"Why Sign-Language Gloves Don't Help Deaf People" -and- neither does the "'Woman's hand' iPhone case to keep you company" -and then- a couple of new products that were made with deaf collaboration

Editorial: As per usual at VAOJ, there are no product endorsements here. You might be wondering why I am comparing a technology aimed at "helping deaf people" and an iPhone case/toy. The answer is that they are both pretty ridiculous, although that might be a bit too harsh to describe the iPhone case. There might be a market for the case and it might generate some fun. But it would be as useless for deaf people communicating with hearing people as the sign language gloves. Those gloves are a continuing and contemporary example of the deficit model towards deaf people and their natural language. It expects deaf people to make the added effort to use this new technology so they can better communicate with hearing people through speech. It completely ignores the needs of deaf people and the realities/linguistics of sign language. How so-called scientists could work on such a technology (and receive research grants for it) while ignoring the vast research and literature about sign languages is astounding.

I hope more people read my article.

Fedorowicz, Steven C. 2019. "Performance, Sign Language, and Deaf Identity in Japan." Anthropology News website, June 5, 2019. DOI: 10.1111/AN.1182

http://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2019/06/05/performance-sign-language-and-deaf-identity-in-japan/

Read on...

Image and text borrowed from The Atlantic.com.

Why Sign-Language Gloves Don't Help Deaf People

Along with jet packs and hover boards, a machine to translate from any language to any other is so appealing as a fantasy that people are willing to overlook clunky prototypes as long as they can retain the belief that the future promised by science fiction has, at last, arrived. One particularly clunky subspecies of the universal language translator has a rather dismal history: the sign-language glove, which purports to translate sign language in real time to text or speech as the wearer gestures. For people in the Deaf community, and linguists, the sign-language glove is rooted in the preoccupations of the hearing world, not the needs of Deaf signers.

The basic idea dates to the 1980s, when researchers started exploring how humans could interact with computers using gestures. In 1983, a Bell Labs engineer named Gary Grimes invented a glove for data entry using the 26 manual gestures of the American Manual Alphabet, used by speakers of American Sign Language. But the first glove intended to make interactions between deaf and non-deaf people easier was announced in 1988 by the Stanford University researchers James Kramer and Larry Leifer. It was called the “talking glove,” and the entire system cost $3,500—not including the price of the CyberGlove itself.

...

The most recent project is from July 2017, when a team at the University of California, San Diego, published a paper in PLOS One describing a gesture-recognizing glove. The project was headed by Darren Lipomi, a chemist who researches the mechanical properties of innovative materials, such as stretchable polymer-based solar cells and skin-like sensors. On July 12, the UCSD news office promoted Lipomi’s publication with a story proclaiming, “Low-cost smart glove translates American Sign Language alphabet and controls virtual objects.” The next day, the online outlet Medgadget lopped “alphabet” out of its headline, and reports of a glove that “translates sign language” again spread far and wide, getting picked up by New Scientist, The Times in the United Kingdom, and other outlets. Medgadget wasn’t entirely to blame—Lipomi had titled his paper “The Language of Glove” and written that the device “translated” the alphabet into text, not “converted,” which would have been more accurate.

Linguists caught wind of the project. Carol Padden, the dean of social sciences at UCSD and a prominent sign-language linguist who is also deaf, passed along a critique of the sign-language glove concept...

“I was surprised and felt somehow betrayed because they obviously didn’t check with the Deaf community or even check with ASL program teachers to make sure that they are representing our language appropriately.”

...

all the sign-language translation gloves invented so far—misconstrue the nature of ASL (and other sign languages) by focusing on what the hands do. Key parts of the grammar of ASL include “raised or lowered eyebrows, a shift in the orientation of the signer’s torso, or a movement of the mouth,” reads the letter. “Even perfectly functioning gloves would not have access to facial expressions.” ASL consists of thousands of signs presented in sophisticated ways that have, so far, confounded reliable machine recognition. One challenge for machines is the complexity of ASL and other sign languages. Signs don’t appear like clearly delineated beads on a string; they bleed into one another in a process that linguists call “coarticulation” (where, for instance, a hand shape in one sign anticipates the shape or location of the following sign; this happens in words in spoken languages, too, where sounds can take on characteristics of adjacent ones).

...

