Tag: ‘Video’

World’s most complex origami

09 Feb 2007

World's most complex origami, by Satoshi Kamiya --- Check out this video showing three amazing creations by master origamist Satoshi Kamiya. Hard to believe, but each of the pieces shown in this video was folded from a single sheet of paper.

The red dragon, made from a 1.2 x 1.2 meter sheet, took only 6 hours to fold. The yellow hornet was commissioned by luxury retailer Hermes and was put on display in their New York store. The white dragon is fashioned from a 2 x 2 meter sheet of paper. "As far as I know, it is the most complex origami in the world," says Kamiya in the video.

Check out Kamiya's gallery for photos of his other paper creations.

[Via: Japan Probe]

Robot nabs naked fugitive in freezing Seoul sewer

01 Feb 2007

Robot nabs naked fugitive in freezing Seoul sewer --- This story is not from Japan, but I couldn't resist...

On Tuesday, police in Seoul, Korea enlisted the help of a small robot to track down a fugitive purse-snatcher hiding out in the city's sewage system. The 57-year-old suspect was on the run after snatching a woman's purse at a hospital. Witnesses to the crime tried to detain the man, but he wriggled out of his clothes -- all of them -- and managed to escape into the city's sewage system through a 1-meter (3.3 feet) diameter pipe.

Police located the man four hours later with the help of a 6-wheeled, camera-equipped sewage pipe inspection robot able to broadcast images for up to 150 meters (nearly 500 feet). Once they apprehended the man, who appeared to have lost his way in the darkness of the cramped pipes, the police returned him to the hospital, where he received treatment for hypothermia. The temperature in Seoul on Tuesday was 1 degree Celsius (34 degrees Fahrenheit).

At the end of this video news clip, the police ask the man why he stripped off his clothes, to which he replies, "Leave me alone. I'm not feeling well."

[Sources: Chosun Ilbo, TUF]

Rare video of dying frilled shark

24 Jan 2007

Officials at Awashima Marine Park, located in the coastal city of Numazu, have obtained rare video footage of a frilled shark (Chlamydoselachus anguineus) near the sea surface after it was captured in nearby waters.

Frilled shark -- On the afternoon of January 21, a fisherman spotted the large fish in the shallow water near the park. He immediately contacted Awashima Marine Park officials, who caught the shark and transported it to the park's dolphin pen, where they turned it loose. The weak shark was able to survive for several hours -- long enough for park officials to videotape it swimming around. Video footage of the frilled shark near the sea surface is very rare, and the park says it will keep the video for research purposes.

The frilled shark is typically found at a depth of around 600 meters (2,000 feet). Its slender body grows to about 160 cm long, and unlike most sharks, which typically have 5 sets of gills, the frilled shark has 6 sets. It is known as a "living fossil" for its resemblance to extinct, Paleozoic sharks.

Researchers investigating why the shark was found in shallow waters think it may have surfaced along with deep-sea water pushed up to shallow depths by easterly winds. Another possibility is that it left the deep waters because of cool water temperatures near the surface. Or perhaps it came in search of food.

[Source: Chunichi]

Video: Yume-Neko Smile, Part II

07 Jan 2007

Yume-Neko Smile -- still dreaming, still smiling, and still a cat (sort of). Meow.

(See also: Yume-Neko Smile, Part I)

Sayaka: Next-generation capsule endoscope

05 Jan 2007

Sayaka: Next-generation endoscopic capsule --

Endoscopic capsules, ingestible pill-shaped devices designed to capture images from inside the digestive tract, have been around for quite a while. But Sayaka, an endoscopic capsule developed by RF System Lab in December 2005, has dramatically increased the overall image quality by changing the camera position and enabling the camera to rotate.

While conventional capsules -- including RF System Lab's own Norika -- typically have cameras at one end of the capsule, Sayaka's camera has been moved to the side, where it has a better view of the intestinal walls. In addition, a tiny stepper motor rotates the camera as the capsule passes through the digestive tract, allowing Sayaka to capture images from every angle.

Like Norika, Sayaka's power is supplied wirelessly from an external source, primarily so that no harmful battery substances get into the body.

On a typical 8-hour, 8-meter (26 feet) journey through the gastrointestinal tract, Sayaka snaps approximately 870,000 photos, which are sent to a receiver located near the body. Image mosaicking technology is then used to stitch the images together into a flat, high-resolution rectangular map of the intestines, which can be magnified up to 75 times. In addition to scouring the maps for problem areas, gastroenterologists can compare maps from previous sessions to track changes in a patient's condition.

And as if all that were not enough, RF System Lab has released a trippy Sayaka promo video featuring a smooth disco/house soundtrack and starring a naked humanoid that floats over the Nazca Lines, shooting beams from its eyes as it scans the landscape below. Cool.

[Link: Sayaka homepage]

Wake up and smell the vacuum cleaner

13 Dec 2006

Alarm Service --

Ohayo gozaimasu. Heavy sleepers in Japan no longer need to fret about snoozing through alarm clocks and morning wake-up calls. Alarm Service, which appears to be a company based in Osaka, provides extreme wake-up services guaranteed to have its sleepy customers awake in time for their morning appointments. After an order is placed, an agent is dispatched to the customer's bedside at the prescribed wake-up time to perform the deed, which can involve the use of anything from condiments to household appliances. Prices are inexpensive, ranging from 500 yen ($4) for a dab of wasabi applied under the nose to 1,500 yen ($12) for hot S&M candle wax dripped on the stomach. Click around on the company website for video demonstrations of the services, or watch some of them on YouTube. The methods appear to be effective enough, but in the disclaimer at the end of each video, the company denies responsibility for any problems resulting from your decision to go back to sleep.

[Via: Korokoro Zaeega Gakuen]

Asimo: ‘I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!’

11 Dec 2006

In this video, Asimo shows the danger that androids face when climbing stairs. Go to the :50 second mark to see the robot take a tumble. Ironically, Asimo falls just after explaining how the sensors in its feet allow it to maintain balance.

[Via: HiroIro]

Creepy Japanese scarecrows

02 Nov 2006

Fantastic video slideshow of mannequin scarecrows haunting Japan...

[Via: Fucked Gaijin]

Video: How to catch a skyfish

16 Oct 2006

Skyfish --

The skyfish (also known as "rod" or "flying rod") is a type of cryptid that flies through the air at speeds faster than the human eye can see. Here are two promotional videos (with English subtitles) for a set of Japanese DVDs documenting how to catch skyfish.


Video 1: How To Catch A Skyfish (Japan)


Video 2: How To Catch A Skyfish (International)

About halfway through the second video, one of the skyfish hunters shows off his spoodle, a special tool used for catching skyfish. According to this spoodle website, there are 100 ways to use the tool -- including a number of practical uses not related to catching skyfish. A set of two spoodles and a skyfish decoy sells for 57,454 yen (US$499).

Spoodle --

Visit the Skyfish Maniax website for details on how to purchase the DVDs (which do not yet appear to have been subtitled in English).

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