FEPY

With the full-scale rollout of Japan’s cigarette vending machine age-verification system just around the corner, a Sankei Sports news reporter has confirmed the existence of a minor flaw: magazine photos can be used to fool the age-verification cameras on some machines.

When the reporter went to check out the new age-verifying machines after they were introduced in the Osaka area in June, he soon discovered that the machines equipped with face-recognition cameras would let him buy cigarettes when he held up a 15-centimeter (6-in) wide magazine photo of a man who looked to be in his 50s.

The reporter also went to Kobe, where different face recognition hardware is being used. There, he bought cigarettes using an 8-centimeter (3-in) wide magazine photo of a female celebrity in her 30s. He also reportedly tried to use a 3-centimeter (1-in) wide photo, but the machines rejected it.

As part of the age-verification system, most of Japan’s 570,000 cigarette vending machines are being outfitted with RFID readers that check the purchaser’s Taspo age-verification card. Smokers without a Taspo card can now either buy their cigarettes in person over the counter or use one of 4,000 special machines equipped with face-recognition systems (these machines do not require Taspo cards). More face-recognition machines are on the way, according to vending machine manufacturer Fujitaka, who developed the face-recognition hardware.

The face-recognition machines rely on cameras that scan the purchaser’s face for wrinkles, sagging skin and other signs of age. Facial characteristics are compared with a database of more than 100,000 people, and if the purchaser is thought to be well over 20 years old (the legal age), the sale is approved. If the purchaser looks too young, they are asked to prove their age by inserting a driver’s license. According to Fujitaka, the machines are 90% accurate.

Fujitaka admits that people may, on occasion, be able to fool the age-verification cameras with photographs — but only for the time being. The company is now working on a more advanced system that will make sure each face belongs to a real human, but they are unable to say when these new machines will be put into place.

[Source: Sanspo]

• No Related Post

IT company Kayac has teamed up with researchers from Keio University to develop a high-tech brainstorming room that listens to its inhabitants and feeds them a barrage of related data and images in order to boost creativity and fuel the imagination.

The system — called “Kage Roi” — relies on a speech-recognition capable computer that monitors the brainstorming session via microphone, identifies keywords, and automatically crawls the web in search of related information and images. A ceiling-mounted projector then casts the retrieved data and imagery onto dark, human-shaped shadows on the table during the course of the meeting. The brainstormers can free-associate on the projected data, use it as a tool for discussion, or rely on it for helpful cues if ideas are running short.

Kage Roi also features an ambient, multi-colored LED lighting system designed to stimulate creativity by altering the mood of the room. The “half-day course” setting, for example, simulates the rising and setting of the sun over the course of a 2-hour brainstorming session, helping to create a gradual mood shift as the meeting progresses.

Kayac developed Kage Roi in cooperation with the Keio University Inakage Lab (imgl), whose research focuses on next-generation digital communication and entertainment. The system was installed in a meeting room at Kayac headquarters last month, and the company plans to begin field-testing it soon.

Kayac hopes to develop a practical version of the system in the near future, and they are considering marketing it to companies in the content creation industry.

[Source: Fuji Sankei]

• No Related Post

Kaiju collector/photographer Red Yoda adds a touch of colorful madness to an awesome collection of Japanese vinyl monster figures. Browse the entire photoset for more.

[Kameba]

[Mothra Larva go for a swim]

[Zag!]

[Salary Ika!]

[Daimajin is angry!]

[Bloody. Evil. Varan]

• No Related Post

Rice-growing season has only just begun, but this year’s first crop of rice paddy art, which is created by planting various colors of rice in the field, has already started to emerge.

In the Yamagata prefecture town of Yonezawa, an image of 16th-17th century samurai Naoe Kanetsugu has appeared in a field near the Onogawa hot spring. The samurai, whose image is based on a portrait housed at the nearby Uesugi Museum, appears along with a pair of fireflies and the kanji characters for “Love” and “Tenchijin,” the name of an NHK drama about Naoe Kanetsugu that will air next year. The rice will be harvested in October.

This year marks the third time that crop art has been grown in Yonezawa. Here are a few photos of works from the past two years.

2007

2007

2007

2006

In recent years, a growing number of local governments around Japan have started organizing rice paddy art projects as a way to attract tourists and educate people about rice farming. Look for more rice paddy art to crop up in the coming weeks.

[Photos: Asahi, chosasi_Bkyu]

• No Related Post

Tadanori Yokoo, one of Japan’s most prolific and internationally recognized graphic designers, has created a number of psychedelic posters for notable musicians.

Earth, Wind & Fire, 1976 [Enlarge]

Santana - Lotus, 1974 [Enlarge]

The Beatles, 1972 [Enlarge]

Emerson, Lake & Palmer concert poster, 1972 [Enlarge]

Tangerine Dream, 1976 [Enlarge]

Beatles - Star Club, 1977 [Enlarge]

Cochin Moon, 1978 [Enlarge]

Holst - The Planets, 1979 [Enlarge]

Earth, Wind & Fire, 1993 [Enlarge]

* * * * *

Yokoo is also known to have designed the occasional movie poster, including these three psychedelic beauties for Roger Corman’s “The Trip.”