Also, though the gloves are often presented as devices to improve accessibility for the Deaf, it’s the signers, not the hearing people, who must wear the gloves, carry the computers, or modify their rate of signing. “This is a manifestation of audist beliefs,” the UW letter states, “the idea that the Deaf person must expend the effort to accommodate to the standards of communication of the hearing person.”

...

Still, as long as actual Deaf users aren’t included in these projects, inventors are likely to continue creating devices that offend the very group they say they want to help.

Read the whole article: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/11/why-sign-language-gloves-dont-help-deaf-people/545441/?fbclid=IwAR2gD3-rpnw2AEcWPds8TdFFmzlpS3JCFz9VnQ6Y7EXBvyVNVNfY8zCDq0k

Images and text from Japan Today, 7/1/19.

'Woman's hand' iPhone case to keep you company

If you're looking for a handy new iPhone case, look no further. Sold by Japanese smartphone case retailer Hamee, this unusually shaped case called "Nami's Hand" is realistically modeled after a real woman's hand, reproducing details right down to the whites of the nails and palm lines. Although not as soft and flexible as a real hand, the fleshy parts of the fingers and palm are still remarkably soft to the touch.

You can use it as a conversation starter, as a joke (but please be careful with people with weak hearts or who are easily frightened or startled) or, if you're not creeped out by an inanimate hand, as a "virtual" friend to keep you company.

You can enjoy a bracing breakfast that will quickly dispel the sleep from your eyes when you put Nami's Hand at your table in the morning.

You can use Nami's Hand to organize your headphones and she looks great when you're charging your phone. You can also give Nami's Hand as a gift to someone in a paper bag (bag sold separately).

Source: https://japantoday.com/category/features/new-products/'woman's-hand'-iphone-case-to-keep-you-company

Here are a couple examples to help deaf people that actually collaborated with deaf people (again, no product endorsements, just fyi...)...

"Fujitsu develops user interface device to sense sound with body"

From Japan Today, June 30, 2019.

Fujitsu Ltd has launched a service supporting sports and cultural events using Ontenna, a device that lets users sense sound with their bodies. The company said it is providing a free trial version of Ontenna for schools for the deaf.

The trial is being conducted in 30 schools, with the goal of encouraging the use of this device in day-to-day education for deaf students.

Developed in collaboration with members of the deaf and hearing impaired community, Ontenna is a user interface device that can be equipped to users in various ways - worn like a hair pin or attached to the shirt collar-, letting them sense sound characteristics through vibration and light.

The manufacturer of Ontenna, Fujitsu Electronics Inc, plans to develop enterprise businesses using Ontenna and begin sales to individual consumers via ecommerce sites, in July 2019.

Fujitsu said Ontenna can convert sound vibration patterns from an audio source between approximately 60 and 90 dB to 256 levels of vibration and light strength. In addition, by delivering specific sounds at sports competitions and events with more dynamic vibration and light, Ontenna can convey the ambiance and a sense of unity among the audience, increasing the value of the experience.

Because Ontenna is not reliant on language, it can also provide a new way of attending events regardless of disability or nationality, Fujitsu said.

Source: https://japantoday.com/category/tech/fujitsu-develops-user-interface-device-to-sense-sound-with-body

"Wavio and Area 23’s ‘See Sound’ Project Wins Top Innovation Grand Prix at Cannes Lions"

From ADWEEK.COM, June 20, 2019.

A new way to help people who are hard of hearing understand the sounds around them at home has won this year’s top innovation award the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Today at the annual festival in France, judges awarded Area 23’s campaign for Wavio the coveted Grand Prix for its “See Sound” project. The mobile app, enabled by machine learning through a collaboration with Google to identify everyday sounds, notifies users of normal and abnormal sounds in and around the home with text-based notifications on their smart phone.

According to Bill Yom, global creative director of Cheil Worldwide and jury president for the Innovation Lions, the project had the jurors “convinced from the beginning” after the presentation. They were impressed not just by the idea of helping people who are hard of hearing, but also by the use of collaboration with YouTube and the project’s “beautiful design.”

“We should definitely award it to send a signal to the industry that you have to collaborate to create something outstanding for innovation, because that’s the way you have to change to try something outstanding for this world to help people,” Yom said during a press briefing.

