that the equation matches extremely well with actual trends within society."

The Ishii group found that for 25 movies, their forecasts of audiences matched well with actual results, and that they were able to predict hits with high accuracy.

"Currently the calculations are such that they can't really be used other than by the students working in our lab. In the future we'd like to incorporate the equations into software that is easy to use by marketers or non-technical people that aren't so familiar with mathematics. Our dream is that our software could be used by advertisers or for conferences in a broad range of industries."

A paper on Professor Ishii's mathematical model was published in the June 15, 2012 edition of the UK's New Journal of Physics. The story has also been picked up by over 200 news organizations around the world, including the New York Times.

"DIVE into World Heritage 3D,"exhibited by Panasonic at Digital Content EXPO 2012, is a system for creating panoramic images by shooting with five 3D cameras, then showing the images using five high-definition plasma display panels.

" In collaboration with UNESCO, we photographed seven world heritage sites around the world. The purpose of these images is to allow people to have an experience like they'd have if they went to these sites in person. 3D cameras used to be very large and difficult to handle. In the last two years they have gotten much smaller, and devices like these 3DA1 (the AG-3DA1 3D camcorder) are now available. We shoot footage using five of these cameras together. The system also includes small, high performance VCRs tethered to the cameras."

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Panasonic have formed a strategic partnership for the purpose of preserving world heritage and educating the next generation.

" Imaging technology is progressing every day. Today we're using full high-definition, but in the future pixel counts are likely to grow, as well as the size of the displays themselves. We'd like to be on the leading edge as those sorts of devices become available."

This Panasonic imaging system makes it possible for people to experience, through imagery, realistic scenery from places that they would not ordinarily be able to go. As an Olympic sponsor, Panasonic is considering the possibility of using its panorama imaging system for imaging of future Olympic games, as well as producing the images of artworks housed in museums.

The aim is to achieve a robot that can freely utilize power beyond human strength, in emergencies or on construction sites. Power Loader's role is to link people with construction machinery.

"Power Loader receives the force input by a person through its force sensors, and amplifies it using motors. In this way, it assists the person, by producing a large force that the person can't achieve alone. The concept we've used to develop Power Loader is, you get into it, rather than wearing it. Using this concept makes it safer to operate."

When Power Loader was first developed, Activelink made a very large version. But following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, development has shifted to Power Loader Light, a more compact version.

"In each sole, there's a six-axis force sensor. In line with the force vectors detected there, three axes for each leg are used to control motors in the ankle, knee, and hip, exerting a force in the direction of support."

"We want to make Power Loader capable of carrying 50-60 kg while moving with agility. The legs could be used to support something very heavy, such as a radiation suit, and we think it could also carry 50-60 kg easily using the robot arms."

This equipment serves as a platform for research on power loader control, which is being considered by Activelink and the Japan Atomic Power Company. It can be used to carry 30 kg with one arm, while exerting a minimum of effort.

"This is a trial harness, for use in designing a connection to the Power Loader Light legs. We've made it as compact as possible while producing this much power."

"After that, we're considering a very large version. The big Power Loader, which we were developing before, uses 22 motors. We'd like to achieve an exoskeleton with that kind of all-axis assist. When we do that, we think we'll have a robot that can carry at least 100 kg easily."

NHK Media Technology has proposed the Advanced Stereo 3D broadcast system. This new format can transmit 3D programming to television sets capable of 3D display, and full high-definition video to conventional, non-3D television sets, all while maintaining compatibility with existing broadcast standards.

"This format provides high-definition when viewed on a conventional TV set. When viewed on a 3D-capable set, the current side-by-side format of sending two images has the problem of reduced image quality. Our new format independently transmits both left and right images in full high-definition to eliminate that problem and provides viewers with a gorgeous image."

NHK Media Technology is currently submitting the Advanced Stereo 3D format to the ARIB, an organization that determines broadcasting formats, and is preparing to make it a standard.

"Korean broadcasters, for example, are investigating a similar format. The Korean format will likely be almost the same as our format, so we think we should be able to support a compatible format and have it catch on in Korea as well."

Overseas broadcasters may also use the Advanced Stereo 3D broadcast system, using NHK Media Technology's recently exhibited encoder. The company expects that this broadcast system will be used all over the world.

"When the hanger is removed, content is shown on the display. This is a switch, and it moves. When the hanger is on the rack it's off, and it switches on when the hanger is removed. Each hanger has a unique ID. When the hanger is removed the ID is transmitted to a PC in the back, and content tied to that ID is then displayed on the monitor."

Ceno installed the teamLabHanger system in September 2011 when it remodeled its Shibuya store.The number of people buying clothing online is increasing, and Ceno adopted the teamLab system to add a sense of amusement to the store.

"Customers' first reaction is,'what is this?'There are hangers and monitors, and many people don't understand it. When our staff demonstrate, they are surprised. They tell their friends about it. We're currently running a campaign using women artists and celebrities, and many of their fans visit the store. We use images and video that can only be seen here, and it's really getting a good reaction."

As Ceno anticipated, the response from customers has been positive, and customers are enjoying the experience of picking up the hangers.

This world-first development, made by Panasonic, means that if these thermoelectric tubes are used for piping hot water, electricity could be generated using the piping itself.

"This is a thermoelectric tube. It's about 10 cm long. This generator unit contains four of these tubes. Hot water is passed through the tubes, and the outside is cooled using cold water. This four-tube unit generates about 10 W, which can power a fan, an LED light, or a portable TV."

Until now, thermoelectric generation has been prone to high loss when heat is taken in, because thermoelectric elements have been attached and connected to the outside of pipes. Such systems have also had issues with reliability.

"By making the product tubular, we've enabled it to take in more heat with the same size. As a result, the power output is three or four times higher than with conventional systems. A feature of this product is, you can generate electricity simply by replacing existing hot-water pipes with these."

The thermoelectric tube has a simple structure, with thermoelectric material, which has low thermal conductivity, and metal components, which have high thermal conductivity, stacked at an angle.

"Having the components at an angle means the direction of heat flow is perpendicular to the electric current. So, heat flows from inside the tube to outside, but the current flows along the length of the tube."

In the future, compact, efficient, and economical electricity generators fueled by factory waste heat or geothermal springs will become possible.

"To make this product practical, we need to manufacture the tubes efficiently, and to make them easily installable in various locations. We aim to produce a commercial version in 2018."

"This product not only serves as a foundation, to help create a beautiful complexion, but it also has the advantage of enabling make-up to be removed without using cleanser."

This product has been achieved by using Veil Action Polymer, a new material unique to Shiseido.

"The Veil Action Polymer itself mixes easily with water, but this polymer also contains an ingredient called a warm water sensor. So, it doesn't easily mix with cold water, but in warm water, it reacts and flakes off easily."

The top picture shows make-up using a regular base, and the bottom picture shows make-up using this newly developed base. Each has been applied in the same way. If you rub warm water, about 40 degrees C, into the make-up, both the base and the cosmetics on top wash off easily.

"Many customers who've previously used cleanser wonder if this product really has washed off completely. But when people check, by wiping their face with cotton wool afterwards, they're often amazed to see there's absolutely no color on the cotton wool. So, we think this product has a really good cleansing effect."

This new product is priced at 1,050 yen (~US$12) including tax. It was released on December 12, through Shiseido's Watashi Plus Web site, and will be available in stores in Japan from early March 2013.

The Ikei Laboratory of Tokyo Metropolitan University Graduate School of System Design is developing virtual body technology that utilizes the five senses. In addition to using conventional audio and video footage , this technology can recreate smells as well as the feel of the wind and of stepping on the ground.

"This exhibition of a virtual body is for the purpose of having a vicarious experience. This technology aims to enable various experiences as if having assumed a different person's body. This exhibition gives people the opportunity to vicariously experience traveling in Milan and running the world record 100-meter dash of famous athlete Usain Bolt."

The exhibition is made up of a 3D monitor,, headphones, a fan to create a breeze and spread scents, a chair that leans back and forth and vibrates partially, and foot pedals. These work together to stimulate the five senses of the subject fixed in his or her seat, creating a virtual vicarious experience.

"The chair will move to provide directional and vestibular sensations. The legs will move to create a sense of actually walking or running and a sense of moving in parallel or up and down, or to create a sensation as if the feet are touching the ground. Extremely large vibrations are felt when you are running, so it is possible to create vibrations from the shins to the knees. When you walk in the city there are various scents and breezes, and these are also recreated.""

In these modern times the population is aging, so Ikei Laboratory would like for seniors who find it burdensome to go outside to be able to experience traveling around the world by using this equipment.

Square Enix has released Agni's Philosophy, a real time computer generated video based on the world of Final Fantasy.

