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shine onii mend
The wait is finally over. Over a year after its memorable (and zany) debut at TechCrunch 50 2008, Tonchidot’s Sekai Camera iPhone application is now available worldwide. The augmented reality (AR) app has already established itself as a huge hit in Japan, and now Tonchidot is taking its shot at world domination. Or, at least, at getting everyone to start leaving each other geo-tagged virtual Post-It notes. You can grab Sekai Camera here, free of charge.
The premise behind the app is quite simple: as you go about your day, Sekai Camera invites you to leave text messages, photos, and audio recordings that will appear as floating bubbles wherever you created them. You can also fire up Sekai Camera to look at the world around you to see what kind of content has been left by other users. As you spin the camera around, you’ll see new messages pop up as floaty icons. Click one, and you’ll see the content that was shared previously. It’s a bit like Twitter in that everything is publicly available, but everything is built around location — if you aren’t near a message, you can’t see it.
The application itself is quite well done. As with a number of other AR apps, Sekai Camera takes advantage of the iPhone’s GPS and compass (if you have a 3GS), allowing you to shift the position of your iPhone viewfinder as new tags pop up in real-time. I found the performance to be good, though there aren’t many tags floating around in my area yet so I couldn’t test to see if performance is affected by a high density of tags. Because high traffic locations will likely spawn dozens of bubbles (or more), the app offers a number of filters. The interface is simple and polished, though it may take users a minute to figure out what some of the features (like the Pocket) are for.
Tonchidot has already established Sekai Camera as a huge hit in Japan. It launched there in late September, and was installed on over 10% of Japan’s iPhone userbase within four days (though the company acknowledges that the Japan has a relatively small iPhone install base). Tonchidot has already partnered with some major Japanese retailers, and the company says it was recently named “Best App in 2009″ by Apple Japan.
The worldwide release actually features version 2.0 of Sekai Camera, which introduces a few features that improve on the original Japanese release. In the original version of the app, you had to be physically present to see tags, making it difficult (if not impossible) to keep tabs on items your friends had created. The new version also your to ‘follow’ friends (you’ll see a Twitter-like stream of their activity). You can also put your favorite tags into a ‘Pocket’, which essentially lets you bookmark tags for future reference so that you don’t have to track them down again.
The application itself free, but there are a few avenues that Tonchidot can use to monetize. For one, they can allow businesses to insert their own tags in the Sekai virtual world. Tonchidot can also provide these companies with PC-based tools to manage their tags remotely (something that normal users can’t do). Sekai Camera isn’t launching with any of these relationships in place in the US, but in Japan Tonchidot has partnerships with a number of major retail stores.
To help further enhance the app, Tonchidot is allowing third parties to integrate their content into the Sekai Camera virtual world via an API. For example, if I used a virtual whittling app to cut out a 3D version of the TechCrunch logo, I could post it right in front of TechCrunch headquarters, so anyone who used the Sekai Camera app nearby could see it. This API has quite a bit of potential, and Tonchidot says that a number of game developers are currently finding ways to fuse their games with the service. These third party integrations will likely prove very important to Tonchidot’s success. Checking in on random messages left by people nearby is fun at first, but it will need variety and some addictive features to keep people coming back for more.
Tonchidot has come a long way from its classic TechCrunch50 presentation, which left some of the judges scratching their heads as Tonchidot execs answered their questions with non-sequiturs and over-the-top gestures. Their success in Japan proves that they’re on to something — the question now is whether or not that will translate to success abroad.
Tonchidot recently announced a $4 million funding round.
Ebby Misheel from Ebby_music on Vimeo.
Department store operator Sogo & Seibu has announced plans to sell two humanoid robots custom-built to look like the people who purchase them.
Roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro already got his
The mechanical doppelgangers are available for a limited time as part of a special New Year’s promotional sale at Sogo, Seibu, and Robinson’s department stores. They will be built by Japanese robotics firm Kokoro, which is perhaps best known for its line of Actroid receptionist humanoids.
In addition to providing the robot with the owner’s face, body, hair, eyes and eyelashes, Kokoro will model the robot’s facial expressions and upper body movements after the buyer. The robot’s speech will be based on recordings of the owner’s voice.
Orders will be accepted from January 1 to 3 at any of Japan’s 28 Sogo, Seibu, or Robinson’s department stores. Only two robot twins are available, but given the hefty price tag of 20.1 million yen ($223,000) each, the stores will likely be hard-pressed to find any takers. If more than two orders are received, the purchasers will be selected in a random drawing.
