TOKYOMANGO

Get your hand-printed limited edition TokyoMango t-shirt now (2 weeks only)

My friend Ben and I made a test run of TokyoMango t-shirts on Saturday. They're really nice, do you want one? If so, you can buy one here. Below are the details:

- All shirts are 100% cotton.
- Each t-shirt will be hand-silk screened by me and Ben on his Yudu machine. The shirt logo was custom-designed by Ben. Mango design courtesy of my web designer James.
- The Women's tees come in a t-shirt style (pistacio and white) and a spaghetti strap ribbed tank (yellow).
- The Men's tees come in orange and white. In the pic above, Ben is actually accidentally wearing a girl's tee, but you get the idea... the sleeves will be more manly on the one you get.
- You can choose a custom colored tee for $25. Just shoot me an email with your preference after you place the order.
- The sizes tend to run a little big (except for the tanktops). They might shrink in the wash.
- Some of you will receive a free surprise Japanese toy or gadget with your t-shirt! I'm just gonna randomly stick them into bags, so keep an eye out.
- We're taking orders over the next two weeks only, at least for this first printing. They'll ship at the end of those two weeks, when Ben & I will silkscreen them by hand.
- Last day to order is Monday, October 5th.

UPDATE: T-shirts are no longer for sale. Maybe we'll do another round sometime!

Space-age robot art from the 1950s

Life Magazine has a great collection of robot art from Japan in the 1950s. Space travel was becoming a hot topic, science fiction was picking up steam, and toy companies were making all kinds of robot and space age-themed trinkets. Here are a few examples, with more at the Life web site.

Polaris, a new cell phone x robot that acts as a desktop secretary

This is Polaris, a robot designed by KDDI and Flower Robotics that monitors your behavior via your cell phone and then communicates to you via your TV. Basically what it does is function as an intelligent dock for your cell phone — when you put the phone on it, it extracts information from the handset and then gives you recommendations and reminders. Kinda like a miniature personal secretary! It also has the ability to self-navigate on flat surfaces. We should be seeing this in the consumer market soon — so far it's just a prototype.

via Impress Watch (Japanese)

Robots rehearse romantic kiss for a musical production

Thomas and Janet are humanoid theatrical robots created at the National Taiwan University of Technology and Science. They're slated to perform in the first robot production of Phantom of the Opera &mdash this is a clip of them rehearsing.

via IEEE Spectrum

Picture from a Gundam-themed wedding

Shibuya246 has some great photos of the Gundam-themed wedding that just took place in Odaiba, under the life-sized Gundam statue. The groom dressed up as the protagonist Amuro, and the director of the anime series even showed up to give them a special plaque.

Related stories:
Man burns down house after loss of Gundam toys
Giant Gundam rehearses for his big launch day
Life-sized, moving Gundam on display in Odaiba this summer
Gundam-inspired upper house election poster
Gundam decked out in pink jewels

Robot bride = creepy

via Pink Tentacle.

60-foot Gigantor monument being built in Kobe

This month, construction begins on the giant Gigantor statue in Kobe. This non-profit project aims to educate and entertain the public and to create a sense of community around the celebration of ths world-famous robot anime. The original Japanese name for Gigantor is Tetsujin 28-Go. When completed at the end of September, Gigantor will stand 60 feet tall. A must-see if you're in the Kobe area this fall!

Kobe Tetsujin Project main page (Japanese)

Dancing Hatsune Miku robot with iPhone 3GS for a head

From my BBG post:

The face displayed on the 3GS screen is actually that of Hatsune Miku, the anime girl depiction of a vocaloid software created by Yamaha that continues to be a huge hit among Japanese web geeks. The music she's singing is Levan Polkka, a Finnish folk song. Videos of Hatsune Miku singing Levan Polkka became a huge meme on the web video site Nico Nico Douga, which I wrote an article about in Wired Magazine last year. The scallion-twirling, someone explained to me, is a symbol of dumbness — only a really brainless person would stand there and twirl scallions all day.

via BBG via Pink Tentacle

Bandai to release real Doraemon robot toy in September

Great news. On September 3, Bandai is releasing a new toy called My Doraemon &mdash it's a real Doraemon-shaped robot that has motion, light, heat, and sound sensors that let it react to its environment and say Doraemon-esque phrases according to the situation it's in. The toy does not have a real four-dimensional pocket that can spew out toys that will let you travel through time and space, make people fall in love with you, or chase bullies away, but just having this wonderful legendary companion bot in your house is just pure awesomeness.

via Impress Watch (Japanese)

Related posts:
Roundup of Doraemon gadgets on BBG
Doraemon voice-activated air pistol remote control
If Doraemon was a real cat...
Doraemon Japanese history board game
Takecopter tour with Doraemon

Video: giant Gundam rehearses for his big launch day

Last night, the Gizmodo Japan staff caught giant Gundam in the midst of rehearsing his big launch, which will take place later today. You can see how big he is here, and you also get to hear him speak.

