Tokyo-based startup Poynter today has launched a web-based 3D rendering showcase (of the same name), enabling 3D modelers to share their figurines, illustrations, and even photos. Aiming to target the Vocaloid fan community worldwide, it’s available in both English and Japanese. In terms of sharing the appearance of virtual figurines online, there used to be no way other method than capturing a video from your rendering app on desktop, and then uploading it to video sharing sites like as YouTube. But the Poynter app allows other users to move around your creation on screen however they wish, so of course it’s far more enjoyable. The company plans to integrate the service with artificial intelligence technology in the near future, making it possible to let 3D models move in accordance with a user’s verbal commands over the internet. Regarding possible monetization models, the startup’s CEO Hiroki Takeuchi says the company will primary obtain revenues from banner advertising and on-the-site purchases. The startup was launched back in 2012, and received seed funding from Tokyo-based incubator Samurai Incubate.
Tokyo-based startup Poynter today has launched a web-based 3D rendering showcase (of the same name), enabling 3D modelers to share their figurines, illustrations, and even photos. Aiming to target the Vocaloid fan community worldwide, it’s available in both English and Japanese.
In terms of sharing the appearance of virtual figurines online, there used to be no way other method than capturing a video from your rendering app on desktop, and then uploading it to video sharing sites like as YouTube. But the Poynter app allows other users to move around your creation on screen however they wish, so of course it’s far more enjoyable.
The company plans to integrate the service with artificial intelligence technology in the near future, making it possible to let 3D models move in accordance with a user’s verbal commands over the internet. Regarding possible monetization models, the startup’s CEO Hiroki Takeuchi says the company will primary obtain revenues from banner advertising and on-the-site purchases.
The startup was launched back in 2012, and received seed funding from Tokyo-based incubator Samurai Incubate.
See the original story in Japanese. Nulab is a startup based in Japan’s western city of Fukuoka, which has developed web-based collaborative tools for use with remote workers. You may be familiar with their diagram sharing tool Cacoo or their task tracking and management tool Backlog. In terms of business management style, Nulab does things a little differently than typical startups. Their method is incrementally progressive, similar to what typical SMEs do. They don’t show off so much, but their services are pretty great, and Cacoo in particular has a wide following around the world. We recently had a chance to hear from the startup’s CEO, Masanori Hashimoto, who told us a little more about their progress to date. Developing Backlog The startup’s primary revenue early on came from developing mobile and web apps for its clients. That’s how Backlog was invented. Hashimoto: We launched back in 2004 and started our business doing software development for clients. So we were working on web productions for our clients in Fukuoka, system developments for securities companies, or even consulting work. In such processes, we had no system for tracking bugs and managing fixes. So we developed our own. That was the beginning…
From the left, Nulab’s co-founders and board members: Shinsuke Tabata (managing director), Toshitaka Agata (managing director), and Masanori Hashimoto (CEO)
Nulab is a startup based in Japan’s western city of Fukuoka, which has developed web-based collaborative tools for use with remote workers. You may be familiar with their diagram sharing tool Cacoo or their task tracking and management tool Backlog.
In terms of business management style, Nulab does things a little differently than typical startups. Their method is incrementally progressive, similar to what typical SMEs do. They don’t show off so much, but their services are pretty great, and Cacoo in particular has a wide following around the world. We recently had a chance to hear from the startup’s CEO, Masanori Hashimoto, who told us a little more about their progress to date.
Developing Backlog
The startup’s primary revenue early on came from developing mobile and web apps for its clients. That’s how Backlog was invented.
Hashimoto: We launched back in 2004 and started our business doing software development for clients. So we were working on web productions for our clients in Fukuoka, system developments for securities companies, or even consulting work. In such processes, we had no system for tracking bugs and managing fixes. So we developed our own. That was the beginning of the Backlog app.
