If you’re a fan of Japanese sake, you should keep a spot open on your homescreen for Sakenote. This app allows you to keep track of sake you’ve drank, write a review of it, take photos, and even note where you had it. If your geo-location setting is on, the app automatically detects where you are so that you can look back on those places later on.
Sakenote works sort of like Snooth Wine or the Japanese wine tracking app called Vinica developed by Kakaku.com. It’s very simple. You just start by tapping the plus sign in the upper right corner to add your favorite sake to your list. You can even search for sake names and brands using the Roman alphabet. If you want to search by kanji, there are apps like imiwa available to hand-draw your kanji so you can then copy and paste.
When taking photos of the sake’s label, you might want to take photos of Tsumami (light snacks) as well so that it can help to trigger your memory later. You can share your sake with your friends on Twitter or Facebook as well. The app’s developer has plans to collaborate with sake manufacturers and restaurants to provide even more additional features later on.
Even if you become forgetful while drinking, Sakenote is a good way to ensure that you’ve remembered all the important details about your drinking. The app is available on iOS and Android.
Update: Readers may recall that we a wrote about a very similar app once before called Sakelover. It’s actually the same app, with a rebrand so that they could take the service global.
This week I had a chance to visit Dr. Adrian Cheok and his students at the Mixed Reality Lab at Keio University. The research they’re conducting is based around the notion that in the future technology will shift from today’s ‘Information Age’ to an ‘Experience Age’. Dr. Cheok predicts that we will experience the realities of other people, as opposed to just reading about them, listening to them, or watching a video on a glass screen. Visiting the Mixed Reality Lab was a refreshing experience. I’ve come to associate terms like ‘Augmented Reality’ with things like Sekai Camera, or the fascinating human Pac-man game that his lab created a few years back [1]. But Dr. Cheok points out quite rightfully – and perhaps surprisingly – that one of the earliest examples of AR was Sony’s Walkman, the first device that allowed people to have their own personal sounds with them all the time. Beyond Sound and Vision Once we accept the idea that augmented/mixed-reality is not just limited to vision, then it opens up a whole world of possibilities. And these are the possibilities that Dr. Cheok and his students are researching. He explains: I became interested to see if…
This week I had a chance to visit Dr. Adrian Cheok and his students at the Mixed Reality Lab at Keio University. The research they’re conducting is based around the notion that in the future technology will shift from today’s ‘Information Age’ to an ‘Experience Age’. Dr. Cheok predicts that we will experience the realities of other people, as opposed to just reading about them, listening to them, or watching a video on a glass screen.
Visiting the Mixed Reality Lab was a refreshing experience. I’ve come to associate terms like ‘Augmented Reality’ with things like Sekai Camera, or the fascinating human Pac-man game that his lab created a few years back [1]. But Dr. Cheok points out quite rightfully – and perhaps surprisingly – that one of the earliest examples of AR was Sony’s Walkman, the first device that allowed people to have their own personal sounds with them all the time.
Beyond Sound and Vision
Once we accept the idea that augmented/mixed-reality is not just limited to vision, then it opens up a whole world of possibilities. And these are the possibilities that Dr. Cheok and his students are researching. He explains:
I became interested to see if we could extend augmented reality to other senses. To touch. At first I made a system for human-to-pet communication. We made a jacket for a chicken that allowed a person to convey touch to a chicken remotely. Then we made Huggy Pajama, which could be used to hug a child remotely [2].
Ring-u
While projects like this might strike us as a little strange — or even wacky — it’s important to note that such projects can be far more practical than you might think at first glance. A version of Huggy Pajama called T Jacket has been subsequently developed for for therapeudic purposes. So for example, a child with autism could be comforted remotely with hugs can be sent over the internet by smartphone.
Readers may recall that we previously featured another remarkable haptic communication project from the Mixed Reality Lab called Ring-u. The idea here is that vibrating messages can be sent over the internet, back and forth between a pair of rings, and there is also now a smartphone interface for the ring as well. This project has perhaps far larger potential in the consumer electronics space, and they’re speaking with toy companies and high-end jewelers about possibile future developments.
Taste the Future
But perhaps the biggest challenge for Dr. Cheok and his team is figuring out how to digitize the other two remaining senses:
Smell and taste are the least explored areas because they usually require chemicals. [But] we think they are important because they can directly affect emotion, mood, and memory, even in a subconscious way. But currently its difficult because things are still analog. This is like it was for music before the CD came along.
Amazingly the team has developed a prototype electric taste machine, and I was lucky to be able to try it out during my visit. The device in its current form is a small box with two protruding metal strips, between which you insert your tongue to experience a variety of tastes. For me some were stronger than others, with lemon and spicy being the strongest. It works by using electric current and temperature to communicate taste, and I experienced what felt like a fraction of the intended tastes – but very impressive. I’m told that in the future, this system could even assume a lollipop-like form, which would certainly be very interesting.
