Tokyo strollers receive tips via chattering computer chips

csanopal

Electoral Member
Dec 22, 2006
225
5
18
Toronto, ON



By Yuri Kageyama

TOKYO (AP) - Downtown strollers looking for directions, store guides or historical tidbits will be able to get an earful without talking to anyone - thanks to 1,200 computer chips embedded around Tokyo's Ginza shopping district.

The information can be heard through earphones that pick up signals from chips stuck in cement, lampposts and subway-station ceilings. The one billion yen (US$8.7 million) government-backed Tokyo Ubiquitous Technology Project spans several blocks.

University of Tokyo Prof. Ken Sakamura says the effort gives a glimpse into the future, when such chips will become so widespread that government offices and private businesses will use them to zap information to passers-by.

"This project is to build an infrastructure for the 21st century," Sakamura said during a demonstration Monday.

Similar experimental efforts are underway elsewhere in Japan.

During a tour, reporters wearing the earphones and a portable media player strolled around the shopping district. The player, which is worn around the neck, also features a small video screen.

In front of Mitsukoshi Department Store, a voice explained how a statue of a lion has long been the store's trademark. Cross the street to Nissan Motor Co.'s showroom, and the gadget automatically switched to a chip at the showroom.

"Welcome to Nissan Ginza gallery," says a woman who appears on the video screen.

By pushing buttons on the device, the user can see additional information, such as a map or a historical photo.

U.S. cities have expressed interest in the technology, Sakamura said.

Japan is hoping the technology can be used to help to guide the elderly, the blind and the handicapped through city streets, Sakamura said.

It also sees potential in the service - now available in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean - to help tourists get around, he said.








Copyright © 2007 Canadian Press
 

tamarin

House Member
Jun 12, 2006
3,197
22
38
Oshawa ON
With our lives abuzz with so much technology and the air mud-thick with various radio and electronic waves it's likely the biggest killer of the future will be electronic toxins. We are immersed in a soup of unnatural frequencies.