Source: https://www.adweek.com/creativity/wavio-and-area-23s-see-sound-project-wins-top-innovation-grand-prix-at-cannes-lions/

Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92pweVNZAXc&feature=share

"Lensless-camera technology for easily adjusting focus of video images after image capture"

Text and image from Japan Today, 11/26/16.

Hitachi Ltd has announced the development of a camera technology that can capture video images without using a lens and adjust focus after image capture by using a film imprinted with a concentric-circle pattern instead of a lens.

This camera technology makes it possible to make a camera lighter and thinner since a lens is unnecessary and allow the camera to be more freely mounted in devices such as mobile devices and robots at arbitrary positions without imposing design restraints.

Moreover, since it acquires depth information in addition to planar information, it is possible to reproduce an image at an arbitrary point of focus even after the image has been captured. Focus can be adjusted anytime to objects requiring attention.

Hitachi said it is aiming to utilize this technology in a broad range of applications such as work support, automated driving, and human-behavior analysis with mobile devices, vehicles and robots.

As for cameras mounted in mobile devices represented by smartphones and robots, which require designability, making them thinner and lighter while providing higher performance−without imposing restrictions on where they can be mounted−is being demanded. As a camera technology to meet that demand, there is an increasing anticipation of applying a technology called “computational photography” which is a scheme used in an optical system under the presupposition that image processing will be used after images are captured. As a camera utilizing this technology, a light-field camera, which records position and direction of light beams simultaneously and whose focus can be adjusted after images are captured, is well-known. However, a light-field camera is considerably thick since it needs a special lens. On the other hand, a lensless camera which is thin and light because it has no lens has been developed. Even so, processing of images captured by the camera incurs a heavy computational load.

Aiming to overcome the difficulties described above, Hitachi has developed a camera technology−based on the principle of Moiré fringes (that are generated from superposition of concentric circles) − that combines a function for adjusting focus after images are captured in the same manner as a light-field camera and features of thinness and lightness of a lensless camera which computational load incurred by image processing is reduced to 1/300.

Source: https://www.japantoday.com/category/technology/view/lensless-camera-technology-for-easily-adjusting-focus-of-video-images-after-image-capture

"Japan camera makers battle smartphone onslaught"

From Japan Today, 2/12/16.

High schooler Nao Noguchi is a perfect illustration of why Japanese camera sales have plunged the past few years—she uses her smartphone for everything and cannot understand why anyone would bother with a separate device for photos.

“It is easy to take your smartphone out of your pocket if you want to take a picture of someone or something. And you can send the pictures to friends quickly” on social media, said the 17-year-old on a day trip to Tokyo’s historic Asakusa district with her friend Rina.

The selfie-stick toting pair are the camera industry’s worst nightmare.

A rapid shift to picture-taking smartphones has torn into a camera sector dominated by Japanese firms including Canon, Olympus, Sony and Nikon—much like digital cameras all but destroyed the market for photographic film years ago.

And the numbers paint a grim picture: 130 million cameras were sold globally in 2011. Four years later, that figure stood at just 47 million.

The collapse was underscored this month as the firms published their latest financial results, with weak sales threatening a once-vibrant sector.

Now companies are having to scramble for a response, hitting back with upmarket options and offering web-friendly features, or in some cases simply moving away from the hard-hit business.

While Apple and Samsung recently pointed to slowing sales of smartphones, they have proved a mighty rival, offering an all-in-one phone, computer and camera with comparatively high-quality pictures and Internet photo downloading.

The answer, the camera industry says, is to innovate and convince smartphone users to climb up the quality ladder.

“It’s kind of life insurance for the camera industry to always protect this superiority in terms of picture quality,” said Heribert Tippenhauer, an analyst at market research firm GfK.

“The competition from smartphones has almost killed the cheapest cameras, but at the same time so many people are taking photos, as never before in human history.

“The smartphone is the first step into the topic of photography, then people want to upgrade, the potential is there.”

For Canon, whose Sure Shot digital camera has been hit by smartphones, the response is to offer what a phone cannot, such as more powerful zoom options.

“We have been offering cameras that offer features smartphones cannot provide,” said company spokesman Richard Berger.

“People who use smartphones are becoming interested in photography, they want to take better pictures, to be more creative so they are moving up to SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras.”