"As for the significance of this video, there is something known as pre-rendered CG video. Compared to the originally generated CG video, this technology recreates CG video in real time without any embellishment whatsoever. "

With the advance of real time CG, Square Enix predicts that video will change to the extent that what has traditionally been perceived as a video game will seem like an actual world.

" Often used in commercials, pre-rendered CG video is a process in which a pre-computed CG image is burned to film and then made into a video. On the other hand with real time CG video, the computer generates each image frame by frame and instant by instant, so it requires a lot of computing power. In one second 30 image frames must be generated, so improving quality was a difficult ordeal, but with the increase in computer performance in recent years, it has come to the point where pre-rendered CG and real time CG are very close. Of course if only computing power is increased it is still difficult to create something realistic, but since we have a lot of expertise in this area, we have used it to our advantage."

By using real time CG, prior to constructing a building or interior, it is possible to confirm the results with a greater sense of reality than before. Square Enix says that real time CG technology can also be used in other fields of application such as automotive and health care.

"Ordinary water-saving showers use less water by having smaller holes, but we wondered if we could save water ergonomically, without losing the cleansing sensation of an ordinary shower. What's special about the Air-In Shower is that it aerates the water to make the droplets larger, so it can save water without making the water volume feel low."

As the Air-In Shower system saves water, it also reduces total energy use. TOTO calculates that, for a family of four, this product saves 15,300 yen (~US$180) in water and gas bills annually, and cuts CO2 emission by 146 kg.

The first shower with this head was released in April 2010, and by October 2012, over 200,000 units had been shipped. The system is currently available in a wide range of TOTO bathroom suites.

"From February 2013, all TOTO fittings and taps will be equipped with the Air-In Shower as standard, and the full line-up will be available. We're also getting ready to sell the Air-In Shower as a stand-alone product from February."

The Air-In Shower costs 5,900 yen (US$70) for just the shower head, and the Air-In Click Shower, which comes with a hose and has a button on the head to turn the flow of water on and off, will be available for 14,400 yen (US$170).

Developed by Ibasei, this system uses a special housing which can increase and then recover the energy of flowing water, without using a head of water like conventional hydropower. It also doesn't require earth-moving work to be installed and can be fixed in place along a river or waterway.

"This machine uses a special housing called a diffuser. In this way, it utilizes special technology to increase the rate of water flow through the vanes that extract energy. That energy turns the vanes, and gets converted to electricity by a generator. Then a controller and battery produce 100 V AC electricity at 50/60 Hz that can be used in the home."

"With water flowing at 2.0 m/s, this system can produce 250 Wh. Taking control losses into account, five of these can deliver about 1 kW, so this system can be used as an emergency power supply."

As this system relies on the natural current of the waterway, its uptime is virtually 100%, and the machine itself is 100% recyclable.

"Basically, this is a source of energy for local consumption, so we're not thinking of electricity sale. It can store power like a charging station, so it can handle EVs as well if charging doesn't have to be fast. We also hope it'll be used to vitalize communities, by powering tourist attractions such as illuminations."

"Currently, we're in the final development and testing stage, and we're thinking about releasing this in spring 2013. The vane size depends on the depth, width, and speed of the river, with larger vanes delivering more power. So we'd like to survey each river to see how much energy is available, and assemble a system to match the customer's output requirements. We expect this 250 W model will be priced about the same as a compact car."

The Riken Brain Science Institute is developing a substitutional reality (SR) system that makes reality and fiction indistinguishable.

The subject wears a head-mounted display (HMD), inside of which he views footage projected inside the HMD. The footage inside the HDM is of reality in real time. By switching the projected footage to something previously recorded in the location where the subject is located, the system can create the illusion that past footage is the reality occurring before his eyes.

"The point is that this is a world created with previously recorded video, so when this footage viewed, if you look up you can see what is above, and if you look down you can see what is below. You can look at whatever direction you please just like when viewing things live. The concept is that by mixing experiences gained through a live camera and experiences projected from the past or from memory, you can make the subject go back and forth freely between these two worlds."

Until now there have been technologies and concepts of using footage shot elsewhere as an experience of some other location, such as with a presentation using video. The substitutional reality system has been developed based on the concept of having an experience on the time axis of the same location.

"If the head-mounted display catches on, there might be commercials that come out that use it. As for its application, it was already used this summer in a performance using SR with a performance group, and in September Sony used it for an event at the Tokyo Game Show. How well this will be used depends on how many people actually gain interest and become involved."

The Riken institute plans to use the system in applications such as a drive simulator, which will make users believe they are actually driving. This will make it possible to experience something slightly different than a typical simulation while viewing a monitor.

"The product is called DLabHook. Sensors are located in the display rack hooks, and when a customer takes an item, the sensor detects it and notifies a PC. Photos of a model wearing the item are then shown on the display."

The PC counts each item and is able to additionally provide data on how many times an item has been picked up. The system can also simply keep a count of whether or not an item has been picked up without putting an image on the display. This information should be useful to the store as marketing data.

"Our biggest issue was that customers didn't know what an item in a package might look like when worn. In particular, for items with designs rather than just solid colors, our female customers are uneasy not knowing what designs are where, what color they are, how big the designs are, etc., and this can be a psychological barrier to them purchasing an item. Seeing the pictures, the customer can see exactly what an item will look like when worn, and is able to purchase with confidence. We think this will provide a valuable service for our customers."

In this trial teamLab is targeting fashion items like tights, but the system can be used for any product that is displayed on hooks. In the future, teamLab is considering broadening its sights to items like snacks, and placing the system in convenience stores.

"When you put on the 3D glasses, the scene appears to be coming towards you. You're looking at a virtual world created in the computer. The most important thing is, things appear life-sized, so the female character appears life-sized before the user's eyes. So, it looks as if she is really in front of you. Also, water is flowing out of the 3D scene. When the user takes a cup, and places it against the water, vibration is transmitted to the cup, making it feel as if water is pouring into the cup."

The glasses have a magnetic sensor, which precisely measures the user's line of sight in 3D. This enables the system to dynamically change the viewpoint in 3D, in line with the viewing position, so the user can look into the scene from all directions.

The tactile element uses the TECHTILE toolkit, a haptic recording and playback tool developed by a research group at Keio University. The sensation of water being poured is recorded using a microphone in advance, and when the position of the cup overlaps the parabolic line of the water, the sensation is reproduced. The position of the cup is measured using an infrared camera.

"Here, we've added tactile as well as visual sensations. Taking things that far makes other sensations arise in the brain. You can really feel that you've gone into a virtual space. All we're doing is making the cup vibrate, but some users even say it feels cold or heavy."

"We're researching how to make users feel sensations that aren't being delivered. We'd like to use that in promotions. For example, this system uses a cute character. Cute characters are said to be two-dimensional, but they can become three-dimensional. We think it's more fun to look at a life-sized character than a little figure. So, we think business utilizing that may emerge."

By using a computer to control the XY position of a magnet under the surface of the table, it implements, on paper, drawing methods utilized in computer graphics.

"I'll place an ordinary ballpoint pen on the table. Now, I can semi-automatically draw a precise circle, or a straight line, or an illustration prepared in advance. In other words, while I draw with the pen, this system lets me switch to accurate rendering like in computer graphics, such as drawing a precise circle, by assisting me with the pen."

When drawing, you can use a regular ballpoint pen with a metal tip, or a digital pen. If you use a ballpoint pen, the position where you start drawing has to correspond with the origin on the XY grid, but if you use a digital pen, the system recognizes its location and you can start drawing from any position.

"The digital pen understands the coordinates of the pen position. So, you can start from where you want, and also save and copy the picture you've drawn. This means you can copy and paste your original drawing repeatedly."

"Apart from drawing figures that require precision, we think this system will have various applications. For example, in distance education, students could learn to draw by feeling the sensation of how a teacher draws."

"Rather than limiting ourselves to pens, we'd like to extend this project to other items used with paper, such as scissors and compasses. We hope to bring in digital technology to assist users with those, too."

With it's ability to display fine details and small characters, it is primarily aimed at professional applications, such as in the design, video, and medical fields.

"When content like this is shown, what would normally take up the whole display only takes up a quarter of this one. So users would only be able to look at that part while working. But with this display, there are four times as many pixels. So, users can do their work while keeping an eye on all this information. That's expected to greatly increase work efficiency. Another feature of this display is, the pixel density is high, which makes it easier to understand content with gradations and edge details."

In addition, due to the high light transmittance of IGZO technology, a specially designed edge-lit LED backlight has been used, reducing the depth of the display to 35mm, and creating an extremely thin profile.

"IGZO technology makes the area of transistors extremely small. So, less light from the pixels is obstructed, which means that the backlight power can be reduced. Lower power means less heat generation. And if there's less heat generation, the monitor can be made very thin. So, IGZO leads to repeated synergy, enabling a display like this to be achieved."