Link (Thanks, Hitoshi!)

Sega Toys to release super-realistic Norwegian forest cat robot soon

On July 30, Sega Toys will release the newest of its uber-realistic robotic animal series. It's made to look, feel, and act just like a Norwegian Forest Cat. It runs on four AAs and will retail for about $100. Perfect for cat lovers with allergies or pet-unfriendly apartments!

Press release (Japanese)

Gundam decked out in pink jewels

Wow. Someone in China made a blinged out pink girly Gundam with bejeweled armor and glittery flowers on his legs for the robot anime's 30th anniversary.

Link (Japanese)

Buy a desktop robot that resembles a diapered baby

The cam baby is a cute child robot that resembles a 1-year old human baby in diapers. It has just learned to walk, so it waddles towards you when you clap your hands and say, here baby baby. It makes cute little bot noises while it walks, and its LED eyes flash and go piko piko piko! When it falls, it starts crying. You can own one for $26.

Buy yours here.

New robot is a makeshift sushi chef

Who needs sushi chefs when you have Chef Robot?

Link

Life-sized, moving Gundam on display in Odaiba this summer

This summer marks the 30th anniversary of Mobile Suit Gundam. To celebrate, a full-sized Gundam &mdash yes, all 18 meters and 35 tons of him &mdash is being built in a park in Odaiba. Yes, this means that if you go to Tokyo this summer between July 11 and August 31, you'll probably see him towering over the city as you drive across the Rainbow Bridge on your way to the city from Narita.

This Gundam's not just a stationary statue, either. He's going to be able to move his head and emit light and mist from different parts of his body. Awesome.

Link

Human-sized, remote-controlled Tachikoma with a cockpit

Cool! A human-sized Tachikoma that you can sit inside and control via remote.

Link

Roundup of Doraemon gadgets on BBG

On Boing Boing Gadgets, I wrote an article about some of the best Doraemon gadgets from 1970-1980 that either exist now or probably will exist soon. I heart Doraemon. Please give it a quick read!

Also, we're celebrating Asian Heritage Month on BBG so take a visit to check out all the posts.

6 gadgets of the future from Doraemon [BBG]

Robot teaches elementary school class in Tokyo

The robot craze that Fred Schodt predicted in 1988 reached new heights in Tokyo last week, when a pretty humanoid went to an elementary school in Chiyoda-ku to guest teach a class. Saya—a speaking robot with 30 moving parts and a slew of facial expressions created by Tokyo University of Science professor Hiroshi Kobayashi—was there to inspire students to consider a career in science and robotics. The students thought she was pretty and that she looked just like a nice human lady.

Link

First robot moonwalk slated for 2020

It's always a good idea to have robot guinea pigs if you can afford it. That's why Japan's Strategic HQ for Space Development is planning to send bipedal robots to the moon in 2020 before their human contingency gets there. A lunar robot is part of Japan's military defense strategy—something that could end up being really important now that North Korea's launching missiles over our heads again, and we don't have a real human army.

Link and image via The Raw Feed

Robo-Q, the smallest walking bipedal robots in the world

Takara Tomy released the Robo-Q, which they claim is the smallest walking bipedal robot in the world, in February. They're just 3.4 cm tall, and they're super cute. Also, from the promotional videos and pics it looks like they're geared towards couples and kids, not hard core robokit fans. He can do things like walk around your desktop without crashing into things, or play soccer with his mini-robot friends. Do any of you remember playing with the tiny toy cars called Choro-Q? My brother used to collect them. Anyway, this is the sister brand of that.