Another battleground has been in mirror-less cameras, which can be made nearly as small as compact cameras but with picture quality that rivals their bulkier counterparts.

Sony and Panasonic have teamed up with German rivals, including Leica, while Olympus is pushing further into the medical equipment business as a leader in endoscopes, which now eclipse camera sales.

But some like Konica Minolta have thrown in the towel on cameras altogether, opting to go into print and optical devices.

Fujifilm, which was nearly put out of business by the drop in photo film sales, has also shifted focus to other businesses, including the health sector—one of the companies it acquired has developed a drug to combat the deadly Ebola virus.

But Fujifilm has not abandoned the sector that made its name, and scored an unlikely win with the Instax, a nostalgic throwback to the retro Polaroid.

Users can sling the bulky gadget—available in a series of flashy colors—around their neck and print pictures they’ve just taken. The latest versions sell for about $140.

After a slow start, the camera’s appearance on a popular South Korean television series helped jack up Asian sales in recent years, with about five million units moved in the current fiscal year to March.

The appeal of giving friends physical photos sold Calvin Lau on the Instax.

“We never know how photos will come out until they’re fully ready,” said the 31-year-old Hong Konger who now lives in Tokyo.

“It’s fun and exciting for people taking Instax photos and those whose photos are being taken.

“I like the concept that the pictures you take are the one and only ones out there… We can give our friends unique, real pictures.”

Still, Seiko Mikie, who has about 20 years on Lau, thinks the Polaroid throwback is about as lame as it gets.

“I’m not the least bit interested in a Polaroid-style camera—that is something from the Showa era,” said the 50-year-old transportation company employee, referring to the last Japanese emperor’s reign which ended with his death in 1989.

“Back then, the picture quality was good enough for the time, but not any longer.”

Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/business/view/japan-camera-makers-battle-smartphone-onslaught

"'Privacy visor blocks facial recognition software'"

 Photo and text borrowed from BBC News, 1/22/13:

A pair of glasses dubbed a "privacy visor" has been developed to thwart hidden cameras using facial-recognition software.

The prototype spectacles have been designed by scientists at Tokyo's National Institute of Informatics.

The glasses are equipped with a near-infrared light source, which confuses the software without affecting vision.

Law enforcers, shops and social networks are increasingly using facial-recognition software.

Prof Isao Echizen said: "As a result of developments in facial recognition technology in Google images, Facebook et cetera and the popularisation of portable terminals that append photos with photographic information [geotags]... essential measures for preventing the invasion of privacy caused by photographs taken in secret and unintentional capture in camera images is now required."

The near-infrared light "appends noise to photographed images without affecting human visibility," he said.

Shop mannequins
 
Prof Echizen said the glasses, which connect to a pocket power supply, would be reasonably priced, but there are some simpler alternatives. 

Heavy make-up or a mask will also work, as will tilting your head at a 15-degree angle, which fools the software into thinking you do not have a face, according to an online guide produced by hacktivist group Anonymous.

In September, following a review by Ireland's data protection commissioner, Facebook suspended its facial-recognition tool that suggested when users in Europe could be tagged in photographs.

In November, it emerged some shop mannequins were collecting data on shoppers using facial-recognition software. 

The EyeSee mannequin logs the age, gender and race of passers-by through a camera hidden behind one eye.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21143017

Facial Recognition Technology and Privacy Issues

Two articles from The Yomiuri Shimbun Online (November 29, 2012):

Face-recognition cameras pose privacy problem / High-tech 'peepers' operating at dozens of Tokyo locations silently glean age and gender of passersby

Twenty-nine cameras with face-recognition functions have been snapping photos of unwitting passersby at commercial facilities and high-rise condominiums in the Tokyo metropolitan area without notifying the public, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

The small cameras, which are mounted on advertisement displays, automatically take pictures of potential customers and determine their age and sex.

Companies that set the cameras up say the technology poses no problem because individuals remain anonymous, but legal experts say rules are needed to clarify use of the technology.

The face-recognition function identifies the sex and age of individuals who enter a camera's line of sight. Computers connected to the cameras automatically perform the identification.

The technology is used for such purposes as recording the arrival of departure of company employees and identifying personal computer users.

According to NEC Corp., which began developing such cameras in the 1980s, they had an initial accurate rate of 20 percent, but today the rate is about 99.7 percent.