It features one display port, two HDMI ports, build-in speakers and a headphone jack.

"Previously, two or four cables were used to input 4K data. But standardization has progressed, so now, 4K data can be input using a single cable."

"Another feature of IGZO is low power consumption. Here, the picture is refreshed 60 times per second. But with a still picture, the display can be driven intermittently. So, another feature of this monitor is that it can reduce the amount of power used."

The retail price will be approximately US$5,500 (450,000 yen) with a monthly production rate of 1,500 units.

"At first sight, it's hard to understand, but if you watch for about two minutes, I think you'll see how the color gradually changes. We suspected that this kind of transient effect could be achieved by combining calligraphy with the computer."

To change the color of the ink on the paper, the research group did numerous tests, using several kinds of functional ink and conductive materials. In the process, they developed this unique coloring system.

"We're using ink that changes color with temperature. But we've devised a way to change the temperature by printing conductive ink on the back of the paper, and not requiring the previous actuators. This enables us to control the color without losing the look and feel of paper. That's the major point about this technology. We control the color by using that mechanism and a microcontroller."

Currently, the computer is programmed to change the color of four rows of characters at a time, but the characters can also be controlled individually.

"For art on paper, an extensive culture has accumulated, including typesetting, woodcuts, and calligraphy. We'd like to keep expressing ideas on paper, while thinking about how to combine that extensive culture with computers."

Colors can be selected using a software palette and color picker, and multiple lights can be controlled in sequence by swiping the lighting icons.

"This system is for full-color LED studio lighting, with a very large number of control channels. So, we're using this lighting control panel, to make the system easy to understand."

"You use this system by setting and recording colors, which are then reproduced."

In this demonstration, the system controls the LED studio lights, newly developed by Toshiba Lighting.

"In a conventional system, the studio lights are halogen lights. This system is really compact so it fits in the space occupied by a halogen light. Studio lights tend to collect dust, so if fans are used to cool the lights, they might get clogged with dust and stop working. But these lights are cool naturally, so the system can even be used in places where dust is a concern."

"This panel is just a prototype model. We'd like to release a type that makes color LED lighting easier to use, by combining it with a conventional control panel."

"For industrial applications, this product has recently been used in many automotive-related situations, but it is also used in the steel, electronics, and flat-panel display industries. Typical manufacturing processes end with a visual inspection; we can fully automate that. Our sensor has high speed and high precision. It operates on the same principles as the human eye, but with 100 times the precision. It can perform automatic inspections with 1,000 times the precision of conventional CCDs. In principle, it emulates the movement of cells in the human eye; your eye vibrates up and down 80 times per second, and we emulate that vibration using electronic circuits."

Conventional CCD-based equipment has had difficulty detecting color variations. By applying the principles of human vision, Technos has achieved a sensor with 100 times the precision of human eyes, making it possible to detect color variation.

" Color variation is a problem in a variety of settings; this sensor is used in industrial applications, but is also used in maintenance applications such as inspecting highways or oil storage tanks. This technology for rapidly picking up small details will be even more widely used in the future, and we plan to develop those applications."

Pricing for the minimum configuration starts at an equivalent of $240,000, and runs up to between $470,000 and $730,000, depending on the particular specifications. Technos estimates that about 240 companies listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange will need equipment with this level of precision. The company aims to sell about 10 units per year to the automobile, steel, semiconductor, and liquid crystal industries. Technos has been awarded patents in 14 countries around the world. With inquiries coming from foreign countries, it is looking to expand overseas as well.

Cocorobo Navi can be used to visually map out your house creating a floor plan, letting the robot know where objects are placed, so you can directly specify where the robot should go.

Sharp also unveiled a controller, which connects to the Cocorobo via it's USB port, and can be used to control a range of household devices. Currently, Sharp TVs, air conditioning systems, LED lights and their Slim Ion Fan can all be controlled via the smartphone app, with support for competing companies products to be rolled out in future updates.

The new, smaller Cocorobo, the RX-V60, is 29.9cm in diameter, 4.7cm less than the current model, but with similar performance.

It features the power vacuum system, which can suck up dust from the gaps in wood floors, and due to it's reduced size, can comfortably maneuver around small spaces such as in between the legs of dining room chairs.

It will go on sale in Japan on the 13th of December for approximately 75,000 yen (US$900) and Sharp will manufacture 8,000 units per month.

For this lens, Fujifilm has upgraded its optical shake compensation, to further increase the precision of correction for camera shake, which tends to occur at long focal lengths.

"This lens has an extremely wide working range, from 8.4 mm to 832 mm. It's ideal for not just sports like baseball, but also activities such as theater, golf, and skating. This lens is easy to use in all kinds of places."

"We've substantially overhauled this lens, including its internal configuration. By increasing the shake compensation range, we've made the correction work better even for large vibrations. For high-frequency vibrations, too, this system eliminates annoying effects."

This lens also comes with a 16 bit encoder, for high-resolution output of lens data such as zoom and focus settings.

"Nowadays, a lot of virtual content is used in live sports coverage. This lens outputs data enabling the virtual content to follow the camera when it swings out or zooms in."

Combining a 99x zoom with high optical performance, including high resolution, permeability, and color reproduction, has been achieved by using cutting-edge optical simulation technology.

"A feature of TV lenses is powerful zoom capability. We've had technology for developing such lenses for a long time. There aren't many lenses available with a 99x or 101x zoom ratio. Other companies can't compete with Fujifilm when it comes to technology for optical design, or technology for grinding large lenses. We'd like to develop new products that can handle customers' needs, based on our technologies."

A version that enables lossless compression has been included in the Venus probe Akatsuki. In addition, Hayabusa 2, a planetary explorer scheduled for launch in 2014, will have both lossless and lossy versions.

"In this demo with a moving car, the side camera captures 120 frames per second. On the right side of the screen, the pictures are compressed and restored using StarPixel in real time at 120 fps. It seems to be handled easily, but compressing, restoring, and displaying pictures at 120 fps on an ordinary PC can't be done unless the processing load is low."

In software compression tests using color images, compared with JPEG2000, compression speed was 10-40 times higher for a similar compression ratio, and expansion speed was 6-13 times higher.

This technology is also being used in a road image gathering system by the NEXCO West Japan Group.

"For expressway maintenance, roads are photographed at high speed - tens of frames per second. Until now, the pictures have been stored without compression. But now, using StarPixel, we can take pictures and store them on PC in real time, reducing the amount of image data by about half. This means we can photograph double the length of road in the same time. This is one example of how StarPixel's advantages are emerging."

StarPixel is provided as a standard Windows DLL, enabling it to be quickly embedded in various current image processing systems. NEC aims to sell 10,000 licenses during the next three years.

"AR-MAPS supports the iPhone. On the iPhone 5 (recommended models are iPhone 4S/5), you can choose between standard maps and Google Maps. Regarding Version 1.4, the first point is, this version supports English. Also, with AR-MAPS, you can switch between AR and Map modes by changing the way you hold the iPhone."

Compared with the first version, the new version has features to reduce battery consumption, such as powering the camera down when not in AR mode. Also, if the iPhone is fixed in place, such as in a car, the mode can be set not to change if the phone's orientation is changed.

"AR-MAPS basically has three modes. In Map mode, it can be used as an ordinary planar map. For example, you can find out what things are near where you are, and you can look for restaurant or hotel information. In List mode, when you search lots of pins come down, and you can see all your search results. Those features are used to make the app function as a map. Additionally, if you get lost, you can actually point the device at your surroundings, to check them out using AR mode. If you still lose your way, you can even send your destination to friends, so they can help you out."

Crossfader plans to enable AR-MAPS to support devices other than the iPhone and to add non-free service options. The company also plans to improve the information available for many locations outside Japan.

"Basically we would like to create devices which would allow people to feel embodied, in the body of a humanoid robot. To do so we are trying to develop techniques from Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) so that we can read the peoples thoughts and then try to see how far we can go from interpreting brain waves signals, to transform them into actions to be done by the robot."

The interface uses flashing symbols to control where the robot moves and how it interacts with the environment around it.

"Basically what you see is how with one pattern, called the SSVEP, which is the ability to associate flickering things with actions, it's what we call the affordance, means that we associate actions with objects and then we bring this object to the attention of the user and then by focussing their intention the user is capable of inducing which actions they would like with the robot, and then this is translated."

"He is wearing a cap which is embedded with electrodes, and then we read the electric activities of the brain that are transferred to this PC, and then there is a signal processing unit which classifies what the user is thinking, and then as you see here there are several icons that can be associated with tasks or you can recognize an object that will flicker automatically, and with different frequencies we can recognize which frequency the user is focussing their attention on and then we can select this object and since the object is associated with a task then it's easy to instruct the robot which task it has to perform."