Robot signals beginning of future-themed weekend in Roppongi

Tonight in Roppongi happened already, but if you happened to have been there you would have seen the debut of this 7-meter tall aluminum fire-breathing robot called Giant Torayan. It's actually the creation of artist Kenji Yanobe, and it's part of an awesome art project that will transform the entire neighborhood into an alien robot-themed wonderland. (Image by AP)

New robot TV series features ultimate 12-man transformer

Engine Oh G12 is a new transformer TV series that's super hot in Japan right now. In this clip, a dozen normal-sized motor vehicle robots transform into an indestructible giant mecha with a 12-man cockpit. Even if you can't understand what they're saying, the visuals are amazing. Engine Oh G12 is actually part of a series called Engine Sentai Go-onger, and premiered on TV Asahi last February.

(Thanks, Matsuu!)

World's smallest robot makes Gundam noises

The smallest bidpedal robot in the world is Takara Tomy's Robo-Q. Its magnetic feet move according to an infrared remote control, and it has sensors that recognize obstacles in its way. Its entire body is smaller than a human thumb, but tiny internal speakers make stamping noises as mighty as Gundam's. It comes in two different models—retro and future—which is super cute because I was starting to think I would never have the option of owning an old school retro bot, but now I know I can.

It goes on sale 2/28.

Takara Tomy via Impress Watch (Japanese)

The out-of-shape push-up robot

This charming, dysfunctional robot won Maywa Denki's Baca Robo contest in 2007, and it's probably because he reminds us of ourselves in more than one way—it looks like it's in excruciating pain as it does push-ups, and after a while, it literally falls ot pieces.

The Baca Robo contest is an annual competition in which fun-loving geeks make robots that don't serve any utilitarian function except to amuse, amaze, and entertain. The push-up robot's sensibility is very Japanese, I think—it's funny because his sole function as a robot is to do push-ups, yet he gets tired and falls to pieces if he does too many.

via Pink Tentacle

Chart shows world robot takeover

IEEE Spectrum has a fun and informative chart showing the world's robot population by country. Robots are fast on their way to taking over the human race—there are about a million roaming the streets now, and many millions more in the making. Just a decade or two ago, they were practically non-existent. Think about it...

(Thanks, Mike!)

Uniqlo NY will have robot shopping guides

The UNIQLO SoHo store in NY will soon be the first Manhattan shopping venue to have humanoid robots walking around to help you find stuff. Wakamaru the Robot was created by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, with the initial intent of helping elderly people. He makes his stateside debut around the second week of September.

Link (Thanks, Brian!)

Lady Murasaki Bot Recites Tale of Genji

Roboticists in Kyoto take books-on-tape to a whole new level with this purple talking robot. Modeled after 10th century noblewoman Lady Murasaki Shikibu, she reads you her famous novel Tale of Genji via an internal MP3 player while making relevant gestures from her era to emphasize dramatic moments.

Link

New Toyota "Winglet" Bot Walks Through Airports

Toyota's newest robot is a Segway-like transportation tool that called the Winglet. Weighing just under 22kg, it's portable and compact and intended to help lazy people get around in airports and supermarkets just by leaning in the direction they want to move in. Call me crazy, but I'd rather be sitting in a motorized wheelchair than standing on this thing which makes you two heads taller than the next person and only goes 4mph. (The Segway is at least 3x faster.)

It will be a lot cooler, I think, when Toyota does what it plans to do next with it, which is to enable it to store shopping info or go back to a battery charging station on its own.

Link

Bug Spray for Robots

I have no idea why this company decided to use Scary Android Woman for their commercial. It makes me want to run away from the TV screen, but not to go buy bug spray that keeps a robot's skin soft and smooth.

via Boing Boing

USB Toy Does the Robot While You Work

Need more company on your desktop? This USB-powered dancing robot will sit on your desk and do robot dance moves every time there's action on your computer, i.e. streaming music, error messages, IM pings. If he gets annoyed or too hard core, you can just unplug him. 3000 yen on Rakuten.

Robot Pours Asahi Beer, Speaks British English

Who needs human bartenders when you can have a robot pour your pint? Asahi has partnered with UK department store Selfridges to showcase this guy, who claims to be the world's first bartending bot. It weighs a quarter of a ton, speaks with a British accent, and can snap open a bottle and pour you a pint with perfect precision. He doesn't even expect you to tip.

