Alvaro Cassinelli, Cerebra Yusaku and Stephane Perrin of the Department of Information Physics and Computing at the Ishikawa Komuro Laboratory of the University of Tokyo have certainly made a breakthrough discovery through their project- the Sticky Lamp, which redefines the whole concept of laser technology.

Taking the laser scanner to a new dimension, the group brought forth Sticky Light which incorporates a 3d tracking technology a laser diode, a pair of steering mirrors, and a single non-imaging photo detector called the “smart laser scanner”. What holds it apart from its previous counterparts is that, the Sticky Light doesn’t use a camera or a projector and the set up can be easily put together on both vertical and horizontal surfaces.

Now, where could this amazing discovery be used? As of now, this device has been used in making air (or rather “light”) hockey game and pinball game, playable with bare hands and also to track the contour of objects and supplement drawings. I believe, very soon, it might find many more applications that would be both useful and entertaining.

Via TodayAndTomorrow/ StickyLight

The research body from University of Tokyo in collaboration with Japanese companies Toyota and Fujitsu has developed a small and cute desktop robot called Mamoru-Kun (meaning ‘Little Protector’) for the job. Standing 40cm tall and weighing 3.8kg, the cell phone-controlled robot is equipped with microphone and speaker to tell his owner, where the object he or she has lost or misplaced in a certain area is located either verbally or by pointing at it. All you have to do is just register and record items you usually end up misplacing, and the area in question is then under constant scrutiny by Mamoru-Kun’s cameras.

This is not all; he can even remind you to take your medicines on time and instruct his bigger counterpart to pick things up for you. So, if all you people out there are looking for a perfect gift for your grandparents, keep your eyes open for him. Mamoru-Kun will be available commercially by 2018 to assist us.

Source: CrunchGear