Electric taste machine
The lab is also collaborating with Japanese startup ChatPerf, which you may recognize as the company that developed a smell-producing attachment for smartphones. They will also conduct a formal academic study to see to what level smell can affect communication between individuals. But even with ChatPerf, the creation of smells is still analog, using cartridges of liquid to emit odors. Later on Dr. Cheok hopes to similate smells in a non-chemical, digital way, noting that it can be done via magnetic stimulation of the olfactory bulb.
So while experiments like these tend to cause lots of laughs and raised eyebrows sometimes, the work is quite important in expanding how we see technology’s role in our lives.
These are just a few of the great projects that the Mixed Reality Lab is working on, and we hope to tell you about others in the future.
See the full infographic on Gurunavi Here on SD Japan, we’ve written a few articles about how tech has been used to make sushi restaurants more efficient. There was even a very unusual drone helicopter sushi in London being used for marketing purposes. Speaking of marketing, today Gurunavi (sort of Japan’s answer to Yelp) released an infographic about the many sushi-related terms used at restaurants. Even though sushi is both a casual and more formal dinner option in Japan, there are many terms that people may not be familiar with or maybe they misunderstand them. Gurunavi released this infographic to promote a better understanding of the traditional cuisine (and likely for some self-promotion too!). ‘Gari’ (pink ginger on the side) or ‘Neta’ (ingredient) are common words heard at sushi restaurants, but the infographic dives into even more advanced terms like ‘Nigemono’ (I didn’t know this one, but it means cost-efficient ingredient) and ‘Debana’ (tea served at the beginning of meal). The term ‘murasaki’, which usually refers to the color purple, is apparently used to describe soy sauce at sushi restaurants. Bookmark this infographic to show off to your friends how much you know about sushi. Gurunavi was founded way back…
Speaking of marketing, today Gurunavi (sort of Japan’s answer to Yelp) released an infographic about the many sushi-related terms used at restaurants. Even though sushi is both a casual and more formal dinner option in Japan, there are many terms that people may not be familiar with or maybe they misunderstand them. Gurunavi released this infographic to promote a better understanding of the traditional cuisine (and likely for some self-promotion too!).
‘Gari’ (pink ginger on the side) or ‘Neta’ (ingredient) are common words heard at sushi restaurants, but the infographic dives into even more advanced terms like ‘Nigemono’ (I didn’t know this one, but it means cost-efficient ingredient) and ‘Debana’ (tea served at the beginning of meal). The term ‘murasaki’, which usually refers to the color purple, is apparently used to describe soy sauce at sushi restaurants. Bookmark this infographic to show off to your friends how much you know about sushi.
Gurunavi was founded way back in 1989 and went public in 2008 as a local restaurant portal and search engine. The site’s direct competitor is Tabelog, which was launched in 2005. Tabelog’s parent company is Kakaku.com, and they recently launched a version of its site for New York in March of this year. The main difference between the two competitors is that Gurunavi is more store-oriented, providing exclusive coupons for special occasions or drinking parties. In contrast, Tabelog’s strength is its consumer-generated restaurant reviews.
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based startups Freak Out and Preferred Infrastructure (PFI) have announced a joint venture between the two companies, to be called Intimate Merger. The entity’s purpose will be to launch new ad solution businesses. For those not familiar with the two companies, Freak Out provides a RTB (real-time bidding) advertising platform for smartphone devices, and PFI provides a range of technologies like information search, recommendations, and machine-learning. By combining their services and technologies, they plan to provide practical solutions for their clients’ marketing or communication needs. Specifically, Freak Out will provide ad technologies including the startup’s flagship DSP (demand-side platform) solutions, and PFI will provide consulting services on optimizing ad performances using big data analysis. The two companies have appointed Ryoji Yanashima as president of this new joint venture. Prior to Freak Out, he worked at GREE and was involved in developing several new platforms. He subsequently joined Freak Out and has been focusing on building revenue. Our readers may recall that Freak Out received series B funding worth 500 million yen (approximately $5.3 million) from Yahoo Japan’s investment arm, YJ Capital, in March 2013.
Tokyo-based startups Freak Out and Preferred Infrastructure (PFI) have announced a joint venture between the two companies, to be called Intimate Merger. The entity’s purpose will be to launch new ad solution businesses.