Link

Digg Bot Man Arrested

On June 28, a man in Nagasaki was caught with a DIY Digg bot in his house. The robotic arm dugg more than 3,000 stories in 2 days through sophisticated story detection mechanisms. You can see it at work in this video. I don't know why the commentator talks like a robot, too. It's a little strange. Also a little strange that it's illegal to make Digg bots. People rig Digg manually all the time. Besides, why do Japanese police care if he's violating Digg's user policy? I don't understand, but maybe I'm missing something.

via Pink Tentacle

Contest: Win a Limited Edition WoodBot

WoodBots are cute little wooden robot companions that will hang out on your desk while you work or sit on your dash while you drive. If you always wanted a Doraemon but he never showed up out of your desk drawer, this might be a good alternative. (You can just pretend your WoodBot has a magical door that will take you anywhere and a little propeller hat that can make you fly.)

Alexander Shen, the creator of WoodBots, sent me a couple of limited edition WoodBots to give away on TokyoMango. Yay. Each one is handmade and quite fragile, so I'm a little bit worried about shipping it. But hey, Alex got them to me safe, so I should be able to do the same, right?

To enter the contest, just email me your name, address, and a good robot joke with the subject line: WoodBot Contest. Winner will be chosen in a week. Thanks!

Replica of the World's Oldest Robot

The first robot in the world was an Edo period miniature humanoid that served tea, circa 17th century. My friend Christine and I found a replica for sale at Maker Faire last weekend.So cool!

Fred Schodt writes all about this robot in Inside the Robot Kingdom,an out-of-print must-read about Japan's robotics industry.

Oldest Robot in History Resurrected

80 years ago, someone made this giant Buddha-like humanoid robot that can change its expression and move its head with surprising ease in order to commemorate the new Showa emperor. Some consider it the oldest robot in history—at the time, people called it a "manmade human." The robot was refurbished in Osaka last week after years of collecting dust.

Link (Japanese)

The Annual Stupid Robot Contest

The Stupid Robot Contest is an annual show held by Meiwa Electronics to determine whose robot is the silliest. There are just three criteria that a robot must meet in order to be entered in this contest:

1. It must be mechanical
2. It must be completely useless from a societal point of view.
3. It must make people laugh.

Pictured above is Papa Robopucho, a disfigured little box bot that plays the red-flag-white-flag game by himself, and then occasionally topples over and cries for help.

Some of the other contestants last year were a chorus of pregnant wife robots, a child robot that did push-ups, and and a "moe" robot dressed like a maid from a maid cafe.

Bacarobo.com via Impress Watch (Japanese)

Create Your Own QR Code With an Army of Little Robots

A company called Cross Borders Inc created a fun little program that lets you generate your own QR codes—a 3-dimensional bar code common that can be read by cell phone camera. All you have to do is enter a URL, and the service dispatches an army of little robots that start off standing at random but quickly start hopping into position until they make sense together and can be scanned by IR.

Cute Bug-Like Bot Works Remote Controls

This cute little bug-like robot is actually a universal remote control controller. In development by Toshiba, the 8-inch tall ApriPoco communicates with IR signals from your remote—and, of course, with you—to save you from fumbling with complicated buttons on the various control devices scattered around your living room. It's similar in tech to voice-activated gadgets like GPS, except you can give it your own commands without having to memorize the preset ones.

The cuteness is intentional, too. Researchers are hoping it will stave off frustration of people who are otherwise impatient with dumb machines. Think Furby with a function. It's like having a pet!
Link (Thanks, Sam!)

Robot Teaches Dentists How to Drill, Not Molest, Female Patients

Japanese dentists are infamous for being playboys and not necessarily very good at fixing teeth. So it's natural that roboticists would create something like Itagirl (literally means Pain Girl), a pretty(?) robot woman who is designed to simulate a typical dental patient. She has pain sensors that trigger over 30 responses, from verbal ones like "ouch" to a slight raise of the hand to indicate discomfort. Her skin is made of silicone, and she's pneumatically powered. She also has sensors in her chest so that the perv dentist can't rest his elbow on her boobies while he's sucking saliva out of her mouth.
via Pink Tentacle

Pollen Bot Army to Help Humans with Hay Fever

If you see little white styrofoam robots hanging out in Tokyo this spring, don't worry—it's not an apocalyptic bot invasion, it's the pollen-fighting mercenaries from Weathernews, Inc. These 2.2lb-heavy bots are just a foot tall and have eyes that glow in five different colors that indicate the level of pollen in the air. (In Japan, it's mostly cedar and cypress that induces allergies.)

