Are Robots Taking Over?

Hi!

Just a little unknown fact:

Interesting...hmmm....

Via SwissMiss via Spoon & Tamago

Have a robotic day!

n

Transformer Owl!

Ladies and Gentlemen, you've waited patiently. At long last your prayers have been answered:

Osamu Tezuka - Mermaid (1964)

"This is the story of a boy in a distant country who loved to daydream..."

This is the first I've heard of Osamu Tezuka, but according to his wiki, he's wicked famous.

He designed this tasty Phoenix clock:

"Kuuucccaaaawwww!!" says the clock.

Yes, harness MY energy, please!

Good Morning,

I had one of those "duh" moments a couple of days ago when I saw an article on Inhabitat titled "The World's First Energy Generating Revolving Door".

This article refers to a cafe in the Netherlands that installed revolving doors that generates energy from the people going in and out of the cafe. This energy is then given back to the coffee shop to be used.

Here at SF, we've been wondering why this technology, which has been developed for some time now, hasn't been put into effect in New York City. We have millions and millions of people revolving through subway turnstyles everyday and we could be harnessing our own energy.

Then, yesterday, Inhabitat posted about The East Japan Railway Company installing energy generating floors that will power the Tokyo Subways. They are using a technology called Piezoelectric flooring which they have been testing over the past year. Now, they have installed it in a Tokyo subway station to generate power for the ticket gates and display signs. They hope to generate enough power, in the future, to power their entire system.

I live in a major city where there is tons of waste. We never think about the fact that just by walking though doors, we are wasting energy. But now, with the technology advancing, there is a better way to generate renewable energy! We could harness our own energy by just walking through revolving doors and getting onto the subways.

Now, literally, we possess enough power that can actually make a difference. It's amazing to see the technology, that we all knew was out there, being utilized. Step by step (pun intended), we can save energy!

Thumbs up to Inhabitat for the news and images!

Thumbs up to progress! Please, bring this technology to New York!

Niki

Obama, Japan Loves Obama the Man!

Obama, Japan is a small fishing village that's gone wild for Barack Obama.



For further reading.

Inspiring Inventor: Yoshiyuki Sankai

(pic via gizmodo.)

Yoshiyuki Sankai is the inventor of the HAL-5 robotic exoskeleton, as well as a lover of humanity and Peace.

MIT recently ran a profile on him containing this delightful little paragraph:

"Sankai has said one of his aims is to create technologies that are designed for the benefit of humankind, rather than for destructive purposes. He refused, for example, an offer from the Department of Defense in Washington, D.C., to work on a robot for military use and declined a similar offer from the government of South Korea. He followed through with plan to commercialize his HAL product via a venture firm he established through the University of Tsukuba called Cyberdyne, Inc. and continues to plow ahead with his research endeavors."

Wow. When offered gobs of money and teams of underlings, he turned it down in favor of postponing the inevitable use of his technology to harm other humans. What a wonderful man.

Professor Sankai, your positivity has practically forced us to dust off the long-unused SuperForest Good Person Award!

You've more than earned it, good sir.
SuperForesters! Send some good energy into the ether for Professor Sankai! The world needs more like him.

Love to All,

Jackson and Team SuperForest

Robotic Suit for Rent in Japan!

From the Associated Press's Yuri Kageyama,

"TSUKUBA, Japan - A robotic suit that reads brain signals and helps people with mobility problems will be available to rent in Japan for $2,200 a month starting Friday - an invention that may have far-reaching benefits for the disabled and elderly.

HAL - short for "hybrid assistive limb" - is a computerized suit with sensors that read brain signals directing limb movement through the skin.

"We are ready to present this to the world," said Yoshiyuki Sankai, a University of Tsukuba professor who designed HAL.

HAL comes in three sizes - small, medium and large - and also has a one-leg version for a 150,000 yen (US$1,500) monthly rental fee."

Looky how it do:



Mmmmm! Maybe if I rent and wear one of these I can finally beat my Grandmama in a footrace. She's wicked fast.

She do it like this, son:

Peeeeeeeeew!!! Like a rocket! Go Nanna!

Future Dance

If you thought the kinship through dance video was cool, you've gotta see this:


It puts "doing the robot" in a whole new light. Crazy, crazy stuff!

Andy Warhol: Japanese TDK Ad

Couldn't not post this:



Amazing.

Swimming Snake-Bot!

Morning All,

Just saw this at dvice.com

"Developed by the Hirose Fukushima Lab in Japan, the robot was designed to explore the movement mechanics of snakes and how they're able to move easily with no appendages. Now that they've developed a robot that can clearly swim pretty easily in water, it's not clear what they'll use it for other than terrifying beachgoers, but I'm sure they'll come up with something a bit more useful. I hope so at least."

Hirose Fukushima makes some cool 'bots.

Barier Houses

They're shaped like soccer balls! They float if it floods! They come in nearly any size you want, even for doggies!

Barier Houses! Strong With Disasters!!








via archinect




The sensible structures are made in Japan by World Window, and can be bought either fully assembled or in kit form.

If one were to be attempting to rebuild say, a city demolished by floods (New Orleans, Ao Nang, Tamil Nadu,) this might be a dwelling worth considering. Put it up on stilts above the water line and you're ready for anything.

Smart houses for smart people.

World Window has more pictures on their site: g-wood.jp