"And the applications targeted are for tetraplegics or paraplegics to use this technology to navigate using the robot, and for instance, a paraplegic patient in Rome would be able to pilot a humanoid robot for sightseeing in Japan."

This service is provided in Japan via NEC's cloud computing technology, only requires a regular PC and video camera, and is available for approximately $880 (70,000 yen) per month per store.

"This service is mainly intended for retailers that have several stores. It provides retailers with customer attributes based on facial images. That information is helpful for sales strategies."

This service can also detect repeat customers across multiple stores. It uses a face detection and comparison engine developed by NEC, called NeoFace.

"NeoFace ranked top in tests by the USA's NIST. Here, we're using this high-precision facial recognition technology in a marketing service. But NEC is also developing various other services, such as intruder surveillance, using facial recognition technology."

Face data is encrypted in real time and converted into characteristic data sets for analysis. Because face data can't be restored from characteristic data, there's no risk that face data will be inadvertently disclosed.

"Retailers can find out how many customers visit their stores at each time of day, and what customers' attributes are. This enables them to fine-tune their sales strategies. For example, the data could be used to run campaigns targeting men and women in their 20s."

"First, the system looks at the stave, then at the notes, then at the position of the notes, to determine the high notes. In addition, it directly reads words such as piano or guitar. The computer automatically recognizes them, and changes the instrument. Also, for example, if this melody is in F minor, rather than C major, when the system reads the letters Fm, it has the ability to add four flats."

The sheet music image is analyzed using the OpenCV library in combination with a unique algorithm. While the play head is above a note it will continue to sound that key, and in the case of stringed instruments, if you move it up and down it can make the pitch fluctuate. Also, the size of the notes determines the volume level and it can handle chords as well.

"This idea arose when we were talking with music publishing companies. Until now, sheet music was really only used by placing it on a stand to play an instrument. But it could be played by computer in real time, and given various expressions. We think a system like this will make it easier for children and beginners to learn about musical notation."

"Lots of people use computers to compose music, but it's been found through research that paper works well at the initial stage, for deciding what kind of composition, or what kind of melody. In that regard, I feel that this system is very effective as a composition support system."

"We wondered just how high a resolution we could achieve using our LTPS technology, so we decided to make a world-class display. As a result, this display has the world's highest resolution of 651ppi."

"The resolution of the human eye is said to be about 300ppi. A 5 inch Full HD display has higher resolution, so it may be close to the limit of the human eye. At that level, sensitivity becomes relevant. So for example, objects that appear three-dimensional look extremely clear. We think that, if we give displays even higher resolution, images may look more realistic."

With a pixel pitch of only 39μm, this display is free of artifacts, such as jagged lines and characters, which can be seen in displays which use larger pixels. The small pixel pitch also allows for images to be displayed with a resolution comparable to that of film-based photographs, and internal studies have shown that the high resolution has benefits for the human visual perception system.

From now on, Japan Display will consider specific applications and products, in line with emerging needs.

A system that makes the backseat of a car look transparent is currently being developed by a research group at Keio University.

The system applies optical camouflage technology, using recursive reflection, to vehicles. The technology was developed by Professor Masahiko Inami. This system has been optimized to make the backseat look transparent from the driver's viewpoint.

"The main feature of our system is, it makes things look as if you can really see through them, rather than giving an indirect view of what's behind. For example, with a system that shows things on a monitor, you can understand your car's position and where any obstacles are. But the point about our system is, it gives a sense of depth, by making things appear where they actually should be when you look back."

In this system, video from the rear cameras is projected onto the backseat using a half-mirror. The video is processed by a computer to make things appear actual-sized, making the driver feel as if the back seat really is transparent.

"The screen is made of a special material called a recursive reflector. Optically, it has an interesting characteristic because it reflects light back in the direction of incidence. When we thought of applying it to automobiles, the advantage was, it gives a clear image in daylight, rather than in a dark place like this."

Currently, only the backseat has been made transparent, but ultimately, the aim is to make the car's interior completely transparent through 360 degrees, with no blind spots.

"Currently, the system shows one point clearly. But from now on, we'd like to keep increasing the number of viewpoints. We plan to enable the system to be easily used by anyone."

"We're discussing the possibility of collaboration with automakers. There are lots of issues in this research, so we'd like to collaborate with a variety of businesses. Regarding a commercial version, we hope we'll be able to offer one in about five years."

"Ordinary liquid crystal displays have a backlight, and produce the picture by using a liquid crystal shutter. But this panel doesn't have a backlight. It reflects light from above, and the liquid crystal shutter is used to produce a monochrome image. At the same time, color filters are used, to give a color picture."

"This display has what's called a Light Control Layer. When the display simply reflects light as usual, it looks metallic, like a mirror. When we add this layer, the display collects light to some extent, in the direction of the user's eyes, making it look similar to paper. But the light returns efficiently in the direction of the eyes. By developing this layer, we've achieved good color, which couldn't be done with ordinary digital paper. This display can show video, so we think it'll lead to new solutions and applications."

Japan Display has developed two versions. The first is highly reflective, with a reflection rate of 40%, and 5% coverage of the NTSC color gamut. The second has high color purity with 36% coverage of the NTSC color gamut, but its reflection rate is 28%, making it slightly dimmer. Both types have a contrast ratio of 30:1, and power consumption of 3 mW when showing still pictures.

"This display is a reflective type, but as it uses liquid crystal, it has electric circuits built in. The circuits can retain signals. This feature is called Memory in Pixels. With a still picture, once the data has been written, it can be retained, so power consumption is extremely low."

"Here, we're presenting two displays, a conventional version and a type with high color gamut. For the conventional version, the technology has already been proven, so we can mass-produce this right away if customers require it. The type with high color gamut still has a few issues which we need to overcome. But we would like to discuss this type with customers when the technical issues are sorted out."

This simulator can represent the complex pulsation of the heart. It is being developed by a group including members from National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center and Riken.

Until now, simulating heart pulsation has required huge amounts of computing, done by supercomputers or offline. But this new system makes it possible to visualize heart pulsation on a notebook PC in real time, by applying computer graphics technology.

"Previously, simulation methods were based on mechanics. Our method is completely new because we use technology called shape matching, based on shape constraints. To put it simply, we divide a heart model into 7,000 parts, and make each part contract independently. The main point about this method is that it calculates the shape of the heart overall by minimizing contradictions between the contracted parts."

"The 3D heart model can be created by extracting regions from a patient's CT scan. The course of the cardiac muscle fibers has already been designed. The timing of contraction can be specified through this graph. Normally, the atrium contracts first, then the ventricles."

Because the heart model runs in real time, it's possible to deform the heart by applying tension, and to observe cross-sections. Additionally, heart attacks can be simulated by stopping the motion and painting a region. This also makes it possible to create virtual heart disease.

"First of all, we'd like to utilize this simulator in clinical practice. Its primary purpose is to help physicians and patients communicate with each other. Another purpose is to help train physicians. We'd also like to use it simply for elementary education."

The remaining issues that need to be overcome include, reducing the complexity of creating individual patients heart models, as well as finding ways to handle complex patterns such as ventricular fibrillation.

"Japan Display was established in April, by the three companies. During the six months since then, technology developers from each company have worked together, to see what new technologies we could create. The result is this Innovation Vehicle."

The three versions that have been developed consist of: a 5-inch Full HD, 438ppi smartphone display; a 7-inch, 2560x1600 pixel WQXGA 431ppi tablet display; and a 12.2-inch, 1,920 x 720 car display. These displays feature key technologies for forthcoming applications, including WhiteMagic for power saving, Pixel Eyes integrated touch panels, and IPS-NEO, which is the newest IPS technology, featuring a wide viewing angle and high contrast.

Additionally, the smartphone display is ultra-thin, with the module being just 0.96 mm thick, with borders measuring just 1mm.

"WhiteMagic technology reduces backlight power consumption, by using white pixels as well as red, green, and blue. In a smartphone, the backlight accounts for about half of the power consumed. For the panel overall, power consumption is reduced by about 40%. If you keep the backlight on, power consumption is the same, but the picture is really bright. So, you get a panel that's really easy to view, even outdoors."

"With Pixel Eyes technology, the touch-panel is built in, rather than being attached from outside. The structure becomes simple, so it's easy to make the display thin. Such a thin display is very sensitive, so we've utilized that to enable writing with a pen. Currently, finger operation is the norm, but we'd like to provide a pen-drawing solution next. This is what we're presenting here."

"Finally, here we've enhanced the design, by making the panel curved, and rounding its edges, so it could fit into a car dashboard. We're using this design-oriented version to present a car display prototype as well."