Using some open source code and libraries, we could finally introduce the commercial version of the tool after a couple of testing versions. That was in 2006, and at that time the tool was available for free. We didn’t care about charging to our users. (laugh) After that we picked up a lots of new users without any intentional promotion activities.
Subsequently, they released a premium version that was priced at around 8,000 yen (about $80) a month, but that didn’t quite work out. They needed to find another way to make it work.
Hashimoto: We had been developing the app from an engineer’s perspective. We hoped the tool could help software engineers design system architecture or interfaces for their work. But then we changed things and made some improvements for designers or website producers, and the premium version started showing good numbers.
As a result, the tool became widely recognized as a task management tool, not only in the Fukuoka tech community but all across the country.
The emergence of Cacoo
Following up on the Backlog app, the startup introduced Cacoo back in 2010, enabling users to collaborate on diagrams with other remote users, and even chat within the app. Cacoo would go on to become a smash hit.
Cacoo is now integrated with AdFlow, a banner ad production assisting tool.
Hashimoto: We released the Cacoo app back in 2010. During development work, we previously used wikis for sharing technical information among our developers. But we wanted to edit a diagram or an image in the Wiki easily. And that’s why we started developing the diagram editing and sharing tool.
But for them, it was a very long road to releasing both Cacoo and Backlog. By taking time away from their primary work to develop the Cacoo app, they needed two years to develop the app and get it published.
Shifting focus
Each of the three board members plays a different role. Hashimoto was in charge of managing the client software development, but since these two web services started showing good numbers, he decided to shutdown that department.
Hashimoto: Our director Tabata takes care of the Backlog app, and Agata takes care of the Cacoo app. Since these services are growing now, we shutdown my department. It used to be the primary revenue stream for the company but I think it there is less potential in the future.
We have expected to execute this pivot earlier, but it was impossible to do it so rapidly. We spent three years to shifting our resources from development work to intensifying these new web services.
The startup has also introduced an SDK, which allows third-party developers to work on system integration with the Cacoo app.
I asked Hashimoto if he’s interested in trying for an IPO. He explained:
If your company is listed on a stock exchange, it’s no longer a private company, and should serve people almost like public works. If you expect to make your business into something like that, it’s worth trying to IPO. […] Our next goal is to make this a world-class company.
With the lofty aspiration of further global expansion, Nulab launched a subsidiary in Singapore back in March of 2012. It will be interesting to see if they can use that outpost to find further opportunities around Asia and beyond.
Tokyo-based hardware startup Cerevo, best known for its LiveShell livestreaming device, recently introduced another new, intriguing product. It’s called Otto. Otto is a wifi and web app enabled power strip which designed to hide the AC adapters from all your laptops and smartphones. And what’s more, the power supply from all eight of its sockets can be controlled over the internet. Two of them can even be controlled by a dimmer, which in addition to letting you turn lights on or off, lets you dim or brighten lights with your smartphone. This sleek, smart enclosure was designed by Japanese product designer Satoshi Yanagisawa, who is based in the UK. The intent of his design was to harmonize with your living room while at the same time pursuing advanced functions. Cerevo is now exhibiting Otto at Salone Internazionale del Mobile, currently underway at Milan, Italy. If you have a chance to attend the event, drop by their booth at Pavilion 24-22 and give Otto a try. And if you can’t make the trip to Italy, head over to TV Tokyo’s website where there’s a video demonstration of the device. Cerevo was founded by ex-Panasonic product producer Takuma Iwasa (aka Waren-osyo) in…
Tokyo-based hardware startup Cerevo, best known for its LiveShell livestreaming device, recently introduced another new, intriguing product. It’s called Otto.
Otto is a wifi and web app enabled power strip which designed to hide the AC adapters from all your laptops and smartphones. And what’s more, the power supply from all eight of its sockets can be controlled over the internet. Two of them can even be controlled by a dimmer, which in addition to letting you turn lights on or off, lets you dim or brighten lights with your smartphone.
