Miscellaneous New Japanese Gadgets
These Head Mounted Displays are personal TV viewers. On the left is the Sony Glasstron. It allows you to see through the TV image, superimposing the image on the real world. I've tried this unit, its heavy and kind of clunky, the sound and picture are good but not great, and it carries a stern warning label that Sony disclaims all responsibility if it causes seizures.
On the right is the new Olympus Eye-Trek. It seems a lot lighter than the Glasstron.
Pay-phones have gone high-tech in Japan. This new pay phone accepts prepaid digital phone cards. The smartcard reader accepts digital e-cash cards with a chip inside. Note the two ports on the lower right of the phone. You can connect your portable computer via ISDN, using a direct connection, or an infrared IRDA port. If you have the right computer, you can just hold it near the phone and connect to the internet without wires.
If you go out in the countryside of Japan, you'll see little backhoes like this one. It's cute as a bug. No, I take it back, it IS a bug. These little insect-like creatures come in all shapes and sizes. This one just hatched, and apparently has a new mutation, it can move its tracks at 90 degrees to each other. I don't see how this could serve any practical purpose, but it looks really cool.
Here is a silly game, "Densha de GO!" It is a card game about traveling on trains. We've just drawn a card, and we're riding the Yamanote-sen into Shibuya. Somehow, this doesn't give the full flavor of the subway commuting experience.