"We don't yet have a timeline for commercial versions, but since we've reached this stage, we'd like to show these to customers, and get to work on sales. We hope to start mass-producing these displays next year."

At the University of Tokyo, the Hirose Tanikawa Group has developed an AR system that can manipulate the user's feeling of having eaten enough, by changing how big the food appears.

This system features a head-mount display with a camera, and uses image processing to make food look bigger than it actually is. The size of the food in the hands can be changed in real time, while keeping the size of the hands constant. The system creates a natural image by using a deformation algorithm, to alter the shape of the hands in line with the size of the food.

"This technology can stimulate a feeling of having eaten enough visually. We've found that when food looks bigger, you feel full right away, but when it looks small, you don't feel full even if you eat a lot."

"In the US, obesity is a huge problem, so there's a lot of research on obesity. For example, it's been shown that the amount people eat varies depending on the size of plates and packages. As part of such studies, we've been able to confirm that the amount eaten actually changes when the size of the food does."

"So far, we've done tests involving 12 subjects, under quite strict experimental conditions, to see if the amount eaten actually changed. When food was magnified 1.5 times, the amount eaten decreased by about 10%. When it was made to look two-thirds its actual size, the amount eaten increased by about 15%."

"Currently with this head-mount display, the picture is chroma-keyed using a bluescreen. But we'd like to make this system usable in the home, by using smarter image-processing technology, so it could be used for any food on various kinds of tables. In the future, we hope to develop technology that encourages healthy eating habits without the need to think. For example, high-calorie foods that shouldn't be eaten much could be automatically magnified by the computer, and foods that should be eaten in larger amounts could be made to look smaller so people will eat more."

Pinch is an interface which connects the displays from multiple touch devices together. It is currently under development by a research group at the Tokyo University of Technology.

When the user places a thumb and index finger on two adjacent screens and pinches, the screens link up. The screens can be lined up freely, whether vertical or horizontal, and the pictures can be matched up if they're misaligned.

The connected devices share each other's position and screen size via Wi-Fi. With this system, it's even possible to connect devices with different-sized screens, such as iPhones and iPads.

"This Pinch interface we've developed is used to create applications that make devices react when they've both been pinched, so they work together. In the case of a graphics application, when the devices recognize they've been pinched, they can show the whole picture as if it's on one screen."

"You could use Pinch to develop a variety of apps. For example, with a music app, if you connect devices horizontally, you could keep playing music for a long time."

"People probably own just one of these devices each. So, I think people could communicate in fun ways, by getting together with friends and putting their devices next to each other. In the case of advertising, I think you could create applications where people put their devices together to talk about the products."

"We've presented Pinch at conferences, but we haven't shown it to the public yet. We'd like people to use this system to develop apps. So, we're offering Pinch to developers and are basically just asking them to do something with it. We've just started several projects like that."

At the University of Tokyo, the Naemura Group is developing paper computing technology, which can automatically erase, copy and print hand-drawn sketches on paper.

As well as using a camera and computer, this system uses a laser and UV light, making it possible to work directly with the hand-drawn sketches using the computer.

So for example, the user can leave only the edges of hand-written characters, creating 3D like text, or draw a figure by hand and color it in automatically.

"This is one technology for truly turning ordinary paper into a display. Until now, it's been possible to project things onto paper and use it as a screen, or import things drawn on paper to PC by using a digital pen. But the first method uses light, so the results can only be seen in the dark, and with the second method, even if you can import things, you can't access them on paper from the computer."

The pen for sketching uses Frixion thermo-sensitive ink, which becomes transparent when heated, and sketches drawn by the Frixion pens are lit from behind by a laser to erase them. The ink can be erased to a high level of accuracy, at intervals of 0.024 mm.

The paper is coated with a photochromic material, which changes color when it absorbs light, and a DMD-driven UV projector with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels is used to print the image onto the paper.

"The idea is to do computing on paper. But in the future, we'd like to enable several people to create one document, like with Google Docs, actually using real-world paper while far apart. We'd also like to enhance the rendering that's possible through collaboration between people and computers. For example, by giving more detailed access than you get by hand, and enabling you to draw large areas at once."

"Aura Pack has three features. The first concerns the fact that vegetables have a water content of at least 90%. As long as water isn't lost, they stay crisp and fresh. If vegetables are wrapped in this film, it's hard for water to evaporate. The second feature of this film is, it controls respiration. Like people, vegetables take in oxygen and release CO2. The more congenial the environment, the more stable this process is, making it harder for vegetables to get bruised. In a pack, it's possible to create a congenial environment. The third feature of Aura Pack is, it resists condensation, so it's hard for moisture to form. As I mentioned earlier, if vegetables don't lose water, it's hard for water droplets to form on the film."

Until now, films have included stay-fresh measures such as holes. But Aura Pack works on vegetables through its special processing, making it hard for them to lose water.

"In supermarkets, especially after last year's earthquake, the summer temperature setting was increased from 25 to 28 C degrees. A three-degree increase in temperature makes vegetables very prone to bruising. Vegetables that had been sold loose can be given a longer shelf life by wrapping them in this stay-fresh film. Discard rates are reduced substantially. So retailers are using Aura Pack as well."

Leafy vegetables like spinach can be kept fresh for 2-3 days longer with Aura Pack. In long-term storage, persimmons sealed in the film last for 3-4 months. It can also be used to adjust shipments, so persimmons picked in November can be eaten in April.

"Aura Pack is useful when exporting value-added fruits. Shipping by sea takes at least two weeks to Asia and 3-4 weeks to Europe. Fruits and vegetables are inevitably vulnerable. So, using this stay-fresh film makes it possible to export them by sea at low cost."

"For kneading the scalp while the hair is dry, people use dry head spas. So, we've added a robot hand we'd already developed for washing hair, and developed this, as a model for seeing how such therapy might feel."

To start the dry head spa, you first adjust the head fitting, and record your hairline position. Then, the robot hand applies slight pressure to recover a 3D scan of your head.

A 3D tracking mechanism enables the 24 fingers to follow the shape of your head automatically, with the arms expanding and contracting, to make sure they reach the center of your scalp. As well as gently kneading your scalp, this machine can be used in conjunction with a massage chair to give a full-body experience.

"We'd like to develop this hand unit further, in a variety of ways. For example, it could be attached to a bathtub or a desk."

"We've only just created this, so we don't yet have a timeline for releasing it. We'd like to use this version for fine-tuning the technology, to check that it provides optimal sensation and movement."

"Sakura's mission is to go into the underground levels of nuclear power plants. It's very compact, as it has to go down stairways just 70 cm wide, and turn around on landings that are also 70 cm."

"Coolant water is leaking from somewhere inside the reactor, because no matter how water much is pumped in, the level doesn't stay above 60 cm. But unless that space can be filled with water, the melted-down fuel rods can't be removed safely. So, Sakura's first job is to find out where the cracks are."

Sakura will use its camera to look for cracks, but as the camera can't see everywhere, Sakura also has a directional microphone to detect the sound of water.

An additional obstacle is that the stairway below ground is steeper than that above. So, Sakura also has improved climbing performance to handle steep gradients.

"The part above ground slopes at 40 degrees, and that below ground at 42 degrees. This difference of just two degrees is very hard for a robot to handle. What's more, Sakura has to climb down, and then climb up, to the top of the suppression pool. That stairway slopes at 53 degrees."

To minimize the operator's exposure to radiation, Sakura has an automatic extension and retraction device for communication cables, and a plug-in charging system. Sakura is also made from specially selected materials, with the aim of making it maintenance-free for three years.

"To make the robot radiation-hard, the previous model, Rosemary, has a 2mm aluminum plate on the bottom, but Sakura has a 5mm stainless steel plate. Radiation is expected to be high in the underground areas, so the bottom surface is designed to provide at least some shielding."

"We've only just got Sakura to move, so for the next month, we'll be testing its mobility and durability. Once that's done, we'll test its ability to carry the necessary equipment on a stairway. Then, we plan to fine-tune Sakura by testing it with TEPCO."

Previously, the company developed flexible, all-rubber touch sensors using Smart Rubber. This all-rubber speaker arose from the company's new line of development: materials for artificial muscles.   Q. "Until now, thin speakers have been piezoelectric and film types, as used in smartphones and tablets. But those don't produce low-frequency sounds. By contrast, the rubber speaker we've developed does produce low frequencies. It's the first speaker of this kind in the world."

This speaker consists of a piece of non-conductive rubber sandwiched between two rubber electrodes. When a voltage is applied between the rubber electrodes, static electricity is generated, causing the sheet to expand. Sound waves are generated by the repeated expansion and restorative force of the rubber sheet.

