Hagoromo canned tuna (a.k.a. “sea chicken”) commercial, circa 1978.

+ Video

[Via MetaFilter]

“Bad Apple!!” is a magical piece of stop-motion animation made from 6,566 still photos of printed bitmaps.

+ Video

The creator, Nico Nico Douga user “shige-ruuu,” says he made the video without using photo-editing software. The images were captured with a webcam, and the effects were achieved by changing the camera position and adjusting the focus, brightness, zoom, exposure and gain.

The original stills and music come from this video for the song “Bad Apple!!” (arranged by Masayoshi Minoshima, featuring vocals by nomico) from the Touhou Project game series.

A robot designed to help with the grocery shopping is being tested at a Kyoto-area supermarket.

+ Video

The robotic assistant — an advanced version of the Robovie-II android developed by Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) — is the centerpiece of a networked system of robots, sensors and digital technology designed to make shopping more convenient and entertaining for the elderly. ATR is testing the experimental system at the Apita-Seikadai supermarket in Kyoto until March 2010.

To use the system, shoppers first create a shopping list at home using a special mobile device (they simply tell the robot’s on-screen avatar what they want to buy before going to the supermarket). Later, when the customer arrives at the store, sensors automatically detect the mobile device. The user’s data is wirelessly transmitted to a waiting robot, which greets the customer by name and says, “Let’s start shopping.”

In the video above, which shows part of a test conducted on December 10, the child-sized robot accompanies a 67-year-old woman while she shops for mandarin oranges and broccoli. In addition to carrying the woman’s shopping basket, the robot reminds her to get the mandarin oranges, recommends the apples (which the robot says are delicious this season), reminds her to get the broccoli, and suggests including lettuce in her salad along with the broccoli. On several occasions, the robot remarks on how delicious the items look.

When asked her impression of the system after the demonstration, the woman said she felt almost as if she were shopping with her grandchild, and she said it was fun talking with the robot.

[Source: Robot Watch]

+ (autumn)

The latest time-lapse video by Tokyo-based photographer Samuel Cockedey features captivating views of Mt. Fuji, Miyajima (Itsukushima Shrine), and Iwate prefecture.

Masamichi Hayashi, president of marine education establishment kyg-lab, has hand-crafted over 100 robotic marine creatures from recycled items such as plastic bottles, food containers, styrofoam, raincoats, and windshield wiper motors. A self-taught roboticist, Hayashi relies on his formal experience as a marine scientist to endow his machines with realistic movements, and he uses them in free shows to teach kids about the locomotion and behavior of sea creatures.

Here is a short video showing Hayashi’s great white shark, manta ray, green turtle, hammerhead shark, Japanese giant salamander, porpoise, and killer whale.

+ Video

Hayashi’s masterpiece is a 1.5 meter (5 ft) long coelacanth robot that weighs 48 kilograms (105 lbs) and cost 2 million yen ($22,000) to build. Here is some video of a diver giving it a snack.

+ Video

The coelacanth robot also makes a cameo in the next video, along with a tsuchinoko, a turtle, and a lake monster that carries a piece of waterborne trash to the curious onlookers on shore.

+ Video

[Link: kyg-lab]

“scoreLight” is a laser-based musical device that generates real-time sound based on the shape of drawings or objects.

+ scoreLight (ver.1)

Relying on 3D tracking technology developed at the Ishikawa-Komuro Laboratory in 2003, scoreLight uses lasers to trace the outline of a drawing or object. As the laser dances along the contours, scoreLight produces and modulates sound according to the curvature, angle, texture, color, and contrast. An abrupt change in the direction of a line generates a discrete sound (a glitch or percussion sound), resulting in a steady rhythm when the laser follows a looped path (the size and shape of the looped path determines the tempo and structure of the beat). The device creates a layered tapestry of sound when multiple laser points explore different parts of a drawing.

Here is some video of scoreLight making music from a sketch of a brain:

+ NOU-ISE

scoreLight’s developers include Alvaro Cassinelli (concept, hardware and software), Kuribara Yusaku (software), Daito Manabe (sound concept and programming) and Alexis Zerroug (electronics). See Cassinelli’s YouTube channel for more videos.

[Link: scoreLight]

A frenetic animated version of the Japanese television apocalypse is depicted in “the TV show,” a video by Kousuke Sugimoto with music by Takayuki Manabe.

+ the TV show

[Via MetaFilter]

A recent episode of the Fuji TV variety show Mecha-Mecha Iketeru! featured a group of Ultraman monsters dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” as part of a mock audition for the new Ultraman film “Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legend The Movie.”

[Link: Dailymotion via Japan Probe]

In the early 1970s, TV superhero Kamen Rider battled a mind-boggling array of monsters unleashed by evil terrorist organizations (Shocker, Gel-Shocker and Destron) scheming to take over the world. These outlandish mutants usually incorporated a mixture of human and animal (and sometimes plant) DNA, along with the occasional cybernetic enhancement. Here are a few dramatic fight scenes (via KAMEKICHI1964, who has posted hundreds of these clips online).

+ Jellyfishdall (Kuragedaaru), an electrified jellyfish monster

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+ Isoginchakku, a man-eating sea anemone

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+ Newtgeth (Imorigesu), a poisonous newt with a powerful tongue

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+ Deadman-Bat (Shibito Kōmori)

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+ Shiracuras (Shirakyurasu), a blood-sucking louse with flesh-melting spit

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+ Lens-Ari, an ant-like creature that shoots deadly light beams from its eyes

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+ Girizamesu, a fire-breathing mutant shark

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+ Haetoribachi, who is part venus flytrap and part bee

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+ Owl Man (Fukurō Otoko), whose deadly X-rays turn people into skeletons

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+ Spider Napoleon (Kumo Naporeon), who is part spider and part Napoleon

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+ Egyptus, a fire-breathing Egyptian mummy

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+ Leechguerilla (Hirugerira), a savage leech

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+ Crabbubbler (Kanibabura), a crab monster that spits flesh-melting bubbles

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+ Mushroommolg (Kinokomorugu), a fungus that spits deadly spores

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+ Mukadetiger, a centipede/tiger mutant

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+ Jellyfish Wolf (Kurage Urufu), an electrified jellyfish/wolf hybrid

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+ Scorpion Man (Sasori Otoko), whose left hand is a deadly scorpion stinger

As a tribute to Michael Jackson, Japanese chiptune pioneer Saitone has released an 8-bit version of “Thriller.”

+ Video

Watch the full live version here.

[Link: Hear Japan]