miyagi prefecture
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Topcon's IP-S2 Lite creates panoramic maps in 3D, spots every bump in the road (video)
You'd need only a smartphone app to pinpoint every pothole on your block, but to map out more severe structural damage, you'd probably need more sophisticated equipment -- which is where Topcon's IP-S2 Lite comes in. Unveiled at last week's 3D & Virtual Reality Expo in Tokyo, this road condition evaluation system is comprised of a 360-degree camera, GPS and an inclinometer. After using its camera to capture images at 16 frames per second, the IP-S2 analyzes the properties of every shot and uses this information to create 3D video footage. The contraption can also measure the height, distance and surface area of any given frame, allowing engineers to insert computer-generated images into the video (as pictured above) and to construct more accurate maps of disaster-stricken regions. In the wake of this year's devastating earthquake, for example, Japan's Geospatial Information Authority used this technology to map coastal areas of the Miyagi Prefecture, giving officials and rescue workers a better idea of the damage inflicted upon the region. You can find out more about the IP-S2 in the video after the break. [Thanks, Don]
Sengoku Basara rocks the vote in Japan
To raise awareness about its upcoming gubernatorial election, Japan's Miyagi Prefecture is launching an ad campaign featuring Edo-era samurai Date Masamune. Oh, not the real one -- the one from Capcom's Sengoku Basara. Through "TV ads, radio, newspapers, and transportation agencies," the fictionalized video game version of the long-dead daimyo will encourage young residents to get out the vote ... even though power and land was inherited in the real sengoku period during which the real Date lived. In addition, the websites for Shiroishi City, Kochi Prefecture, Kochi City, and Sengoku Basara will post messages encouraging tourism to the homelands of the real historical figures who inspired the game. Why all the fuss? When the first game was released Stateside as Devil Kings, nothing really came of it; however, in Japan, the Sengoku Basara series and its associated anime have been popular enough to reignite interest in the real sengoku period among "otaku tourists." With Capcom launching Sengoku Basara 3 in North America next year, we could be seeing Masamune's smirking face on our own campaign posters soon enough.
