japan

You're sweating in your bulky radiation suit, your dosimeter is freaking you out, and you're trying to close a valve that might just save a large portion of the population from some very nasty fallout.

Wouldn't it be nice to have some robotic help?

Japan's robot start-up Cyberdyne is modifying its Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) power suit for use by first responders in nuclear accidents.

The exoskeleton is being improved to help workers who have to wear heavy radiation protection clothing. Japan is still struggling with radiation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which was severely damaged last year during one of the country's most powerful earthquakes. … Read more

After seeing these prototypes, you might think next-generation LCD technology looks brighter and clearer than ever.

Japan Display today revealed two exciting prototype LCD screens from the labs of the mega joint venture -- consisting of Sony, Toshiba, and Hitachi's manufacturing talents -- that could one day change the way we look at car and tablet displays. … Read more

We already see, touch, and hear our smartphones. Isn't it time we got a whiff of them, too? Japanese company Chaku Perfume has developed an iPhone app and accessory system that delivers smells.

The gadget part attaches to the dock of the iPhone and contains an atomizer and smell tank. A person on the other end could deliver a particular smell through the other person's device. I'm guessing bacon would be popular.

The Chat Perf is expected to cost just over $60. Let's imagine some uses for this. A bakery could send the smell of cinnamon rolls to entice customers in. Justin Bieber could send the smell of his Someday perfume to his devoted fans. … Read more

HTC has unveiled its new high-end HTC J Butterfly smartphone aimed at the Japanese market.

The Taiwanese phone maker announced today the arrival of the new handset, which features a 5-inch, 1080p display.

The HTC J Butterfly -- available in red, white, or black -- boasts a 440ppi HD "Super LCD 3" panel, an 8-megapixel rear camera that can cope with 1080p video, 16GB of storage, and 2GB of RAM. The phone operates through Qualcomm's 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon APQ8064 chip and comes with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and Beats Audio installed.

Within its 140g, 9.… Read more

More than a month after losing one of its patent cases against Samsung in Japan, Apple has filed for an appeal.

Bloomberg reports that Apple has filed the necessary paperwork in the hopes of reversing a Tokyo judge's decision that Samsung's smartphones and tablets do not infringe on Apple's patents.

That decision, issued August 31, came just days after Apple won big over Samsung in its first major U.S. case against the company. The aftermath of that, which has yet to truly shake out, puts Samsung on the hook for $1.05 billion in damages and … Read more

While wheelchair design is advancing, allowing chairs to do things like move sideways and diagonally and follow the person next to them, stairs and curbs remain a formidable hurdle for all but a few models. It's an obstacle, however, that Japanese researchers are looking to overcome.

A team at Chiba Institute of Technology has rolled out a new robotic wheelchair that can climb over steps, ditches, and other roadblocks. The four-wheel-drive, five-axis vehicle maneuvers like a typical wheelchair -- except when it encounters an obstacle. Then it uses its wheels like legs. … Read more

Many people would probably say their handwriting has suffered the more they use computers to communicate. But imagine trying to exercise your rusty penmanship on letters that have not 1 or 2 strokes but 5, 10, 15, or more.

The Japanese often complain that sending e-mails and texts erodes their skills in writing the thousands of kanji, or Chinese characters, they learn in school. Some are maddeningly complex and, if rarely used, easy to forget.

But brush-painting kanji calligraphy is also a centuries-old art form. Keio University engineering professor Seiichiro Katsura has a way to help preserve it with his Motion Copy System robot. … Read more

Even if you have a dashboard display showing what's behind your car when you back up, it's hard to be 100 percent sure you won't hit something. Or someone. That's why researchers at Japan's Keio University are working on a system that makes the back seat invisible, so to speak.

From the driver's perspective, the back of a car, in this case a Prius, is transparent, thus eliminating blind spots that could conceal hazards. The system is called the "see-through Prius" and it's being showcased this month at the 2012 Digital Content Expo in Tokyo. … Read more

Japan has some pretty high-tech trains, but bumpy rides are still common. If you're squashed between dozens of commuters and gripping a strap with one hand while holding reading material in the other, turning the page as the speeding carriage lurches to and fro can be downright dangerous.

That's why NTT DoCoMo has developed a prototype tablet that you can control with your eyes. The "i beam" has a gaze-tracking function that frees your other hand so you can hang on to that subway strap, or, for instance, pull a suitcase around if you're walking through an airport. … Read more