The American electronics fair CES, together with the Berlin IFA, has become an important place of pilgrimage for gadget fans. With the pandemic, the happening was pushed into virtual space. But that now enables interested parties from Japan to introduce themselves to the world without much travel. Nippon’s foreign trade organization Jetro managed to steer more startups onto the global tech stage than ever before.

53 Companies now presented their ideas digitally at CES, twice as many as a year earlier. And with its own “Japan Session”, Jetro put the offensive into a larger framework: Japan’s companies, so the idea, transform the super-aging into a super-smart society with new visions and solutions.

Furry creature The action was at least partially successful. The startup Vanguard Industries received a “Best Innovation Award” for its hand-sized, furry robot creature “Moflin”, which can beep and respond to touch. The creator Masahiko Yamanaka promises a companion who can learn and develop thanks to artificial intelligence.

The machine pet had already made it into the top in its crowdfunding campaign on the Kickstarter platform – 10 Robot projects completed. Yamanaka was already getting a proud price from his investors: 41. 800 Yen, always 330 Euro – or a good one Euro for one gram of “live weight”.

The award-winning startup was by no means the only company that advertised itself with robots. South Korea’s electronics company Samsung sent in a trio: a robot vacuum cleaner JetBot 90 AI +, which can detect the type of obstacle; the communication robot Samsung Bot Care, which is supposed to talk to people, and the robot butler Samsung Bot Handy, which uses its robotic arm to load the dishwasher and pour wine.

First drone from Sony Other major topics from Asian manufacturers were televisions, which, thanks to the pandemic, are enjoying great popularity just like notebooks and computers. Sony also used the exhibition to present its venture into the air: the first drone from the new Airpeak brand. This is a fairly large device that generates enough lift with four wings to let one of Sony system cameras fly next to cars at high speed.

Japan has always tried everything possible with electronics – and often the impossible. Every Thursday our author Martin Kölling reports on the latest trends from Tokyo.

Another highlight was Sony’s the real remote control of a virtual three-dimensional avatar. The application was supplied by the owner of film and music studios at the same time: The electronics and entertainment company explained how it recorded a virtual concert with the American singer Madison Beer in which the 21 – year olds moved their digital counterparts on a digital stage, where the audience can choose their own perspective.

This opens the door to Sony new real-virtual hybrid experience that fits particularly well with this pandemic period of popular amusement. Sony’s rival Panasonic also provided a glimpse into the future of virtual reality (VR) – with VR glasses that are a bit reminiscent of glacier glasses.

The company even proved that it was involved in one point can keep up with the Japanese robot startup. The Sound Slayer gaming speaker also received an innovation award from the trade fair. Like the pet robot, the award also fits in with the new everyday life in the pandemic. The device promises that thanks to the surround sound from the flat, compact loudspeaker, video players can lose themselves even more in their dream worlds than before. (bsc)