When it comes to extraordinary peripherals, Hacoa is a brand known for its range of high-quality wooden accessories.

Hacoa’s latest creation is no exception, it comes in the form of this DIY keyboard kit, and is dubbed the “Ki-Board DIY Kit” (pronounced ‘key’ - meaning ‘tree’ or ‘wood’ in Japanese).

The idea is simple, you get a UBS keyboard base, a wooden sheet with the keys and letters carved into it, the wires and connectors for keys, a bunch of tools and you assemble the thing yourself.

This may be just a cheap way to cut manufacturing costs but considering that they are made one-at-a-time, in a labor intensive process that takes at least a day, I suppose we’ll let them off.

Hacoa was created by Yamaguchi Kouger, a wood products and lacquerware dealer based in Fukui, with the concept of specilizing in all things hand-made and wooden. So far Hacoa have brough us some sleek products and the new Ki-Board DIY Kit certainly lives up to the Hacoa name.

These custom DIY wooden keyboards go for around 50,000 yen ($435) and are available online from Marubeni Infotech’s monoDO website.

A Japanese company recently unveiled a new device that will allow people “speak” through their ear so they can use their mobile telephones in noisy places.

The device - named “e-Mimi-kun” (good ear boy) - doubles as an earphone and a microphone by detecting air vibrations inside the ear, developer NS-ELEX Co. said.The ear piece and the accompanying device can be connected to a mobile phone, or wirelessly to a Bluetooth handset, so users no longer have to cover their mouths when speaking in a loud environment.

“Exterior noise is reduced six-fold by the ear piece, while a chip developed by Sanyo Electric for the accompanying device reduces sound levels ten-fold.”

NS-ELEX believes the product would be useful for people working in places such as factories, restaurants and amusement parks.

In Japan alone, there are more than 5 million people in total who see color differently from ordinary people, due to their genetic types or eye diseases.These days almost all images and texts are displayed in color, everything from newspapers to advertising billboards and ATM’s to Televisions would look rather unprofessional if they were not, bad news for people who are color blind.

However the development of a new technology called new Color Universal Design (CUD) is sure to help those who suffer from being able to distinguish colors properly.

The diagram above shows how people who are color blind may perceive an image. Eizo has incorporated this technology into a new 24”LCD aimed at people who are color blind. The FlexScan SX2461W-U monitor sports the new CUD technology that utilizes different color schemes, shapes and patterns in the colors to help people distinguish different colors where they otherwise would be unable.

The FlexScan monitor priced Â¥136,000 or approx $1,235 USD and supports full HD (1920×1200), with a contrast ratio of 850:1, and a brightness of 300cd/m2.

New high speed digital video camcorders are capturing speed and giving scientist a new perspective in time, speed and motion.

The Japanese love technology so much that now even sex toys are on the cutting edge.

The gPod vibrator, is designed to respond automatically to sounds picked up by an accompanying handset, which can plug into anything from a telephone to a music player to a television. The sounds it receives are then detected by low, medium and high music frequency sensors and sent on to a distinctly phallic joystick.

When activated, the user experiences a chorus of vibrations that correspond to the chosen music or voices. According to Ichiro Kameda, the gPod’s inventor,

“You can use it in many ways, for example hooking it up to your mobile phone… so one of the ideas is that you can use it here in Tokyo when your boyfriend in New York is talking to you on the phone.”

Kameda said he had spent four years trying to design a product when he hit upon the concept, although he declined to say how the idea came to him.

The gPod made a splash at the first-ever sex toy expo in Tokyo, Joymind were just one of the nearly 160 companies or groups displaying their products and services at the three day Adult Treasure Expo 2007, also known as SEXPO, where they announced retail prices at ¥25,000, or approx $243.

There is an already accessory on the market for the ipod which incorporates the same kind of technology. Although it’s difficult to say who developed the technology first, Apple started fighting the Japanese company when the latter started applying for trademarks around the world, eventually sending Japanese lawyer and repeated requests to stop using the gpod trademark. The company laughed off Apples requests and said they would fight if Apple ever decides to sue.

Transformers are amongst us and they are battling to be Number 1. Well they aren’t actually The Transformers, but from the previous post this is a good follow-up with actual combat robots. Welcome to the future of ultimate fighting. K1 was a popular fight club in Japan, but Robot battles are quickly sweeping the popularity and gaining support from fans (nerds like me). Check out the video to see what I am talking about

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The Transformers was an American cartoon series depicting a war between giant robots who could transform into vehicles, animals, and other objects.In Japan, the series was called Fight! Super Robot Life Form Transformers (??! ?????????????????, Tatakae! Cho Robotto Seimeitai Toransuf?m?). The Transformers toy-line and cartoon series owed their existence to the Japanese toyline, Microman (an Eastern descendant of the 12 inch G.I. Joe action figure series). For many, like myself, Transformers were a huge part of their childhood and this movie was long awaited. The technology and computer graphics in the 80s or even 90s were not advance enough to accurately portray the concept behind Transformers. Today’s CGI technology has finally caught up and Steven Spielberg’s and Dream Works team went all out!

Transformers quickly grossed astronomical amounts attributing to Steven Spielberg’s and Dream Works continued success. Anyone who has seen Transformers knows why this movie is in the Top 20 at theaters and already grossed over $70-Million USD! The most realistic computer graphics in movie productions yet, with an action packed video that featured a bunch of military high tech equipment and military men and women (both active duty and former) as extras and speaking roles.

More than 300 Airmen and numerous aircraft were featured in the July 4th released film to help make this movie possible. Backed by the Defense Department, the movie was more factual and realistic than most movies that portray the military are. Many 80s movies were notoriously incorrect with their cast, ranks, equipment, and protocol.

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The summer is on and the heat is rising. For those of you stationed in Japan or a military buddy or family friend there, you might be able to get your hands on this USB power seat cooler. For troops heading to the Sand Box see if you can arrange this before deployment.

We all know sitting behind the computer for long periods of time, can play a serious toll on our rears. However, this Japanese company has the solution. When directly sitting down, the applied pressure to our bottoms causes a pain known as TsuTe, which isn’t the best feeling. By connecting the USB to your computer, instantly your seat cushion is transformed into a cooling fan. The cushion works by drawing air in from the bottom of the seat attachment, and channeling it through the entire seat. Thereby decreasing temperature and increasing comfort.

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