7 Japanese gadgets you can’t buy just yet

It’s a slow news day, so let’s have some fun with gadgets! Here’s a video collection of seven high-tech Japanese gadgets that you can’t buy just yet.

You’ve probably seen or heard about this before. The 360-degree video helmet will, as the name suggests, “give its wearer a 360-degree panorama when watching TV or playing games.” If this ever gets mass-produced, expect a huge number of neck injury-related lawsuits that would certainly be generated by this thing.

A lot of people have commented on the whole Spaceballs motif of the helmet, but I personally see it differently. With a little creative modding, you can actually make this look like a Gouf’s head (I’m thinking specifically of the YMS-08A Gouf, but that’s just me.)

I’m such a fanboy.

More gadgets after the jump!

It’s a slow news day, so let’s have some fun with gadgets! Here’s a video collection of seven high-tech Japanese gadgets that you can’t buy just yet.

You’ve probably seen or heard about this before. The 360-degree video helmet will, as the name suggests, “give its wearer a 360-degree panorama when watching TV or playing games.” If this ever gets mass-produced, expect a huge number of neck injury-related lawsuits that would certainly be generated by this thing.

A lot of people have commented on the whole Spaceballs motif of the helmet, but I personally see it differently. With a little creative modding, you can actually make this look like a Gouf’s head (I’m thinking specifically of the YMS-08A Gouf, but that’s just me.)

I’m such a fanboy.

A Japanese inventor named Susumu Suzuki has developed water-activated batteries. According to Suzuki, these batteries have “an electric current as powerful as that of a standard manganese dioxide battery.”

According to the inventor, these batteries would be cheap to produce and can be recycled several times. Please note though that these batteries are ACTIVATED by water. What this means is that you won’t be able to use these batteries unless you activate ’em with some water, by licking them for example. Water’s not the power source here.

Paging Dr. Ivan Pavlov, your dogs have finally evolved into bipeds. Well, not really. This is a bit creepy though. See, this gadget works by stimulating “the vestibular system with a small jolt of electricity delivered just behind the ear from a small external device, sending the normal vestibular signals out of whack.”

It’s not exactly mind-control, but what the hey. This should deliver quite a few laughs at parties.

From Toshiba comes a printer that not only prints, but erases as well! The B-SX8R printer can erase and reprint up to 500 times on a single sheet of paper.

The process involves using a special pigment ion the paper that reacts to heat. When the pigment is heated to temperatures above 180 degrees centigrade, it turns black, thereby creating an image on the sheet. if the surface is heated to between 130 and 170 degrees the pigment reverts to white, effectively erasing the image.

This is something that would’ve been quite useful if it was around during the whole Watergate scandal. Environmentally-aware people should also like this gadget, since it can theoretically cut down on the number of tress cut down just so we can have paper.

Thanks to Axel Corporation’s EV-X7, now you can build yourself your very own copy of Kaneda’s bike from Akira. Just slap on some modded parts and some red paint and voila! All you need to look for now is a friend that you can turn into an uber-powerful telekinetic psycho.

Seriously though, the EV-X7 is touted as the first “electric motorbike with a hybrid plug-in, electromagnetic-permanent magnet motor — is seven times more cost-efficient than scooters running on petrol.”

The EV-X7’s motor is housed inside the hybrid bike‘s rear wheel. The batteries can be charged at home, and it can run for as much as 180 kilometers on just one charge (full charge takes just a tad over six hours). The EV-X7 can travel up to speeds of 150 kilometers per hour.

Here’s a vid of a new “Spiderman” robot. Japanese researchers made this little dude from metal and rubber, and it boasts suction cups on each leg, enabling it to climb up walls.

I’m thinking spider tanks. Slap on some blue paint and a personality and you’ve got yourself a Tachikoma.

Instantly aged wine? Preposterous!

Japanese inventor Hiroshi Tanaka says otherwise, though. He claims to have developed a machine that can instantly age wine using an electrolysis process. Apparently, the process breaks up the water molecules and allows them to blend more completely with the alcohol.