One such camera is in operation in Lalaport Toyosu, a large commercial complex in Koto Ward, Tokyo. The unassuming "eye" is mounted on a two-meter-high display showing information about stores in the facility.

Though the camera is barely noticeable from its external appearance, it quietly snapped pictures of customers, its data being fed into software that determines what demographics are looking at what types of ads.

According to the Mitsui Fudosan group, which manages LaLaport facilities, 10 such cameras were introduced to the shopping complex in November 2009, and eight have been in operation in LaLaport Shin Misato in Saitama Prefecture since March 2010.

However, none of these displays notified people that cameras were in operation or stated the purpose.

According to a company that developed the camera-rigged displays, the software determines people's ages and gender based on the images and categorizes them into 10 groups, such as "boy under 10" and "teenage girl."

Though the cameras do not store the images, the valuable marketing data gleaned from them is sent to operators of LaLaport facilities and advertisers every month.

The cameras at Lalaport Toyosu generate data for 10,000 to 20,000 people a week.

The system development company operates displays with the same type of cameras at 10 computer shops in Tokyo's Akihabara district, as well as a high-rise condominium in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, but said customers and residents are not informed that the cameras are in operation.

Supermarket chain operator Seiyu GK had used six such displays at two of its stores in Kita Ward, Tokyo, and Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, since June last year but stopped using them the following August.

A guideline under the Protection of Personal Information Law stipulates that camera images identifying individuals constitute personal information.

The law stipulates that operators who use such a camera to obtain such information without announcing the purpose, and disobey a correction order from the authorities, could face up to six months in prison or a maximum 300,000 yen fine.

The system development company concerned and Mitsui Fudosan said that as the cameras do not save the pictures themselves, but rather convert them into gender and age data, privacy is not being violated.

A Seiyu official said, "The data does not constitute personal information, so there's no problem."

Hisamichi Okamura, a lawyer who is familiar with the law agreed, saying, "If the data remained anonymous, they could not be considered personal information."

However, he added, "If [the cameras] are used for crime prevention that's one thing. But many people wouldn't agree with their commercial use. Customers and passersby should be clearly told their pictures are being taken."

Masao Horibe, professor emeritus of Hitotsubashi University and a privacy issues expert, said it isn't the first time privacy issues have been raised over face-recognition technology in the country, but that rules had yet to be compiled because no ministry or agency has taken charge of privacy matters.

"A third-party organization specializing in privacy issues should be established and rules should be made quickly," Horibe said.

Link: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T121128004400.htm


Functions useful for marketing, but laws lag behind

Though face-recognition functions have been used widely in various fields, rules on use of the technology have yet to be established.

East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) has been operating automatic vending machines with it since August 2010. Currently there are about 440 such machines, which determine the age and gender of people who stand in front of them and display recommended products.

For example, if a customer is recognized as a man in his 30s, the machine will recommend a nutritious drink. If a customer is recognized as a woman in her 20s, the machine will suggest jasmine tea.

Data generated by the machines are stored and analyzed for deciding product lineups.

Initially, a firm affiliated with JR East that operates the vending machines displayed a notice that the machines were using face-recognition technology. However, the notices were removed in November last year as the company judged the fact to be widely known.

In other countries, there have been moves toward establishing rules on the use of the technology.

In the United States, for instance, the Federal Trade Commission announced late last month a guideline that stipulated if cameras are used to collect age and gender data in shopping complexes and supermarkets, the purpose of collecting the information and details about the type of information should be clearly explained to customers.

Link: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T121128004567.htm

Leaked iPhone 5 Promo (OK, it's a parody...)

"What do people use their iPhone for?" asks the video above? "Taking pictures (of their food)." Funny, but close to reality, especially in Japan. My back-up camera is my iPhone 4s - my previous (non-smart phone) cell phone had a much better quality camera. So I am happy at the prospect of improvements in future iPhone models...

More info: "iPhone 5 Parody Promo Takes Photo Obsession to its Logical Conclusion" by Josh Wolford.

Link: http://www.webpronews.com/iphone-5-parody-promo-takes-photo-obsession-to-its-logical-conclusion-2012-08

 

"DR Congo election: Deaf anger at ban on texting "

It seems the importance of keitai mail isn't limited to the Japanese deaf... From BBC News, 12/14/11:

Deaf people in the Democratic Republic of Congo say a ban on texting threatens their lives because they no longer receive warnings of violence.