This sleek, smart enclosure was designed by Japanese product designer Satoshi Yanagisawa, who is based in the UK. The intent of his design was to harmonize with your living room while at the same time pursuing advanced functions.
Cerevo is now exhibiting Otto at Salone Internazionale del Mobile, currently underway at Milan, Italy. If you have a chance to attend the event, drop by their booth at Pavilion 24-22 and give Otto a try. And if you can’t make the trip to Italy, head over to TV Tokyo’s website where there’s a video demonstration of the device.
Japan has always been a pretty great country in which to take a relaxing soak. But jacuzzi and bath company, Takeshita, gave the nation’s bath culture an extra special splash of color today with its new ‘Hotaru’ (or ‘Firefly’) LED bathtub. Incredibly this tub, which is composed of a special translucent resin, will cycle through a seven-color gradation of light, producing what the company hopes is a therapeutic, relaxing experience. The Firefly’s lights can be connected to your bathroom lights, so that when you illuminate the bathtub, your bathroom lights go off. The tub comes in a few varieties, a 350 liter model for 1,002,750 yen, and a 340 liter model for 892,500 yen. There’s also a ‘blower’ type for those of you who like bubble baths. If you live in Japan and think this is for you, the company can arrange for installations nationwide. Check out the video above for a quick demonstration of the Firefly in action! (Takeshita via Impress)
Japan has always been a pretty great country in which to take a relaxing soak. But jacuzzi and bath company, Takeshita, gave the nation’s bath culture an extra special splash of color today with its new ‘Hotaru’ (or ‘Firefly’) LED bathtub.
Incredibly this tub, which is composed of a special translucent resin, will cycle through a seven-color gradation of light, producing what the company hopes is a therapeutic, relaxing experience. The Firefly’s lights can be connected to your bathroom lights, so that when you illuminate the bathtub, your bathroom lights go off.
The tub comes in a few varieties, a 350 liter model for 1,002,750 yen, and a 340 liter model for 892,500 yen. There’s also a ‘blower’ type for those of you who like bubble baths. If you live in Japan and think this is for you, the company can arrange for installations nationwide.
Check out the video above for a quick demonstration of the Firefly in action!
The traditional Japanese style of lacquer art known as Maki-e goes back thousands of years, involving the use of metal powders or seashell material to create spectacular designs under a fine lacquer finish. And one company has brought this ancient tradition into the modern day by using it for the creation of intricate iPhone covers. This special smartphone cover, which goes on sale tomorrow, is the amazing Hello Kitty iPhone cover pictured above. It was created by Echizen Lacquerware Ltd, with planning from Principle Co Ltd, and of course licensed from the folks at Sanrio. As you can see in the video below, it’s a handcrafted product that requires great care, and the resulting cover doesn’t come cheap. The Hello Kitty case will go on sale tomorrow for the price of 18,000 yen, or about $200. It can be purchased at Kusuyama stores in Japan and around the world, and it can also be bought online. This is not the first time that we’ve seen an old-school Japanese art encasing Apple’s iPhone. Last month we looked at elegant ‘Musubi’ paper cases from Kyoto-based manufacturer Suzuki Shufudo.
The traditional Japanese style of lacquer art known as Maki-e goes back thousands of years, involving the use of metal powders or seashell material to create spectacular designs under a fine lacquer finish. And one company has brought this ancient tradition into the modern day by using it for the creation of intricate iPhone covers.
This special smartphone cover, which goes on sale tomorrow, is the amazing Hello Kitty iPhone cover pictured above. It was created by Echizen Lacquerware Ltd, with planning from Principle Co Ltd, and of course licensed from the folks at Sanrio.
As you can see in the video below, it’s a handcrafted product that requires great care, and the resulting cover doesn’t come cheap. The Hello Kitty case will go on sale tomorrow for the price of 18,000 yen, or about $200. It can be purchased at Kusuyama stores in Japan and around the world, and it can also be bought online.