The Trip, 1968 [Enlarge]

The Trip, 1968 [Enlarge]

The Trip, 1968 [Enlarge]

• No Related Post

With their predilection for recklessly riding round the streets late at night and rebelliously revving their engines, Japan’s bosozoku bike gangs are a nightmare for many neighbourhoods, as the youngsters manage to create a ferocious amount of noise, if not exactly fear, on their meticulously modified motorbikes.

But regardless of the disruptive din they make, such gang members are easily identifiable, as their jingoistically emblazoned jumpsuits,

and technicolour transportation, are a far cry from the far less noticeable norm.

However, despite being regularly regarded as ideal recruits for the yakuza, and as role models of sorts for teenage troublemakers, bosozoku numbers have been steadily declining of late — a crackdown by the police and the possible realisation that making a racket and running the odd red light isn’t all that revolutionary, presumably taking their toll.

Plus, when the powers that be come up with a cute and colourful campaign that, it is hoped, will herald a hiatus, it’s probably time to pack in the practice anyway.

Still, sly digs aside, the bosozoku are an interesting breed, and for a much more insightful, and indeed sympathetic, look at them, this video is well worth a watch.

(additional images from here, here and here)

ShareThis

Tokyo’s bosozoku battle

Originally from Tokyo Times

• No Related Post

Lonely men, listen up: Japan (who else?) has come to your rescue by introducing EMA (Eternal Maiden Actualisation) robot that can be your girlfriend:

A Japanese firm has produced a 15-inch tall robotic girlfriend that kisses on command, to go on sale in September for around $175, with a target market of lonely adult men.

Using her infrared sensors and battery power, the diminutive damsel named "EMA" puckers up for nearby human heads, entering what designers call its "love mode."

Link (Photo: Kim Kyung-hoon/Reuters) - Thanks Pam!

Japan to Market Robotic Girlfriend to Lonely Men

Originally from Neatorama

• No Related Post

Okay, we all know that shoplifting is a crime - but what about the reverse: shopdropping (or droplifting) where you go into stores and actually put things onto the shelves. Is that a crime?

Here’s a neat article on WebUrbanist about the strange (performance art?) act of reverse shoplifting:

Shopdroppers have their own reasons for doing what they do. Some are social and political culture jammers who want to raising awareness about consumerism or adding warnings to dangerous products. Others seek to promote their own product, such as an album left in a record store. Still others do it for their own amusement and artistic fulfillment without expectations of any kind of return. [...]

Shopdroppers who are caught are variously freed by confused police or held on charges related to destruction of property or even fraud.

Link

Is Shopdropping (Reverse Shoplifting) A Crime?

Originally from Neatorama

• No Related Post

Wikipedia explains that the “nurikabe is a yokai, or spirit, from Japanese folklore. It manifests as a wall that impedes or misdirects walking travelers at night. Trying to go around is futile as it extends itself forever. Knocking on the lower part of the wall makes it disappear.” It’s also the inspiration for Super Mario’s Whomp. You can see more photos at Andrew Bell’s site or Flickr gallery. And you can buy a painting or print of the Nurikabe at Bear and Bird Boutique. Via I Heart Cool Stuff.

*Previously: Andrew Bell’s Zombie Lego Minifig.

Nurikabe sculpture by Andrew Bell

Originally from Neatorama

• No Related Post

The things you learn online…  In this week’s issue of Time Magazine there is an um, ah, er, interesting piece on Japanese pornography featuring the elderly.

Japan is repeatedly found to be one of the most sexless societies in the industrialized world. The WHO reported in March this year found that one in four married couples in Japan had not made love in the previous year, while 38% of couples in their 50s no longer have sex at all. Yet, at the same time, the country has seen a surge in demand for pornography that has turned adult videos into a billion-dollar industry, with “elder porn” one of its fastest growing genres.

Tokuda’s exploits have proved to be a goldmine for Glory Quest, which first launched an “old-man” series, Maniac Training of Lolitas, in December 2004. Its popularity led the company to follow up with Tokuda starring in Forbidden Elderly Care in August 2006. Other series followed, and soon elder porn had revealed itself as a sustainable new revenue stream for the industry. “The adult video industry is very competitive,” says Glory Quest p.r. representative Kayoko Iimura. “If we only make standard fare, we cannot beat other studios. There were already adult videos with Lolitas or themes of incest, so we wanted to make something new. A relationship between wife and an old father-in-law has enough twist to create an atmosphere of mystery and captivate viewers’ hearts.”

Japan’s adult video industry is believed to be worth as much as $1 billion a year according to industry insiders, with the largest rental video store chain Tsutaya releases about 1,000 new titles monthly, while and the mega adult mail-order site DMM releases about 2,000 titles each month. Although films featuring women in their teens and 20s are the mainstay of the industry, a trend toward “mature women” has become evident over the past five years. Currently, about 300 of the 1,000 adult videos on offer at Tsutaya, and 400 out of the 2,000 at DMM, are “mature women” films.

Share This

Elder Porn

Originally from Japundit

• No Related Post