How much can a figurine collection cost you? A heck of a lot, it turns out. Tokyo-based Speecys’ Kosaka Cocona robot is a 45-cm tall, dancing J-Pop figurine — and it’ll set you back 980,000 yen, according to Rocket News 24. That’s about $8,600, £6,900 or AU$11,175. Each of Kosaka’s 34 joints can be programmed …

With Japan’s track record of natural disasters, the country is understandably always on the lookout for ways to better prepare itself. Japan is now looking to the skies, working to develop drones to help out in the case of an earthquake or other trouble. The country last week trialled special drones mounted with speaker systems that can direct citizens to …

Learning a new language can be rough. Casio knows this, and has made a mini-language partner for you in form of the Lesson Pod. The Lesson Pod is a charming desktop buddy that acts as both a conversation partner and instructor, providing accurate spoken sentences that you can practice at home or on the go. The little guy stands at …

There are lots of Neon Genesis Evangelion fans in the world, and many of them hope to ride Universal Studios Japan’s new Evangelion-themed VR roller coaster ride. That means there will be some long queues at the park. To combat the tedium of these lines, the theme park made MAGI Mobile, a companion app that entertains you while you wait …

Music lovers can’t excrete music from their pores yet, but this jacket comes pretty close. Japanese band One OK Rock has a new album coming soon, and to celebrate, they collaborated with a designer to make this leather jacket — equipped with twenty speakers. Yes, it may look like a regular leather jacket, but it’s got some impressive tech behind …

Robot companions are cute and all, but what can they actually do for you? Well, this one from Cerevo can follow you around and project movies, TV shows and more. The Tipron will project an 80-inch screen from 3 meters away with a 1,280×720-pixel resolution. While the projector itself is modest, it’s not what sets the Tipron apart. Just watch …

If you thought Apple making an iPhone without a headphone jack was wild, wait until you hear this. Hitachi is working on building cameras that don’t have lenses. Instead, the company claims, pictures taken with the camera will be refocused after being captured. Similar to Apple’s claim that taking out the headphone jack allows for bigger batteries and other parts …

While ultra-thin flat screens might save more space, retro enthusiasts might find a place for this old-school LCD TV box. Japan-based Doshisha has developed a unique LCD TV, replete with modern tech but with a 60-year-old aesthetic. The screen has all of the modern amenities you could expect, such as USB and HDMI connectors, LAN, AV and digital audio outputs. …

A Japanese company is perfecting the art of projection — to the point where it could change the fashion of the future. The University of Tokyo earlier this month showed off projection technology that can operate at 1,000 frames per second while offering only a 3 millisecond delay. The device, now known as the “DynaFlash“, is also capable of tracking …

If you’re looking for a unique gift, perhaps a ring made of your own words might be the thing. Encode Ring, a company established last month, is using its 3D-printing know-how to make one-of-a-kind jewellery. Each of the rings are the audio level visualisations of 3-second voice messages. Those interested can visit the company website, where you’ll record a 3 …