Touch Panel Vending Machine
“Mezamashi TV” visits Shinagawa Station to observe how people are using the new smart vending machine that can recommend drinks based on the appearance of customers:
A few interesting points from the video:
- High school girls think it’s cool.
- Some customers have trouble figuring out what part of the screen needs to be touched in order to buy a drink.
- When it detects a young man, it recommends a sports drink or bottled water.
- When it detects a woman, it recommends tea or bottled water.
- It has trouble detecting faces when eyes are blocked by dark sunglasses.
At the end of the clip, the reporter says that the manufacturer of the vending machine plans to produce 500 more touch panel machines within the next two years.
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Categories: Technology
Homeopathic Treatment Leads to Infant’s Death
Homeopathy, a laughably stupid Western pseudoscience, seems to have caught on with a few people in Japan:
“Homeopathy’s therapeutic value has been scientifically and conclusively disproven,” said Science Council of Japan Chairman Ichiro Kanazawa at a press conference on Aug. 24. Kanazawa made the comments in response to the October 2009 death of a newborn infant from vitamin K deficiency bleeding in Yamaguchi Prefecture last year, after a midwife gave the baby a homeopathic remedy instead of a vitamin K2 injection.
Homeopathy was created in Germany in the 18th century, and involves administering mineral or vegetable substances, diluted several times with water, that produce symptoms similar to those of a patient’s illness. The diluted preparation is soaked into a sugar cube which the patient swallows, and the remedy is supposed to draw out the body’s natural powers of healing and cure the patient. The preparation has almost none of the original substance left in it after the multiple dilutions, but homeopathy practitioners claim that the water “remembers” the original ingredient.
[...]
At the press conference, Kanazawa stressed the need to prevent homeopathy from spreading through Japanese medicine as it has in the West.
If you aren’t familiar with homeopathy, here’s a video explaining its ridiculousness:
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Categories: General Japan
River Surfing in Japan
A few residents of Minokamo city( in landlocked Gifu prefecture) have come up with a fun way to enjoy summer: river surfing!
Here’s a video clip of them in action:
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Categories: General Japan
Hidden Cameras in JR Yokohama Station Toilets
I hope none of the female readers of this site used any public restrooms at Yokohama station recently. According to this news report, a man has been arrested for placing seven hidden cameras in the station’s toilet stalls and filming unsuspecting women:
The man, an employee of JAL, confessed his guilt and said he did it for stress relief.
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Categories: Odd / Strange
iPad Self-Ordering System for Japanese Izakaya
Sharp System Products has created this self-ordering system for restaurants that can be run on Apple’s Ipad:
With this system, the pictures shown on the iPad can be exactly the same as those on the conventional menu. The system makes intuitive use of the iPad’s user interface; for example, pictures can also be enlarged by pinching.
“Here, we’re using the iPad, but Sharp also plans to release an e-book reader. If people’s reaction to the iPad system is good, we’ll commercialize it. Meanwhile, we’re thinking of selling a system with the same application on the Sharp e-book reader.”
When this is commercialized, it’ll be used as part of a Sharp ordering system. By using a general-purpose device like the iPad as the ordering tablet, the system’s entry barrier will be lowered. This will also make it easier for customers to place additional orders, so restaurants can increase their revenue as well.
Similar electronic ordering systems already exist at some izakaya in Japan: I have been to at least two places that had touch screen ordering systems. Still, customers might find it fun to be able to use their handheld electronic devices to order at their favorite izakaya chain.
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Categories: Technology
Cross-dressing Panty Thief Caught on Camera
A 43-year-old man has been arrested in Saga prefecture after he was caught on camera stealing women’s underwear from a coin laundromat:
The laundromat had a surveillance camera to prevent theft, but the man had a plan: he dressed-up like a woman and wore a wig. Apparently he had even bought fashion magazines to help him coordinate his disguise.
However, somebody noticed missing clothing and called the police to report a suspicious-looking person who was parked near the laundromat. Police used his license plate number to track him down and make an arrest. Inside his house, they found an assortment of stolen clothing.
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Categories: Odd / Strange