It's much more fun to wander the city and look at the toys – taxi doors that open automatically, carousels in
car parks that
store vehicles like plates in a cupboard, talking lifts everywhere. Japanese
researchers are working on products that could significantly improve the way we live our lives. The rest of the world may not be ready for a combined toilet/entertainment system so, sadly, the warbling potty probably falls into the category of innovations that will remain forever Japanese.
The ultimate goal: a multilingual public information system that will allow people to aim small receivers, possibly contained in their mobile phones, at any store or street corner and receive information or directions. The Pivo is an electric vehicle that really looks like a car of tomorrow – or the golf cart of today. Although there are no plans to bring Pivo to market, Nissan has suggested that its lithium-ion battery techno-logy could be used in a production car scheduled to be tested in 2010. Even if the driver tricks the sensors by wearing gloves, erratic driving patterns can lead to an automatic disabling of the car. Toyota has also
created a concept car called Pod – basically a massive mood ring on wheels. Special lights on the front of the car change in intensity and colour to reflect happy, sad or angry moods.
Japanese broadcasters have begun sending TV
signals that can be picked up just as laptops pick up wireless internet signals. For instance, there's ZMP Inc's Miuro (short for ''music innovation based on utility robot technology''), essentially a portable stereo that follows you around the house. It would be more realistic to expect a sort of electronic Jeeves – a
robotic butler that plugs into your personal communication, entertainment and security systems, and alerts you to the most essential information. Researchers at the University of Tsukuba, 50 kilometres north-east of Tokyo, have created a robotic exoskeleton called HAL-5. Goodbye, aluminium walker – HAL-5 offers the possibility of real mobility.
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