For those not familiar with the two companies, Freak Out provides a RTB (real-time bidding) advertising platform for smartphone devices, and PFI provides a range of technologies like information search, recommendations, and machine-learning. By combining their services and technologies, they plan to provide practical solutions for their clients’ marketing or communication needs. Specifically, Freak Out will provide ad technologies including the startup’s flagship DSP (demand-side platform) solutions, and PFI will provide consulting services on optimizing ad performances using big data analysis.
The two companies have appointed Ryoji Yanashima as president of this new joint venture. Prior to Freak Out, he worked at GREE and was involved in developing several new platforms. He subsequently joined Freak Out and has been focusing on building revenue.
Our readers may recall that Freak Out received series B funding worth 500 million yen (approximately $5.3 million) from Yahoo Japan’s investment arm, YJ Capital, in March 2013.
See the original story in Japanese. Japanese fashion startup Youtfit today announced that it has raised 30 million yen (approximately $310,000) from Tokyo-based Incubate Fund. The startup is known for having started Japan Style, a magazine-like mobile app targeting the Asia region. In addition, the company launched a social fashion app (also called Youtfit) back in May of 2012, allowing users to post and share their outfits. Available in Japanese, Thai, and English, the app also allows you to evaluate other users’ posts with a five-step evaluation system, with cute, sexy, cool, elegant, and unique being the chosen criteria. With these new funds, the company expects to strengthen their management base, and improve the value offered by the Youtfit and Japan Style apps. Prior to this funding, the startup raised an undisclosed amount of funds from Japanese incubator NetAge. The Youtfit app is available on the App Store if you’d like to give it a try.
Japanese fashion startup Youtfit today announced that it has raised 30 million yen (approximately $310,000) from Tokyo-based Incubate Fund. The startup is known for having started Japan Style, a magazine-like mobile app targeting the Asia region.
In addition, the company launched a social fashion app (also called Youtfit) back in May of 2012, allowing users to post and share their outfits. Available in Japanese, Thai, and English, the app also allows you to evaluate other users’ posts with a five-step evaluation system, with cute, sexy, cool, elegant, and unique being the chosen criteria.
With these new funds, the company expects to strengthen their management base, and improve the value offered by the Youtfit and Japan Style apps.
Prior to this funding, the startup raised an undisclosed amount of funds from Japanese incubator NetAge.
The Youtfit app is available on the App Store if you’d like to give it a try.
Since many Japanese adults grow up with anime and manga, it is only natural that brands try to communicate with consumers using characters that trigger a certain familiarity or nostalgia. Unfortunately, the Japanese character market is in decline according to a recent report by Character Databank. In 2012, the market shrank by 4.5% compared to the year before, now sitting at about 1.5 trillion yen. The change in media environment, as well as the aging population and low birth rate are some of the reasonings why the industry is stalling. But the slowing market is not stopping brands from bringing new creative characters into being. A soda beverage from France, Orangina, landed in Japan for the first time last year. The popular drink is leveraging the online social illustration platform Pixiv to give its Orangina product a personified/human character. A total of 200 illustrations will be chosen, and the winners will be awarded a one-of-a-kind soda can with his or her character printed on the can. These premium cans will also be displayed at the famous Comiket exhibition in August, as well as the Japan Expo planned to take place in France this coming July. You can already find over…
Since many Japanese adults grow up with anime and manga, it is only natural that brands try to communicate with consumers using characters that trigger a certain familiarity or nostalgia. Unfortunately, the Japanese character market is in decline according to a recent report by Character Databank. In 2012, the market shrank by 4.5% compared to the year before, now sitting at about 1.5 trillion yen. The change in media environment, as well as the aging population and low birth rate are some of the reasonings why the industry is stalling.
But the slowing market is not stopping brands from bringing new creative characters into being. A soda beverage from France, Orangina, landed in Japan for the first time last year. The popular drink is leveraging the online social illustration platform Pixiv to give its Orangina product a personified/human character.
A total of 200 illustrations will be chosen, and the winners will be awarded a one-of-a-kind soda can with his or her character printed on the can. These premium cans will also be displayed at the famous Comiket exhibition in August, as well as the Japan Expo planned to take place in France this coming July.
You can already find over 170 Orangina girl pictures over on Pixiv. We’ve included a couple of fun examples below.
For those of you not familiar with Pixiv, it’s a social platform that was launched back in September of 2007, which allows creators and fans to communicate through art (such as illustrations, manga, as well as essays). It has over five million registered users, and over three billion monthly page views as of September of 2012. Pixiv operates many sister websites like Drawr, where users can upload and share hand-drawn illustrations; and Pixiv Encyclopedia, an encyclopedia for animations, comics, and games.
from Pixiv user 燈妃(とき)＠touyafrom Pixiv user ‘Mary’
Yukari Mitsuhashi
Rick Martin
Junya Mori
