Japanese studio nendo has designed the ‘data clip’ a USB key in the shape of a paperclip. The small data storage device can clip to a stack of documents, business cards or just keep all your important files together. The design aims to present a new relationship between daily life and digital data.
/via http://bit.ly/nZTGel
Art: Sanrio’s Small Gift Art Exhibitions In Los Angeles
Sanrio is celebrating their 50th anniversary with an amazing two part art extravaganza known as Small Gift. The first part, Small Gift Los Angeles will debut this Friday, November 12 at the Barker Hanger and will be open to the public through November 21. The event features carnival games, a pop-up shop, food trucks, mini golf and 11 unique installation rooms. Then for Art Basel, Small Gift Miami, will open on December 2. Jamie Rivadeneira of Japan LA has tasked 50 of today’s best and brightest artists to create works inspired from the many Sanrio characters for the Small Gift exhibitions.
Technology: WTF! Is Skynet next?
These robotic suits, worn by humans and produced by Cyberdyne in Japan, let the paralysed walk and give care-workers extra strength to carry the old and infirm to a wheelchair. Businesses like this need stability to prosper - and the country’s recent parade of interchangeable prime-ministers (five in four years) has hardly helped.
(Source: theeconomist)
Design: Japanese Lunch Box
The three vertical components are stackable, microwavable and each one comes with built in chopsticks and holder. Mmm…bento from the future.
Japanese brand metaphys has designed ‘ojue’ - a lunch box with a minimized base that can be stacked vertically, allowing it to be placed neatly inside even the slimmest of bags. Based on the idea of providing ‘vertical flexibility’, ‘ojue’ is comprised of three units and can be freely combined depending on one’s appetite or physical condition.
Advertising/Technology: Minority Report has Arrived
Using facial recognition technology, the Japanese are testing new digital advertising billboards that’s straight out of Minority Report. These billboards are fitted with cameras that capture your image, detects your gender and age; creating a tailored made advertisement on the fly. As the ad rolls, the computer then determines how interested you are and how long you’ve watched and then submits the captured data to the company - effin BANANAS right! Actually, not really…
Tokyo, Japan – There’s a scene in Steven Spielberg’s 2002 movie “Minority Report” that’s stuck with me, even many years after I initially saw the film. As Tom Cruise walks through a mall, cameras lining the ceilings and walls scan his retinas and advertisements custom-made for him pop up. He enjoys beer, so up pops a Guinness ad. But the electronic tracking becomes problematic when Cruise is trying to hide from the authorities, realizing that it’s impossible in his futuristic world.
Tittle: Harajuku Sugar Daddy
I took this picture during our trip to Japan, on our way back to our hotel from the Harujuku district in Tokyo.
By this point on our trip, I was getting pretty good at taking pictures of people on the Metro without them knowing (creepy. yes, I know).
The train was packed. The Goth kids, Lolitas and random commuters were littered about the car and no one was paying attention to us gaijin - it was on!
My camera at the ready, stashed and hidden behind my backpack, I laid low and waited for my opportunity. A few stops had passed - nothing. I was too anxious, too many people I told myself. And then, just like a scene straight out of a Wong Kar-Wai movie, the train stopped and everyone got up and left. Hello mass exodus! Seriously, outside of just a few people, including me and my wife, the car was empty. That’s when I looked up, and there they were.
Angled just right, my camera was on and ready to go. I got lucky. I took a few quick shots. Click! Click! Fuck! I had forgotten to disable the sound effects. Screw it, I took a few more shots, the whole time, praying that I wouldn’t get caught. No one heard, no one noticed. I got lucky - again. The next stop was ours, so I packed up, played it cool and took out my phone and checked my email (I really did - nerdy!).
You never know what you’ll end up getting on film when you “snipe” shots, so I was just hoping that I got something, anything cool. I did! Well, I’d like to think so, anyway.
I love how mysterious these two are in the picture. What’s their story? How are they related? Is he her boyfriend? Maybe he’s her brother? Why does she look so sad? What’s in his bag?
My guess is that he’s her Harajuku Sugar Daddy, and after a long day of shopping, their off to their favorite ramen shop for a late lunch - his treat of course!
Tired of being stalked? Hide don’t run! The Coke machine ninja suit is just what you need. And remember; urban-camo-vending-machine is this year’s new black.
Still a concept for now, the Honda U3-X is compact experimental device that fits between the rider’s legs, to provide free movement in all directions just as in human walking - forward, backward, side-to-side, and diagonally.
Source: picocool.com
