Teacher ShelleJapan's Technology: For the Elderly
 On September 15 -- national Respect for the Aged Day -- the number of Japanese aged 100 or older hit a record 47,756, according to the health ministry, increasing for the 41st consecutive year. This growing demographic is driving the demand for everything from personal assistance robots to devices in a new generation of cars that warn the driver that they are driving erratically or consumer electronics gadgets that read a user's mind. In the automobile sector, the Japanese government is drawing up legislation to make a new generation of cars speak, beep or even emit the sound of running water or horses' hooves. Elsewhere, a Japanese company has developed a fire alarm that alerts people with little or no hearing by emitting the pungent smell of wasabi. More usually found in sushi restaurants, Japanese horseradish contains allyl isothiocyanate -- the same chemical compound that gives mustard its bite -- and tests at the Shiga University of Medical Science have shown that virtually all the hearing-impaired people exposed to the odor of wasabi woke up within two-and-a-half minutes. A consortium of Japanese companies, research institutes and the government is also working on a new generation of consumer electronics devices that can read a user's mind and respond to their wishes automatically, and which could be on the market in as little as a decade. Taking the technology a step further, the system would be able to sense when a person is too hot or cold and adjust the heating in a room and there is even the possibility that a car navigation system in the future will be able to recognize the driver's hunger pangs and plot a course to the nearest restaurant. source: www.thesqueeze.net |