Here is the daily roundup from Japanese consumer tech and tech business websites for Dec. 12, 2014.

Obayashi further tests new HAL exoskeletal robots

Major Japanese construction company Obayashi Corporation will be conducting further testing of Cyberdyne’s newest HAL exoskeletal robots in actual applications. The work load will be increased two-fold, as part of the company’s campaign to promote its updated features.

Officially introduced last month, the new industry assistant-type HAL exoskeletal robots are specifically designed as augmentation tools, to provide extra lifting power to workers. Obayashi Corporation has already introduced the new HAL robot to a considerable number of construction sites for quite some time, and had proven its practicality in many applications. This time, the company plans to prove its practicality even further by doubling the workload given to its users, promoting the exoskeletal robot as a possible industry standard tool.

Panasonic extends light scanning technology to smartphones

Panasonic (TYO:6752) has developed its LED-based light scanning technology for mobile devices, soon enabling smartphones to read specific LED blinking signs to download data and provide other functions.

First developed way back in 2012, Panasonic’s visible light communication system was conceptualized as a new method of transferring minute information from one device to another. The version developed for mobile devices uses the same principle, having a function not too different from QR codes, but is designed to be more convenient. The LED signs will act as “Hikari IDs” (light IDs), transmitting data from as far as a few meters away, and sending it at speeds comparable to standard wireless technologies.

Panasonic expects the technology to become commercially available in 2016.

Fujitsu showcases new geographic analyzer tool

Fujitsu Labs has recently presented to the public its new open data analysis tool, which is made to analyze and provide comprehensive visual data of any geographical spot within Japan.

Named as the EvaCva, the tool is capable of using retrieving various web data about any geographical spot in Japan, presenting it in a visual easy-to-understand form. It can check for different aspects about the area, regardless of whether the data required is meteorological, environmental, economical, social, industry-based, or purely geographical. The visual charts and graphs that the analyzer tool will automatically generate would give the user a more or less accurate representation of anything that a specific area may have.

The EvaCva geographical analysis tool will be available as a web application sometime around the end of 2015.

The post HAL Work Robots, LED QR, Web Geography: The Headlines in Tokyo for Dec. 12 appeared first on VR World.

The world of literature and entertainment has spawned many different technologies, as proved by this one, very long-standing sci-fi series. In Japan, ideas can also come from the same place, and this anime-inspired technology is one of their latest creations.

HAL robot exoskeleton designer Cyberdyne, in cooperation with Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), developed the idea of creating an exoskeletal robot similar to the HUG Assistant Robotic Exoskeletal Frame. The HUG unit, as it is commonly known, first appeared in Robotics;Notes, a Japanese visual novel game/anime that mainly dealt with the fundamentals of concepts and ideas in robotics. It was introduced as an assistant unit that helped disabled people regain the ability to walk. Strapped around the waist, it provided support to the user’s vertebrae, and can be extended all the way to both legs with add-ons.

Cyberdyne recently acquired the patents to the technology earlier this November, and the company is planning  introduce it as a new HAL “industry assistant-type” robotic exoskeleton. Their version of the HUG unit will be designed to work in two ways. First, as suggested by its designation, it can be used by workers to lessen the burden of physical work. Second, it can function similar to the original HUG unit, as an assistant unit made to help injured and disabled people. The new HAL robotic exoskeleton will be designed to automatically calibrate its resistance load depending on the electric signals sent to the user’s back muscles.

A demonstration event was recently opened by Cyberdyne and NEDO to showcase its very first prototype. The prototype was shown to be able to assist a regular user to lift a total of 40kg in raw weight. As for its availability, the plan is to lease the units to interested customers, instead of distributing them as a commercial product.

One trivial fact, the Robotics;Notes game/anime was set on the year 2017, and with a prototype already shown for demonstration, NEDO and Cyberdyne seems to be set to make the HUG unit a canon reality.

The post Anime-inspired Robotic Exoskeleton becomes a reality appeared first on VR World.