The government banned SMS messages more than a week ago to preserve "public order" following disputed elections.

President Joseph Kabila was declared the winner, but his main rival, Etienne Tshisekedi, rejected the result.

There are an estimated 1.4 million deaf people in DR Congo, which is recovering from years of conflict.

Last month's elections were the second since the 1998-2003 war which claimed about four million lives.

Four people were killed in the capital, Kinshasa, after Mr Kabila's victory was announced. He is due to be inaugurated for a second term next week.

The official results gave him 49% of the vote against 32% for Mr Tshisekedi.

The opposition says they plan to organise mass protests, alleging the polls had been rigged.

...

"Since 3 December, we've been unhappy," said Pastor Kisangala, the deaf community's religious minister in the capital, Kinshasa.

"We're finding it very hard to communicate. All our communications used to go through SMS messages," he says.

...

Interior Minister Adolphe Lumanu said he had been "forced to suspend all cellular [mobile phone] text messaging services to preserve public order" because they had been used to "incite ethnic hatred, insurrection and xenophobia" around the 28 November presidential and parliamentary elections.

The measure means deaf Congolese people have been condemned to indefinite isolation.

"Our members are scattered across the city, some are ill in hospital, others are dying. Without communication we don't even know about it," Mr Kisangala said.

Read the whole story.

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16187051

"Silent apps help creeps peep / Disabling camera shutter sound makes smartphones stealthy"

From today's Daily Yomiuri On-line:

Cases of secretly photographing unsuspecting targets using smartphones have been on the rise as users exploit apps that disable the camera shutter sound, but there is no legal impediment to creating and selling these software programs.

Firms in the industry say the blame lies with people who misuse these apps rather than the programs themselves.

On Nov. 12, a man was arrested at a train station in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, after he took photos up the skirt of a female vocational school student with his smartphone as she stood on an escalator.

The man reportedly told police he used an app that silenced the shutter sound to prevent his target from noticing what he was doing.

A man arrested in September after he photographed a woman's underwear in Tokyo also reportedly told police he had used such an app to stealthily take photos about 20 times.

According to the National Police Agency, 1,741 cases of illicit photography were reported nationwide last year, a 1.6-fold increase from 2006.

The largest number of snap-happy camera voyeurs was reported in Kanagawa Prefecture.

"About 30 percent of cases involved the misuse of smartphone apps," a senior Kanagawa prefectural police investigator said.

The latest applications include "upgraded versions" that enable people to silently take photos while an e-mail or website is displayed on the phone's screen to provide cover for the surreptitious picture-taking.

"We can't help but think these apps are designed specifically for taking sneaky photos," another senior prefectural police investigator said.

The shutter sound emitted when a regular cell phone takes a photo is voluntarily installed by phone companies to deter users from taking photos without a subject's knowledge. It cannot be disabled.

However, the situation differs for smartphones.

According to major cell phone carriers NTT Docomo Inc., KDDI Corp. and SoftBank Mobile Corp., smartphone cameras come equipped with a shutter sound. However, one main feature of smartphones is that users can customize the settings--including adjusting or neutralizing the shutter sound, according to the firms.

A search for the Japanese words "muon" (silence)" and "kamera" (camera) on app sites for Apple Inc. and Google Inc. smartphones turned up about 200 applications. Some boasted they enabled users to "take photos in silence without bothering others," and others said the function "was perfect for taking photos undetected." Some of these programs have been near the top of app ranking charts.

Apple Inc. developed the iPhone, and Google Inc. created the Android operating system.

A representative of Apple Japan defended the availability of the apps.

"There's no problem as long as the developer's stated purpose for the app doesn't go against social ethics," he said.

A Google Japan spokesman said: "A market is a place where developers respond to users' needs. It's up to users to follow etiquette when they use the apps."

The two companies do not plan to remove these apps from their sites.

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said it does not have the legal authority to regulate these apps or mobilize government offices to issue administrative guidance.

"Application markets aren't covered by the Telecommunications Business Law," an official of the ministry's information security section said.

However, Keio University Prof. Keiji Takeda, an expert on information security, said some rules were needed for these apps.