This is not the first time that we’ve seen an old-school Japanese art encasing Apple’s iPhone. Last month we looked at elegant ‘Musubi’ paper cases from Kyoto-based manufacturer Suzuki Shufudo.
At a recent FITC event in Tokyo I had a chance to hear renowed artist Shantell Martin speak about her artwork, as well as her connections to Japan, a place that has played a central role in her development. Her work is sometimes so simple that it resembles doodles that you might have done the margins of your school text book – but yet at the same time it sometimes has overwhelming detail and scale. Her tool is, more often than not, a simple pen – typically traveling black lines on white surfaces, sometimes big surfaces, sometimes small. Watching her draw, you initially say to yourself “Pftt, I could probably do that,” only to realize minutes later when a jagged edge becomes a cliff and then a sailboat pops up and then a face and then, well — and then you realize there’s far more to it, crossing over into the digital space and live performance art [1]. Another dimension For Shantell the act of creation is part of the work, part of the spectacle, a third dimension of time added to a 2D surface. It was when she realized that her live drawings were a type of performance art…
At a recent FITC event in Tokyo I had a chance to hear renowed artist Shantell Martin speak about her artwork, as well as her connections to Japan, a place that has played a central role in her development. Her work is sometimes so simple that it resembles doodles that you might have done the margins of your school text book – but yet at the same time it sometimes has overwhelming detail and scale.
Her tool is, more often than not, a simple pen – typically traveling black lines on white surfaces, sometimes big surfaces, sometimes small. Watching her draw, you initially say to yourself “Pftt, I could probably do that,” only to realize minutes later when a jagged edge becomes a cliff and then a sailboat pops up and then a face and then, well — and then you realize there’s far more to it, crossing over into the digital space and live performance art [1].
Another dimension
For Shantell the act of creation is part of the work, part of the spectacle, a third dimension of time added to a 2D surface. It was when she realized that her live drawings were a type of performance art that things really became interesting. Shantell began using projectors to cast her live drawings onto wall, a gradually unfolding improvizational digital performance, sometimes to complement an on-stage music act.
Projections are great as they can take a small idea and make it big, they give you that room to be interactive with and open up a space on screens and wall etc. I would like to move out of the square format though and work with more landscapes, balloons or unexpected spaces.
Shantell says that the years that she previously spent living in Japan really influenced her ideas about visual performance, as that’s something you see a lot here. She adds:
[Japan] gave me space to discover ‘ME’ and who I was in a way, I could be Shantell from London and that was enough. Growing up in London people constantly would ask about my ethnic background or where my parents where from, etc. It’s also hard at a young age to break away from the social mirrors that friends and family have for you, and by moving away completely to a new place I could build a new foundation. Another fundamental thing [was that] I became o.k with things being cute and found ways to integrate that into my work.
Some of the figures that emerge in her work indeed have a Japanese flavor, sort of XKCD meets LSD in some ways (pictured right). But what I think is most impressive about Shantell’s work is that over the years she has developed this style into something with patterns and method, turning what that initially looks quite random into what she describes as a language.
While Shantell prefers to keep her work as low tech as possible, she does make use of a number of digital tools in her work:
When drawing live on my computer I use the Wacom Intuos4 Medium size, I really like the size and model. [I] do wish the Bluetooth option was more reliable though, but for now I make sure that the USB cable is plugged in when performing. For software I’ve been using Sketchbook pro for a long time and more recently I’ve started to make sketching using tools created using open frame works by Zack Lieberman for a drawing and code workshop that we co-taught last year at the Eyeo festival.
If you’d like to get a better idea of Shantell’s work, a picture doesn’t quite suffice as it lacks the performance aspect that is so central to what she does. I encourage you to check out her Vimeo channel, where you can find a number of wonderful videos like the one I’ve included below.
I paid my way though university painting murals, so initially I actually did think that I could pull off something like this. But after watching her perform, that notion was quickly put to rest! ↩
design 
Masaru Ikeda
Takeshi Hirano
Otto
Rick Martin