Hundreds of robots have gathered at the International Robot Exhibition (IREX) now underway at Tokyo Big Sight. Here are a few photos from the event, which runs until November 28.
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Yaskawa Electric Corporation displayed a variety of Motoman industrial robots able to perform tasks ranging from menial factory work to synchronized swordplay.
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Taizo, a clown-like assistant trainer robot by General Robotix, encouraged passersby to do stretching exercises.
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Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru) exhibited their AV-T3 autonomous cargo transport robot.
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Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru) also showcased their autonomous floor cleaning robot (developed jointly with Sumitomo), which was recognized as Robot of the Year in 2006.
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Neko-Tencho, a cat robot developed by RT, danced with its naked skeleton.
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The Manoi PF01 and AT01 athlete humanoids relaxed on a table at the Kyosho booth.
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Figla exhibited an interactive robot (prototype) with remote camera.
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An Actroid was on hand at Kokoro’s booth to demonstrate new camera-based face mimicking technology.
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TOPIO, a ping pong playing robot by TOSY (Vietnam), waited for a worthy opponent.
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The iRobi home robot by Yujin (Korea) can monitor the home, provide weather information and news, respond to voice commands, and entertain the kids with songs.
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NT Research (Korea) demonstrated their RAMeX humanoid with tele-operated arms and hands.
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An intelligent building guide robot with arms, speech capabilities, and face/voice recognition skills was on display at the “Premium Korea” booth.
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Alderbaran Robotics (France) exhibited Nao, a fully-programmable autonomous humanoid.
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NEC’s display included the Papero-mini tele-collaboration robot, which lacks the AI brain of its big brother and functions as a home videoconferencing tool.
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Fujitsu’s Enon robot received some minor adjustments at the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) booth.
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NEDO also exhibited a Muratec receptionist robot.
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A mini-humanoid blended into the crowd.
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CMC Technology Development Co., Ltd. exhibited Robockle, a collision avoidance robot loaded with an array of CMCTD’s sensors.
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Kawada Industries demonstrated their NEXTAGE next-generation industrial robot.
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They also exhibited their HIRO humanoid upper body for R&D purposes.
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Saya, a receptionist robot, was on display at the Kobayashi Laboratory (University of Tokyo) booth.
Японы Кёотогийн их сургуулийн “Robo-Garage” танхимыг үүсгэн байгуулагч, эрдэмтэн Томотака Такахаши нэгэн өхөөрдөм бяцхан робот бүтээжээ. “Ropid” нэртэй энэхүү робот ердөө 38 см өндөр, 1.6 кг жинтэй бөгөөд хуванцар материалаар хийгдсэн байна. Өхөөрдөм хөөрхөн загвартай уг бяцхан роботын давуу тал нь хүний хэлсэн коммандыг чадварлаг гүйцэтгэх бөгөөд ярих үед ам нь ангайж хөдөлдөг гэнэ. Харилцаа холбооны энэ чадвараас гадна “Ropid” робот бусад ижил төрлийн роботуудтай харьцуулахад илүү хурдан алхаж, гүйж, үсэрч чаддаг аж.
Ноён Такахашигийн зохион бүтээсэн бас нэгэн робот нь “Chroino” юм. 35 см өндөр, 1050 грам жинтэй “Chroino”-г бүтээхийн тулд Такахаши 10 сарын хугацаа зарцуулсан бөгөөд үр дүнд нь хөдөлгөөний өндөр чадвартай, яг л хүн шиг алхаж чаддаг роботыг бүтээсэн байна. Баттерейгаар ажиллах ”Chroino” роботод SHIN-Walk хэмээх технологийн ашигласан бөгөөд бөмбөг өшиглөж, өрөөсөн хөл дээрээ зогсч, өөрөө босч, суух чадвартай учир хүүхэд багачуудын сонирхлыг татсан бүтээл болжээ.
Ropid
Chroino
manaihan(mongolchuud) bujignajiinee enenees bolj. zarim ni gertee bugeed ehelsen suragtai,
minii bodol:
tsag ni ireed yavah bolson bol haniadaar uu osoloor uu hamaagui genet l yavna sh dee.(uridchilan sergiilelt heregtei gedegiig uguisgehgui bna l daa gehdee zarim ni buur toooo much handahiin) hun margaash yertuntsiin bishee delhiin tugsgul bolno gedegiig medeed unuuduriig yaval az jargaltai unguruuh ve gej amidrah heregtei sanagddagiin.
PS: gehdee margaash delhii sunuhgui, yagaad gevel bi 7 honogiin tuluvluguuguu gargachihsan bgaa tend delhii sunuh talaar dursaagui uchiraas
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