"Of course, technology is needed to make rubber conduct electricity. What our technology does is give the rubber a uniform surface charge. Another thing needed is insulating rubber between the pieces of conductive rubber. Each type of rubber has to be flexible, and the insulating rubber mustn't change its resistance when it expands. That's a key technology in this speaker."

"Wearing headphones is a bit of a hassle, so we'd like to use the flexibility of this speaker to build it into chairs and the like. That way, people could enjoy audio in open settings."

"Currently, we don't have a specific product roadmap. We'd like to think about needs and applications together with potential customers, including those at CEATEC. Then, we'd like to turn this speaker into a commercial product."

The Multimodal Commander is a hemispherical device with a capacitive sensor and a near-infrared sensor. It can be operated intuitively not only by touch, but also by moving your hand around it. It also supports gesture input, using the space at the top of the device.

"The system has to detect whether the user is really reaching out to use it, or is just moving their hand nearby. This detection is done by creating a kind of curtain with infrared. If a hand goes inside the curtain, and gets close to the Commander, the system deduces that the hand is approaching to use it."

On the other hand, the Haptic Shifter, a next-generation shift lever, enables the shift gate and load settings to be changed, in line with the user's preferences.

"Haptic technology means we can create a variety of sensations. This device can change the shift gate from I to H shaped. It can also guide the user automatically when changing from low gear to second."

In addition, those operations can be predicted, through the behavior-predicting IR sensor. This enables the device guidance capability to be called up before a device is touched. This is achieved using optical flow to detect hand motion vectors. The system can also guess who the user is, so it can provide different menus for the driver's and passenger's seats.

"We'd like to release this in 5 to 6 years. We'd like to market it not only for operating all kinds of equipment, but also as a way of making cars adapt to people. That would make cars fun to drive, by combining entertainment with driving."

"Currently, if you see a TV commercial and want to get more information afterwards, the main way is to enter keywords in search sites. But with this technology, if you see a commercial that interests you, you can get more information just by pointing your smartphone at the TV."

The same thing can be done using visible light communication, digital watermarks, and QR codes. But those all require special receivers, and because they embed noise in the picture, they may affect its quality. Also, such items can't be read unless the camera is close to them.

This new technology overcomes those issues, by combining the advantages of visible light and digital watermarks.

"This isn't visible to the eye, but the whole screen becomes lighter and darker, and the smartphone camera receives information by detecting that. In this demo, 16 bits of information are embedded each second, and the same information is embedded repeatedly during the same commercial."

"We originally developed this technology as a security measure, for content protection. So one feature is, it can handle compression and changes in image size."

"All the processing in this technology can be done using software. So, for smartphone apps, we're thinking of providing our platform for embedding the information."

The JWX-2 applies PAS technology from assisted bicycles to wheelchairs. The electric assist works in line with the load on the wheelchair's hand rims, enabling it to operate smoothly on slopes, where the load is high, and on carpets.

"We currently offer a unit called the JW-II, but this one differs in two main ways. In the previous version, the motor was pillbox-shaped and stuck out, so there were some cases where it couldn't be attached to the wheelchair. Here, we've made the pillbox motor flat, so the surface it's attached by is flat. This means the JW-II can be attached to virtually any wheelchair."

This newly developed, flat AC servomotor also enables the axle position to be adjusted in the up-down and front-back directions. Plus, it's more efficient, which increases the travel range by about 20%.

"We previously offered three types, to match the user's physical condition. For example, users could choose Type A or B depending on their grip strength. But this new unit can be connected to a PC, enabling the user to create settings with software called JW Smart Tune. For example, hardly anyone has exactly the same strength in their left and right arms. So, people who are weaker on the left can get stronger assistance on the left, enabling them to move straight ahead."

The assist is switched on and off simply by pressing a button. Additionally, the left and right buttons can be used to set different assist levels, which can be used on steep and gentle slopes.

"We'll be releasing this in spring 2013, as we're still developing it. We haven't decided the price yet, but it'll be based on those of current models."

This robot can make a variety of movements, using its four-wheel drive and five axes. Normally, it rolls along on its wheels, but if there's a step or ditch, it can get over the obstacle by using its wheels as legs. All the user needs to do is tell it which direction to go, using a joystick. The robot automatically assesses the surrounding terrain and moves appropriately.

Also, when moving on uneven ground, the robot controls the seat to make sure it remains level.

"The robot has sensors on its feet, to see if there's anything nearby. It can also see how far it is from a step. It actually has various sensors, and it uses them in combination, to assess how big a step is. Even if the sensors are in error, and the wheels touch an obstacle, the wheel torque can vary, so the robot can use that as back-up, too. In this way, the robot can detect the road surface reliably."

"If a sensor detects a step, the robot calculates whether it can lift that leg. It can't raise its wheels right away, so the steering system at the rear makes preparatory motions to gain stability. When the wheels can be raised stably, the robot lifts its legs."

In addition, this robot can line its wheels up, and extend stabilizers to the left and right, enabling it to turn a circle. This makes it easy to reverse, even in a narrow space.

"We were particular about using wheels, because this kind of vehicle will mostly move on ordinary paved surfaces. The most efficient way of getting around on paved surfaces is to use wheels, like a car. So, this robot mainly uses wheels, but the wheels can become legs."

"For now, we're presenting this system and form as a concept, and the motion has mostly been worked out. So, we're at the stage where we can show this robot to the world. In the next phase, we'll get a variety of people to try it, so we can fine-tune the user experience."

"There are two cameras under the display. They track the motion of the eyes, to calculate where the user's looking."

"For example, if you want to tap something in the browser, first, you look at that part, then you tap anywhere to select it. To zoom in, you look at the relevant place, then you scroll anywhere, to zoom in on that part."

Because the size and motion of people's eyes varies, i beam needs to be calibrated before use.

If you look at the same place for about a second, that place is selected. So, if you look at the bottom left in your book reader, you can turn the page, and in your browser, you can scroll in the direction where you are looking.

"Currently, we're not planning to commercialize this system. But we're exhibiting this prototype to see if any issues arise. After that, we'd like to think about developing it commercially."

This system stores calligraphy movements by using a brush where the handle and tip are separate. The two parts are connected, with the head as the master system and the tip as the slave system. Characters can be written by handling the device in the same way as an ordinary brush.

Unlike conventional motion capture systems, a feature of this one is, it can record and reproduce the force applied to the brush as well as the sensation when you touch something. Until now, passing on traditional skills has depended on intuition and experience. It's hoped that this new system will enable skills to be learned more efficiently.

"What's new is, there's a motor attached to the brush, so while the person's moving, the motion and force are recorded as digital data using the motor. What's more, with this technology, the recorded motion and force can be reproduced anytime, anywhere using the motor."

"We've succeeded in using the motor to record the movements of a veteran calligrapher, and to actually reproduce them. So, I think we've demonstrated that, to record and reproduce human skills, it's necessary to record not just motions, but also how strongly those motions are made."

Looking at the graph of position and brush pressure, the position of the master system and the motion of the slave system are consistent, and also, the pressure shows the opposite waveform. This shows that the law of action and reaction is being artificially implemented between the master and slave systems.

"Currently, multimedia only uses audiovisual information. But we'd like to bring force, action, and motion into IT, by reproducing this kind of physical force via a network, or storing skills on a hard disk for downloading. So, with this new form of IT, you'd be able to access skill content."

Utsushite Honyaku is a commercial version of a service that's been available as a trial version. As well as menus, the new service can now handle signs. It works between Japanese and four languages: English, Korean and both simplified and traditional Chinese.

"For example, suppose you visit Korea, and you can't read signs in Korean at all. You can start up this app, select the Korean dictionary, and use it just by pointing your smartphone's camera at the writing you can't read. The translation is shown over the Korean text, so when you use this app, it feels as if you're looking at a sign in Japanese."

"This service doesn't use cloud translation, so instead, the app itself and the dictionary are downloaded to the phone. This means it can be used for free, without having to access the mobile network."

The user can choose two translation modes. In one mode, the whole translation is superposed on the actual picture, and in the other, it's shown line by line in a separate window.

This service can also translate from Japanese into the four languages. So, it's helpful not only for Japanese Docomo users, but also for foreign Android smartphone users visiting Japan.

The Hands-Free Videophone captures the user's face with three cameras in each of the left and right sides of the frames. The video sent to the other person is created by combining the pictures with a pre-rendered 3D model of the users face.

"Each camera has 720p resolution, and a fish-eye lens, with a 180-degree field of view. This is the High Definition picture currently being captured in real time. If you look at the face, you can see it's really distorted, because the fish-eye lens is so close. The distortion is compensated, and the picture is combined with a 3D model of the person in the computer. Currently, priority is given to the part around the eyes. As you can see when the man closes his eyes, the eyelids and the corners of the eyes appear quite realistic. Such a level of realism is hard to achieve with models like CG-based avatars, where parts are overlaid on the face."