"There are limits to legally regulating smartphones whose settings can easily be changed," Takeda said. "However, from a corporate ethics viewpoint, we shouldn't ignore the fact that they're being misused for crimes. We need to consider guidelines for screening and putting apps on the market."

Link: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111213004953.htm

New Japanese Technology in the News...

Tokyo tech fair opens with clapping robot

Story and photo above from Japan Today, 10/21/11.

From robotic hand-clapping arms to a device that could show tsunami alerts in the sky, Japanese technology researchers showcased their latest inventions in Tokyo Thursday.

Two pairs of artificial arms welcomed visitors as the Digital Content Expo opened for a three-day run, producing a realistic clapping sound due to the soft palms of the hands.

The arms, named Ondz, are made of white skin-like urethan “flesh” and aluminum “bone.” They create what the developer calls the “organic” sound of human hand clapping by the patting of soft palms.

“I want the the audience to enjoy the creepy and surreal feelings this product gives as entertainment,” said Masato Takahashi, researcher at the graduate school of media design at Keio University, who molded the design on his own body.

Ondz could be used in musical performances, to enhance the sound of real clapping. Or viewers watching a programme online could click a button to make hands at the broadcast site clap, Takahashi told AFP.

He also said he would like to produce a “spanking machine” to hit comedians, as well as stomping feet to complement the hand-clapping arms.

Read the whole story:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/tokyo-tech-fair-opens-with-clapping-robot


'Subtitle glasses' to debut at Tokyo film festival

Story from The Daily Yomiuri Online, 10/22/11.

Olympus Corp. and a nonprofit organization have jointly developed special eyeglasses that project subtitles on the lenses so the hearing impaired can enjoy Japanese movies.

A type of head-mounted display (HMD), the glasses will be unveiled at the Tokyo International Film Festival that runs through Oct. 30.

The device was developed by the Tokyo-based precision equipment maker and the non-profit Media Access Support Center (MASC), based in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture.

MASC has been working to provide better access to information for people with hearing difficulties by promoting captions for films and DVDs, and is providing captions from its Web site through the iPhone to the device.

According to MASC, subtitles for the hearing impaired need to include not only dialogue but also information on who is going to speak before actors deliver their lines. It also needs to explain to viewers about footsteps, honking horns and other sound effects.

As it costs at least 1 million yen per film to print these subtitles, few films provide them. Only 51 of 408 new releases in 2010 had the special subtitles.

Theaters showing these films are also limited, especially in rural areas. Since the subtitles may annoy non-impaired viewers, the films are generally shown only for about two days even in metropolitan areas.

Mitsuhiko Ogawa, 49, vice director of Tokyoto Chuto Shiccho Nanchosha Kyokai, an association for people with hearing disabilities, said films give people with hearing problems an important opportunity to relate to other people and society. "It would be great if we were able to go see a movie with anybody, anytime, anywhere," Ogawa said.

Even if the HMD comes into wide use, however, scripts for subtitles still have to be made for each film. MASC director Koji Kawano, 48, said making HMD subtitles costs less than one-fifth of usual subtitles as the HMD subtitles do not have to be printed on film. "The problem is who bears the cost," he said.

Kawano stressed films with HMD subtitles will also be good for seniors with hearing difficulties. He said demand could be increased by expanding the HMD's functions to allow the use of foreign-language subtitles.

Read the whole story:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111021004892.htm

"Hilton plans live wedding party video service for those unable to attend"

From today's Japan Today: 

Hilton Worldwide said Monday it will begin offering in Japan a service that will bring people who are unable to attend a wedding reception at its hotel and those present at the party together through live video service. The U.S. hotel chain operator’s new service, due to begin in Tokyo in January, will target especially the grandparents of a bride and groom, who are in frail health and would be unable to attend their relatives’ wedding.

Hotel staff will visit the grandparents’ home to cook a meal and set up an iPad tablet computer, which will allow them to view the wedding reception, while those at the reception will also be able to watch the relatives at their home to enable two-way communication. 

Link: http://www.japantoday.com/category/technology/view/hilton-plans-live-wedding-party-video-service-for-those-unable-to-attend

Maybe someday visual anthropologists won't have to leave their house to do fieldwork. And maybe even get a meal to boot...