A car that drives itself and glasses that translate a menu as you read it are some of the glimpses of tomorrow on offer at a gadget fair near Tokyo that began yesterday.
The Cutting-Edge IT & Electronics Comprehensive Exhibition (CEATEC) threw open its doors to thousands of visitors eager to sample the gizmos they will be using in the future.
The highlight for many is Japanese carmaker Nissan, which showcased self-driving cars that allow the driver to kick back and take their eyes off the road.
Photo: AFP
A series of sensors constantly monitors the carriageway and objects nearby, turning the wheel automatically to avoid obstacles.
“Most accidents are caused by human error,” Nissan said in a release.
Vehicle makers are working to integrate automobiles and houses, with the auto able to power the home — especially useful in times of blackouts caused by natural disasters.
Honda is showing off a mock installation in which a motorbike powers a gigantic kettle.
“Welcome to the future garage that Honda has designed. This is how automobiles and communities will be connected,” Honda president Takanobu Ito said.
Many firms have their eyes on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the possibilities their technologies could offer by then.
Public broadcaster NHK showed off an ultra-high-definition 8K screen, which has about 8,000 pixels on each horizontal line.
“We plan to do experimental broadcasting in 8K by 2016 and we are currently trying our best to be ready to broadcast directly in 8K in 2020,” in time for the Tokyo Olympics, NHK senior engineer Hironori Domen said.
Other electronics makers were displaying high-resolution 4K TVs, with Panasonic focusing on 4K devices, including 20-inch tablets.
“We are displaying 20-inch 4K tablets, which make it possible to integrate what we have seen on paper prints, picture images and movie footage,” Panasonic president Kazuhiro Tsuga said. “This is a potential that 4K displays have. Manufacturers will have to widen this potential beyond televisions.”
Augmented reality, 3D renderings that seemingly exist in the real world, was a big theme at the fair in Chiba. Pioneer showcased new navigation systems that can direct drivers to vacant parking spots with signs that appear in front of them.
Car electronics maker Clarion has a chatty satellite navigation system capable of carrying on a conversation with the driver, and reminding them to take a break.
“You have driven for a long time. How about a cup of coffee? There is a nice cafe nearby that offers tasty sweets,” it says.
The system, powered by Google, also finds restaurants by price bracket, offering suggestions when the driver tells it: “I would like a place where I can have lunch for ¥1,000 [US$10].”
NTT DoCoMo demonstrated augmented reality spectacles that can translate a menu in real time.
Its latest development combines cameras, computers and know-how to give the wearer a different view of what they are looking at.
One function of the gadget overlays the wearer’s first language onto unfamiliar text, making signs and menus instantly understandable — a boon to travelers in Japan, where foreign-language menus are not commonly found off the tourist trail.
“Character-recognition technology enables instant language translation for users traveling abroad and reading restaurant menus and other documents,” Docomo said in a statement.
Another application turns any flat surface into a touchscreen, with a finger ring relaying positioning information to the device that lets wearers “touch” tags that only they can see, perhaps to perform an Internet search.
NTT DoCoMo said a user wearing the glasses and ring set could dispense with the need to carry a laptop or a tablet.
Other uses include facial recognition that could look up someone’s identity — and job title — from a smartphone’s directory.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”