200 volunteers will be hanging these bots near their homes. The monitoring units inside the robots will record the pollen levels in the air and send reports, updated by the minute, to HQ, which will consequently zap the info to the pollen map.

Link

Robot Teaches Kids Traditional Dance

Not that many people these days know Japanese traditional dance. So the best way to teach kids so that the art form doesn't die out is to program a robot to do it and dispatch it to classrooms across the country. From the looks of it, the bot's a pretty good teacher—even without legs—and the kids look happy to be learning from him.

Link

Robodol: The Cutest Robot Geek Ever

This is Mayu Ichinose. She loves robots—or, as she states it in her blog subhed: "Robot is love." She's a model, a prolific blogger, and a total Gundam geek. She goes to almost every robot competition, robot convention, and robot show, and she even sometimes dressed up as one.

If you read Japanese,or if you just want to ogle over photos of her, her blog is here.

US Monkey Controls Japanese Robot With Brain Waves

When a group of human scientists can make a monkey in North Carolina maneuver a robot in Tokyo using neurological signals, you know you've arrived at a benchmark in technological advancement.

Read about it

Massanova: The Bite-Sized Robot Made of Electronic Parts

This is Massanova, a tiny little robot made with old nuts and bolts. He was hand-designed by artist Jun Tanaka, he's less than 2 cm tall, but he's still cute as a button. Massanova = machine + cassanova. Maybe. There's also a doggy version (pic after the jump).   

Robot Plays Soccer

Don't feel like exercising today? Don't worry, the robot will do it for you. Fujitsu's new robot, HOAP 3, can dribble pass, and shoot. The day when we sit down as spectators to an all-robot soccer game pitting competing robotics firms against each other feels suddenly not that far away.

(Image via Mainichi Daily News & Reuters)

Robot Solves Rubix Cube in Seconds

A robot called Cube-Kun debuted earlier this month at the TEPIA exhibition in Tokyo. His sole purpose? To solve Rubix Cubes within seconds. He has a giant flat screen for a face. When you give him a Cube, he quickly registers what the six sides look like, displays that on his screen, and then figures out a solution in approximately one second. Then his hands get to work. Created by Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

via Impress Watch (Japanese)

Japanese Come to the Conclusion that a Robot is the Perfect Housewife

After many years of hard core research and first hand experience, researchers at the prestigious Waseda University have come to the conclusion that a $200,000 robot is the best kind of Japanese wife. Twenty-One is the first robot that has a touch as soft as a human's. Roboticists have never before been able to balance strength and flexibility to this degree—it cost millions of dollars and seven years to develop.

Twenty-One's creators made her slightly shorter and a lot plumper than the average Japanese woman—this girl is 5 feet tall and weighs 245 pounds. Unlike the rough-from-dishwashing fingers of human housewives, her hands are soft and smooth as silicon and have 241 pressure-sensors to gently massage you with. She talks, but only when you tell her to, and only what you program her to say. At this stage in her life, she only has 15 minutes of battery life per charge, which means you only have to deal with her for 15 minutes at a time. A chauvinistic husband's dream!

Link (Thanks, Sam!)

Robot Made of Amazon.jp Boxes

Why would anyone want to BUY Amazon boxes? This is a collector's item adapted from a manga, Yotsubato. Except the cardboard bot in Yotsubato was not annoyingly branded like this guy. If you feel like spending $20 on Amazon.jp boxes, you can buy this here starting in December.

 

Link

New Robot Jellyfish Kit

This is the Medusa Neo. It's a build-it-yourself robot that looks like a jellyfish and walks like Tachikoma. It takes about an hour and a half to build—simple enough for even a beginner bot-builder to complete, yet educational for those who want to learn how cranks and gears work.

Comes out end of November from Elekit.

Product Page (Japanese, via Impress Watch)

 

Beauto, A DIY Roomba Alternative

The Beauto is a new house-cleaning robot that you can build yourself using a software and kit created by Japanese robot maker VStone. When completed, it runs on 4 AAA batteries. You can also add parts and hack them easily to become battle-bots or moving display cases for your favorite stuffed animal.

Product page (Japanese)

Robot Rock Paper Scissors

Pop Quiz: Who do you think won this janken (rock-paper-scissors) match?

A. The human, because scissors can't cut rock
B. The robot, because robot hands can cut anything
C. Neither

Photo courtesy of Yahoo! News