For Chiho Komoriya's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Sing on key with Yamaha This December Yamaha is finally releasing to the public something that vocaloid fans have been waiting for: the Vocaloid Keyboard. Designed as a keytar, the Vocaloid Keyboard allows musicians to play singing voices, including that of the turquoise-haired character Hatsune ...
Hang in there, the stinky summer could soon be over Summer always seems to come with an increased level of bad odors. Whether it's from sweat, smoke or food, smells seem to get more powerful in the heat and humidity. Panasonic, however, has come up with ...
A very meta instant camera Japan's biggest toy fair, the International Tokyo Toy Show, is always a good place to discover new gadgets, even if they are originally designed for kids. This year it was held June 1-4 and one product proved particularly popular with ...
Robotic window wiping For anyone who despises housework, robot home helpers are a blessing. Everyone knows iRobot's Roomba vacuum cleaner, perhaps you've even heard of the same company's Braava floor mop. But what about a robot window cleaner? Robotically cleaning vertical surfaces doesn't sound viable, but ...
Gadget maker Cerevo has taken advantage of the hype surrounding this month's release of the Hollywood version of "Ghost in the Shell" by producing a 1/8 scale robot model of the original anime's AI combat-vehicle Tachikoma.
Ways to build a better understanding of coding Learning programming will become part of the Japanese elementary school curriculum from 2020, and this new toy from Sony Global Education and educational toy manufacturer Artec could give kids a head start. Called KOOV, this set of colorful ...
A polite talking ted You may remember Paro, the therapeutic seal robot that has been successful enough to be used by therapists to help dementia patients with stress. Well now NTT DoCoMo has now collaborated with toy firm Iwaya, electronics maker Vitec and communication doll ...
Feel the power of VR Everyone is now familiar with virtual-reality headsets, but what about other wearable VR equipment? Cerevo have announced an upcoming release of Taclim, which it says are the world's first VR shoes and VR gloves. This tech allow users to actually ...
The force can always be with you Just in time for the "Rogue One" release, SoftBank is asking its users to choose their allegiance to the Dark or Light side through its limited-edition Star Wars Sharp smartphones. The phone itself is pretty standard, but it's not ...