Currently, the resolution isn't high enough to handle the mouth and upper body parts of the picture, so those are based on CG. The orientation of the face is based on six-axis sensor data, and the motion of the mouth is based on audio data from the microphone.

There's also a camera on the back of the device, so more realistic video calls can be achieved by combining the person's image with the actual background.

"So, in the picture the other person receives, it looks as if there's a virtual camera taking pictures from in front of this person's face. In the current prototype, we haven't yet built in a HMD. But we'd like to do that in the future, to make it feel as if the picture of the other person is floating before your eyes. We think it could be possible to make it seem as if you're having a face-to-face dialog anywhere, even in an empty outdoor space."

If the camera resolution is increased dramatically, to 4K or 8K, it'll be possible to increase the amount of actual video used. Ultimately, the aim is for most of the face to be recreated from actual video.

"There are touch sensors on the sides of the phone, and they detect how strongly you're gripping and where. The values detected are used by the UI. For example, if you grip the whole phone, you can lock it. Also, if you hold it in your left hand, you can't press the browser icon at the bottom right, but for the icons you can't press, you can grip instead. The idea is to make using the phone with one hand more convenient."

In Grip UI, operations are determined by combinations of where, in what order, and how strongly you grip. In this demonstration, you grip the top to open the browser, and you can grip the center to click the back button. To start the camera, you hold it horizontally as if you're using a camera, and grip four points on the edges.

"The browser is opened just by gripping, but the gripping action doesn't conflict with the touchscreen. So, by using grip plus touch, you get different shortcuts. It's like using the Control key on a computer. If you swipe up after gripping, you can open bookmarks, and if you swipe to the right, you can launch the Schedule app."

"The sensor itself responds in milliseconds, so it doesn't feel slow. But if it's too fast, people may find the interface too sensitive to use easily. So, we think we need to adjust that aspect further, to make it feel just right."

"As a future development, Grip UI will also be usable instead of physical buttons, which this phone doesn't have. With physical buttons, you can't see how strongly you're pressing, so you don't get continuous changes. We think sensors of this type could replace physical buttons, so we could create smartphones with a clean, attractive form."

The EV used in this demo, the NSC-2015, contains technology for recognizing the environment around the car using all-round cameras, and a remote monitoring system using 4G communication. When the driver gets out at the entrance to a parking lot, they can use a smartphone to instruct the car to park automatically. Then, the car automatically drives to the parking area, finds a space, and parks.

"In the case of a shopping center, it's said that people wait, on average, ten minutes to get into the parking lot. We're giving this demonstration of an automatic parking system to show how things could be made a bit more convenient in such time-consuming, stressful situations."

To retrieve the car from the parking lot, the driver can summon it using a smartphone. The car detects the driver's position, and drives there automatically.

"As this is an indoor demo, we can't use GPS. The system is receiving parking lot information from the smartphone via the cloud. When the car actually drives, it will recognize white lines or roads using its cameras, and find an empty space in the parking lot."

The remote monitoring system can also function as a security camera. So if the car's cameras detect suspicious movement nearby, it can notify the driver's smartphone automatically.

"Technologically, we've established various aspects of this system. Overall, though, we think it'll take some time to become practical. We've called the car the NSC-2015 to signify that we think such vehicles may be achieved within 2-3 years. We think this is a technology of the fairly near future."

"Currently, non-contact charging systems are technically possible, and we think they'll be used in cars in the near future. To utilize them, parking must be done precisely, so if a person's driving, it may take several attempts to get the car on the plate. If this system can be used to park in one go, we think progress may be made with non-contact charging. So, we think this system could lead to the implementation of a variety of technologies."

This robot has a compact, cylindrical body, so it can turn round in small spaces, as well as folding arms, which can do tasks such as fetching objects and opening curtains.

The robot is controlled easily, by using the touch interface on a smartphone or speech recognition. It can also be controlled remotely by a caregiver, while communicating with the user.

"For robots to operate in ordinary living spaces, the most important factor is their size. So, in developing this one, we've prioritized making it compact."

"The picture from the robot's camera is shown on the user's tablet. We've achieved a capability where, if there's a dropped object in the picture, the user can tap it, and the robot automatically picks the object up. As for fetching things, it's currently very difficult for robots to find and bring back objects in ordinary environments. So, for now, we've achieved a system where the user puts their favorite things in specific boxes, and registers the boxes, so the robot can automatically fetch things from there."

The robot's height can vary between 83cm and 1.3m, so it can reach things in high places. When the robot picks something up, it can also use a suction mechanism, so it can handle thin objects like paper as well.

"Regarding capabilities, we actually surveyed people with disabilities, together with the Japan Service Dog Association, to find out what capabilities users want a robot to have. The results showed that there's a strong need for robots that can pick up dropped objects, fetch wanted objects, and communicate remotely, to report an emergency, for example. So the first thing we've done in developing this robot is, we've given it those three capabilities."

"We've done a trial with Yokohama Rehabilitation Center, and we've already found some issues that need thinking about. So, the first thing we'll do now is, we'll implement capabilities to handle those. For example, people would like the robot to operate switches and open doors. We'll be testing capabilities like that in our trials."

"The surface material is NEOMATEX, a brand developed by Kurabo. NEOMATEX is made of fibers that are extremely strong and impact-resistant. So, it has great potential as a surface material. Gifu Plastic Industry originally sold a honeycomb material, called TECCELL, so we've used that as the core, and NEOMATEX as the surface, to create TECCELL-FB. So, this is an all-olefin honeycomb material, which we're marketing as an extremely strong product."

Compared with the standard TECCELL, TECCELL-FB has twice the bend strength and four times the maximum shock load for the same weight.

It also has high impact resistance, even compared with other materials of the same weight, such as aluminum.

"This product will be sold jointly by Kurabo and Gifu Plastic Industry. Gifu Plastic has always been strong in logistics, so it's developing business in that direction. We'd like to focus on other fields, including the automotive, construction, and furniture industries. We don't yet have specific products, so we'll be suggesting possibilities from now on."

For 30 kg sacks of rice, measurement takes as little as 10 seconds per sack. No specialized knowledge is needed, and testing can be done while the food is still in cardboard boxes or bags.

"Unlike screening systems from other companies, in this one, measurement is unaffected by radiation from outside, even without a shutter mechanism. This system has a shadow shield, which prevents radioactive cesium in the environment from affecting the sensor directly. So, while a rice sack is inside, this machine can measure the cesium from the rice sack alone."

"At present, in Fukushima, all sacks are tested. Although 4-6 sacks can be processed per minute, higher speed is needed. So, we've developed this system to make screening faster, by increasing the sensitivity and strengthening the shielding."

This system measures cesium 134 and 137. Depending on the setting, it can also measure iodine 131, which has a short half-life. This fall, Fuji Electric plans to release systems that handle other foods in addition to rice.

"This isn't our first radiation testing system. We released the previous model last year. That was designed to handle foods in general, when the problem of radioactive cesium in beef and rice emerged. This machine itself is currently being used only for rice, but it is designed to handle other foods. The detector at the top is movable, so it can screen different things if you input their weight and dimensions."

Fifty of these machines have already been delivered to Fukushima. They'll soon come into full operation, in time to test this year's rice crop.

The BTS achieves a top speed of 600 meters per minute - the fastest in the world. This makes it ideal for conveying baggage between terminals at large airports. As a system with high processing capacity, Daifuku will suggest the BTS for use in China, Asia, and the Middle East, which are considered growing markets.

"You can't see them, but there are RFID tags on the trays. Conveyor lines merge and diverge, but the system scans the RFID information to determine whether baggage should go straight on or be diverted."

"Ordinary barcode tags on baggage and RFID data on the trays can be managed in one-to-one correspondence. This reduces the possibility of lost baggage. Until now, there've been cases where a barcode couldn't be scanned and the baggage was lost. But with this pattern, baggage can be conveyed with virtually 100% reliability."

Another advantage of this system is, each tray contains just one baggage item. This prevents items from damaging each other.

"In this demo, the baggage isn't loaded or unloaded. But actually, we also provide loaders and unloaders, which operate automatically. We suggest using this system as a package including those."

"We haven't received many orders yet, but we are actually doing a project in the UK, combining the Baggage Tray System with an automated warehouse. Currently, most projects involve conveyor belts, but we plan to suggest this Baggage Tray System as an alternative."

Currently, most rechargeable batteries are lithium ion batteries. However, Japan relies on imports for its entire supply of lithium, a rare metal. Consequently lithium ion batteries are expensive. Sodium ion batteries are intended to overcome lithium's disadvantages of high price and scarcity.

