This short video of Tokyo under nuclear attack was pieced together using footage from a 1984 NHK documentary about nuclear war, which featured a high-tech (at the time) simulation showing the impact an 8-megaton bomb explosion would have on the city. The soundtrack is Sun Ra's "Nuclear War" (1982) as performed by Yo La Tengo (2002). Peace.
[Link: Video of Tokyo nuclear attack]
Animated videos from Denki Groove's Nisenyon Summer ("Summer 2004") DVD.
Mr. Empty, followed by Chuunen Punk ("Middle-aged Punk")
Hikenai Gitaa O Hikun Da Ze ("Play The Guitar You Can't Play")
Mitsubishi Electric has completed construction of the world's largest high-definition video screen at a horse track in Tokyo. The screen employs Mitsubishi's Aurora Vision LED technology and measures 11.2 meters (37 feet) x 66.4 meters (218 feet), giving it a surface area of 744 square meters (8,000+ square feet), or the equivalent of 3 tennis courts. Mitsubishi manufactured the screen for the Japan Racing Association (JRA) at its Nagasaki factory in the town of Togitsu, Nagasaki prefecture. The screen was divided into 35 pieces for delivery to the Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo.
The bright, high-definition display is 3 times larger than what was previously installed at the horse track, and the screen's three sections allow the audience to take in the action at other tracks. Total cost is reported to be 3.2 billion yen (US$28 million).
[Source: Asahi Shimbun]
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UPDATE: Check out this Fuji TV news report on YouTube. The video shows an athletic reporter sprinting from one end of the 2,651-inch monster to the other (in 12.8 seconds). You'd have to stack 1,550 32-inch TVs to match the size of this screen. [Via: TV in Japan]
Geminoid is a remote-control doppelganger droid designed by and modeled after Hiroshi Ishiguro, professor at Osaka University and researcher at ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories. Robot Watch has released some short videos, which you can see at the links below. Video format is WMV.
Video 1: Ishiguro introduces himself through Geminoid.
Video 2: This segment shows Geminoid's facial movements. The telepresent Ishiguro explains, "When someone touches Geminoid, it seems as if I am the one being touched."
Video 3: Geminoid (Ishiguro) doesn't like it when you touch his face.
Video 4: Geminoid is programmed so that his head continues to move, even when not being specifically controlled.
Video 5: Sitting next to Geminoid, Ishiguro discusses his research concerning "presence."
In Latin, gemin means "twin" or "double," while -oid is a suffix indicating a "likeness to something else." Hiroshi Ishiguro would say that his Geminoid is like a twin. The body is a copy of Ishiguro's, and the shape of Geminoid's skull was created based on MRI scans of Ishiguro's head. And Geminoid shares some of his mannerisms.
Geminoid's body, which was produced by Kokoro, makers of the Actroid line of fembots, has 46 degrees of freedom and is driven by a system of air compressors. The skin consists of soft, silicone rubber. Confined to a chair at the moment, the android is unable to stand up and move about on his own. Communication and power cables exit his rear end and snake through the shaft of the chair out of sight. It took 6 months of work to develop the body and about 2 to 3 months to develop the software.
One of the purposes for creating Geminoid is to explore the concept of tele-existence -- to figure out what is needed in order to copy an actual human's "presence" so that he or she may exist in two places at once. "I wonder how possible it is to separate one's inner self and outer self, to create distance between one's body and soul," Ishiguro says.
See more photos of Geminoid at the link below.
[Source: Robot Watch]
A portion of the Indonesian coelacanth video shot several weeks ago has been made public.
The news report states that while more than 200 coelacanth finds have been documented off the coast of southern Africa, only 4 of the Indonesian variety had ever been confirmed before the Aquamarine Fukushima team caught theirs on video last month. According to the group's coelacanth web page, the researchers this time were able to capture a total of 7 coelacanth on video during the period from May 30 to June 5, as follows:
- May 30 (8:00 to 9:00 AM): Successfully videotaped an Indonesian coelacanth off the northern coast of Sulawesi, at a depth of 170 meters in 17 degrees Celsius water. Length of video is 5 to 10 minutes.
- May 31 (approx. 7:30 AM): Videotaped 2 more coelacanth in the same cave where the first coelacanth was videotaped.
- May 31 (approx. 10:00 AM): Videotaped another coelacanth in a different cave located at a depth of 180 meters.
- June 4 (approx. 6:40 PM): Videotaped 3 coelacanth over the span of 2 hours at a depth of 150 meters in the same area.
Beginning July 13, Aquamarine Fukushima will hold a special exhibit dedicated to the mystery of the Indonesian coelacanth, featuring video of the fish shown on a 65-inch plasma screen. The exhibit will run for an unspecified period of time.
[Source: Aquamarine Fukushima coelacanth page]
UPDATE (July 1, 2006): You can see the same coelacanth footage in this news report in English, on YouTube.
Yura Yura Teikoku, legends of Japan?s psychedelic rock underground, have been creating spaced-out, pop-inspired garage noise for the better part of two decades. Here are some of their videos via YouTube. Powerful speakers recommended!
Kantsuu (Yura Yura Teikoku No Shibire, 2003)
Rame No Pantalon (YuraYura Teikoku III, 2001)
2005-Nen Sekai Ryoko (Sweet Spot, 2005)
Yakousei No Ikimono San-biki (Yura Yura Teikoku No Shibire, 2003)
Tsumetai Gift (12" release, 2002)
Yura Yura Teikoku De Kagaechuu (12" release, 2000)
Live at Fuji Rock Festival 2002: Zukku Ni Rock (12" release, 1999)
Live: Evil Car (3 x 3 x 3, 1998) // Suberu Baa (Taiyou No Shiroi Kona, 1999)
Live: Dock ?N? Doll (3 x 3 x 3, 1998)
Hakkoutai (3 x 3 x 3, 1998)
Check out Mesh Key Records for more info.
Check out this parody of a Nintendo Wii commercial based on that unforgettable scene from "Deliverance," the classic 1972 film starring Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty and Jon Voight. Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...
[Via: Crazy Japan!]
Chatty, a talking mannequin with a human face, is on display at the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2006 (at Tokyo Big Sight through March 26).
Developed by Ishikawa Optics & Art Corporation, Chatty has a face that is brought to life by means of a video projector inside its head. A video image of an actual human face (or the face of a computer-generated character, if you prefer) is projected onto the inner surface of the mannequin's face, which serves as a three-dimensional video screen. Audio synced with Chatty's video lip movements gives the face an astonishingly realistic look.
Chatty's presence at the anime fair brings Ishikawa one step closer toward realizing its dream, which is to see the technology behind Chatty's face be put to use in speech-capable historical figures for museum exhibits, theme park guides, or human-faced androids.
[Sources: IT Media, Chatty homepage (check out the video of Chatty reciting Humpty Dumpty in Japanese!)]
UPDATE: Video of Chatty emerges. The Humpty Dumpty mantra continues.
