70 Billion Pixels Budapest: 360 degree panorama image
"The observation tower of János-hegy [the Elizabeth Lookout on János Hill is], the highest vantage point of Budapest with a 360 degree panorama, was an obvious location. It also allowed us to take on previous world records in both the 'highest definition image' and the 'largest spherical panorama' category. When contacted, the Council of District XII informed us on the upcoming anniversary of the tower. We agreed to cooperate in commemorating the September 2010 event by setting up new world records-give them our best shot if you please. ."
(360systems Ltd., 360world.eu)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
SMS Sugar Man: the first feature film shot entirely on a cell phone
"Aryan Kaganof's SMS Sugar Man has either the dubious or celebratory distinction - depending on your point of view of these kinds of things - of being the first feature film shot entirely on a cell phone, specifically the Sony Ericsson W900i. Given the film's strong sexual content, Sony probably won't be championing the film any time soon. But, in their absence, I will.
To Kaganof's grand credit, the technique in which the film was shot never comes across as being gimmicky. The majority of the movie is shot as any traditional movie is shot despite the unique camera being used. Every once in awhile we do get a direct POV shot from one of the characters holding his or her own camera, but this is used very sparingly and is thus unobtrusive.
Scenes are mostly lit and executed as if filmed with a traditional camera. What's most surprising about the movie is that one might presuppose - or, at least I did - that it would be comprised of mostly quick cuts. I don't own a cell phone with a camera, but I had assumed one of them could only hold small files for short scenes. Against expectation, Kaganof comprises SMS Sugar Man with fairly longish shots and gives the film a very lyrical tempo."
(Mike Everleth, 17 November 2008)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Sony's Enormous Bravia Zoetrope Caught Zoetroping
"Sony is using this 174-year-old technology to draw attention to the new Bravias' MotionFlow interpolation technology, which guesstimates new frames between existing ones, smoothing out content to display it up to a massive 200Hz.
Weighing over 10 tons and spinning at about 25MPH, the so-called Bravia-drome can be seen above displaying Brazilian soccer player Kaka juggling the ball around a bit, but Geek.com claims the ad was filmed using 'a huge crew and tons of extras', so it'll be interesting to see what they manage to come up with."
(Gizmodo via Sal Cangeloso, Geek.com 2008)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Fabrication of organic transistors through printing
"Another important characteristic of organic transistors is the simplicity of the method used to produce them. Inorganic transistors require massive vacuum systems and complex manufacturing processes. However, most organic materials can be dissolved in organic solvents to create 'inks' that can be used to create circuits simply by printing them under normal atmospheric conditions. Printing technology can also be readily adapted to the production of flexible substrates and large substrates. With the methods used to manufacture conventional inorganic transistors, only a few percent of the materials are actually used. Printing is far more efficient, and by optimizing the method it is possible to achieve usage rates as high as 90%. For this reason, this manufacturing method is also attractive from an environmental perspective. Sony is currently conducting research into the fabrication of organic transistors through printing."
(Sony Corporation, 2009)
1). N. Yoneya, N. Hirai, N. Kawashima, M. Noda, K. Nomoto, M. Wada, J. Kasahara, I. Yagi, K. Tsukagoshi, Y. Aoyagi, Digest of Tech. Papers of AM-LCD 05, 25 (2005).
2). I. Yagi, N. Hirai, M. Noda, A. Imaoka, Y. Miyamoto, N. Yoneya, K. Nomoto, J. Kasahara, A. Yumoto, T.Urabe, Society for Information Display 07 Digest , 1753(2007). Sony press release: http://www.sony.co.jp/SonyInfo/News/Press/200705/07-053/
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Japanese Consumer Products Database
Akira Ota
A showcase of different Japanese consumer products from the '70s, '80s and '90s, mostly, including everything from phones, radios, TV sets, audio sets, cameras to vehicles.
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The Constellations ProjectSHARE