"In fact, the supply of sodium is unlimited. Also, sodium ion batteries can be made using iron, aluminum, and sodium, rather than cobalt or copper as before. What's more, our results show that battery capacity can be increased simply by using carbon made from sugar as the anode. So high-performance batteries like expensive lithium batteries, which are an important type of rechargeable battery, may be achievable using cheaper, more abundant materials. We believe that, if the technology and performance can be improved, development may progress toward practical batteries that can replace lithium ion batteries."

Hard carbon is very easy to manufacture, simply by heating sucrose in an electric furnace. The sucrose will burn if air gets in, but if sucrose powder is heated to 1,000-1,500 degrees C in a stream of inert atmosphere, such as argon or nitrogen, free from oxygen, the resultant product is black hard-carbon powder.

"Actually, we've spent about seven years researching sodium ion batteries. We've gained a lot of know-how regarding electrolytes and cells for such batteries. We have all the reagents needed right here."

The Komaba Group has achieved a storage capacity of 300 mAh, 20% higher than that of conventional hard carbon. It's expected that many researchers will work on making sodium ion batteries commercially viable. The Komaba Group anticipates it may take about five years to achieve a practical version.

"This object has a sensor which detects its position and orientation, so when you move it like this, the picture moves with it. First of all, you can use this capability to bring the picture and the object together. When you look from that side, I think things appear quite distorted, but to someone looking though this window, which has another sensor, it appears as if there's a virtual object within this object. To someone else, it looks distorted, but seen through my eyes, it looks as if the projected image is in line with the moving 3D view."

Virtual anatomical model simulation enables users to easily understand 3D positions and structures. Consequently, it's thought to be an effective way to learn about the structure of complicated, multi-branched facial nerves and the movements of expressive muscles.

"For example, when you try to display a straight line, if you project it on a curved surface, the line becomes curved. We use a computer to solve the inverse relationship. So, we're using technology called curvature compensation, to obtain a straight line from a curved surface."

"This system only requires objects, sensors, and a projector, so we think it could be commercialized quickly. Also, because it uses real objects, it provides a haptic experience without needing special equipment. Consequently, it gives natural haptic feedback. So, when you manipulate objects, the graphics move along with you, rather than you acting in an empty space using a mouse and keyboard or hand sensors. This system can be used by anyone, with no need to learn special skills."

This fuel cell generates electricity by producing hydrogen on the spot. This is achieved through a chemical reaction between calcium hydride sheets and water.

From a sheet with volume of less than 3 cc, this fuel cell can generate 5 Whr of electricity. It can be used for many purposes, from charging a smartphone, to providing back-up power in emergencies.

"This single sheet can fully charge an iPhone once. The sheet weighs about 3 g. If these sheets are laminated and sealed, they last for twenty years. Lithium ion batteries lose their charging ability in 4-5 years at most, so they're not good for emergencies. Because this sheet is a chemical product, it doesn't change as long as the sealing is intact."

For smartphone charging, this product comes in two versions, a cover type and a USB card-case type. They're used by changing the special-purpose cartridges, which weigh 30 g and 23 g respectively.

A version that can serve as a portable generator, delivering 200 W, weighs just 6 kg, with cartridges weighing 750 g. This can be used for outdoor leisure or emergency back-up. Unlike engine generators, it can be used without producing CO2 or harmful exhaust fumes.

Rohm is also developing high-capacity batteries for seismometers using this fuel cell.

"For example, if you want to put a seismometer in the crater of a volcano, naturally, there's no power supply. Ordinarily, you'd need to carry car batteries, weighing 15-20 kg, up there. Our new fuel cell weighs 3-4 kg, so it's really good. And it can keep generating power for six months."

Currently, Rohm is doing market surveys, with the aim of releasing commercial versions in spring 2013.

"In the BtoB business, lots of companies are already working on high-power fuel cells. For mobile use, you have to give plenty of thought to commercial distribution. We're looking for manufacturers who understand the issues, and we're discussing where to sell the fuel and where to sell the fuel cells themselves."

This device reads various kinds of barcodes and QR codes, as used in warehouses and during distribution, enabling forklift operators to scan codes directly without leaving their seat.

"The scanning range depends on the size of the code. The codes over there can be read from 5 or 6 m away. For example, when we tested this device with a big QR code 1 m square, that could be read from over 50 m away."

"This is a demo of reading codes before storing products in a warehouse. First, the QR code on the floor, with a location number, is read, then the corresponding QR code on the product. If they match, the screen shows "Match OK.""

"Ordinarily, when forklift operators check goods before shipping or storing, they need to get off the forklift. That's time-consuming, and it can be a strain on the back. So, there's been a need to do scanning tasks from a forklift."

When a code at a distance is read, the scanning direction is shown by a red LED. This makes locations easy to understand, so work can be done efficiently.

This device can read codes at twice the elevation and 1.2 times the incline of conventional models. So, it can scan consistently even when tilted.

"A big advantage of this system is, it reduces labor costs, by automating the task of removing labels."

"This system uses Ricoh's heat-sensitive technology. The principle is the same as that in loyalty cards, but what's new about this technology is, it uses a laser to rewrite labels without touching them."

The thermal rewritable laser media used in this system has been newly developed by Ricoh. It consists of three layers: a UV-blocking layer, an oxygen-blocking layer, and a recording layer. This medium is highly resistant to fading, so it can be used for at least five years, even in outdoor environments.

The number of times TR media can be rewritten has also been improved. This is done by using a unique technology, which modifies the character before it is printed, removing intersections and corners so that areas are not printed twice.

"Based on Ricoh's design requirements, we expect rewriting can be done 1,000 times. But we'd like to suggest a suitable figure for each customers, based on the environment they'll be using the system in."

"Ricoh provides three sets of rewritable media, a laser eraser, and a laser marker. The system is then used by building it into a materials handling system. So we'll be selling it through collaboration with makers of materials handling systems."

"First of all, we hope customers will utilize the labels to show destinations for containers in logistics centers and stores. Then customers can reuse the labels many times, along with the containers."

The case of the Paper Writer is shaped like a book cover, with space for a notepad opposite the tablet, and by closing the cover you can scan handwritten documents. Also, if a lot of documents need to be scanned, you can stand the tablet up and image documents by leafing through them in front of the case.

"You can convert ordinary notes to digital data, and you can also classify the data. For example, if you register marks for categories like "important", the Paper Writer automatically recognizes your handwritten marks, and organizes the notes. You can also link the data to your schedule."

The Paper Writer features a pair of 5-megapixel cameras, a 10.1-inch backlit display, and a 1.5-GHz dual-core processor, with the top-end model supporting LTE.

The 7,000 mAh high-capacity battery enables the Paper Writer to be used for about 12 hours. The battery is also replaceable, so if you carry a spare you can get your work done without having to worry about battery life

"The screen is bright, so you can use the Paper Writer outdoors. It can withstand being dropped from 1 m, and it's dust and moisture resistant, so it can be used in the field. This model is designed not to break even after years of use."

"It has an NFC reader-writer, so it supports IC card log-in and RFID tag scanning."

"We expect the Paper Writer will be used in jobs that involve traveling around, and for in-store work that was previously done with mobile data terminals."

"We have on display 4 sheets, each with its own sensor matrix equipped with small sensors. These sensors sense weight when a person walks, and this weight is displayed on a graph."

Pressure distribution of an upright standing posture can also be measured by using a single pressure sheet. In addition, sheets can be connected together using a USB cable.

"This can be used particularly in the rehabilitation field. It is primarily used in evaluating exercise for patients who have undergone neurosurgery or orthopedic surgery, or who have experienced various illnesses."

Anima is selling the lower limb weight meter sheet as a set with a PC for a retail price of approximately US$50,000. The company plans to develop products that will combine other analytical devices to enable wide-ranging comprehensive evaluation.

"Until now, there hasn't been a load-reducing walking aid - a device that lets users walk while reducing the load from their body weight. During the last 2-3 years, suspension walking lifts have become commonly used for rehabilitation in Japan. A machine that suspends from overhead to reduce the load from body weight needs to be large. So we're developing POPO as a new kind of walking aid - one that's as compact as possible."

To reduce the load, all the user needs to do is put on a harness and attach the belt to the walking aid. Powered by rechargeable batteries, POPO can withstand a load of up to 100kg.

"In Japan, when people start having difficulty walking, they end up using wheelchairs at a comparatively early stage. That's true in hospitals as well. People use all kinds of walking aids, but if there's concern that they'll have an accident and make their condition worse, they immediately switch to a wheelchair. When that happens, there's a strong tendency for whatever core functionality people have to deteriorate. We've developed this machine to help people keep walking for longer, with more stamina."

Moritoh hopes that this load-reducing walking aid will make life easier for caregivers as well as patients. The company plans to develop a home version of POPO as well as the hospital version.