Japan Promises an Ultra-High-Tech 2020 Olympics 106
jfruh writes "When Japan first hosted the Olympics in 1964, it was a platform for the country to showcase that it was a first-rate technical nation, with brand new bullet trains for visitors and the games broadcast in color via satellite for the first time. Japan's tech industry is already preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Games, with Japanese companies promising ultra-high-def TV, super-fast cell phone networks, and autonomous self-driving cars on the roads."
What about japanese sex robots (Score:3)
I mean we all know that's why they create lifelike looking robots, instead of producing roomba's or drones.
Re: What about japanese sex robots (Score:1)
Shut up and take my money.
Can......not.......wait.
Re:What about japanese sex robots (Score:5, Funny)
I mean we all know that's why they create lifelike looking robots, instead of producing roomba's or drones.
From the stories I've heard about what goes on in the Olympic Village, the sex-bots would be superfluous.
Re:What about japanese sex robots (Score:5, Funny)
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Actually, part of the reasons for the Japanese making humanoid robots are:
1. Humanoid robots are good for advertising because people think they are cool and they're good for showing off technology made by a particular company.
2. Japanese companies own a pretty big share of the industrial robotics market, not only that, they tend to be pretty forward thinking. So you'd better believe that they're trying to crack the robotic worker problem.
3. A lot of Japanese engineers grew up watching Astroboy.
Now, I'm will
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super-fast cell phone networks (Score:2)
Only $30-$50 a meg if you are roaming
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Or you can get the bargain rate of .05$ per bit! :-D
8k (Score:2)
NHK has promised 8k in time for the show. 8k resolution, 120fps. Hardly anyone outside Japan will have a tv capable of displaying it.
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Not sure about that.
4k tvs are already becoming quite affordable, in another 7 years 8k might well be.
too bad NBC likely will not have much 4K / 8K (Score:2)
What NBC Channels will be in 4K / 8K??
Maybe NBCSN?? But likely not for CNBC / MSNBC / NBC OTA / ETC. Also it's 2013 and the comcast cable systems are still MPEG 2 HD.
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Bandwidth cap? Caps went out with buggy whips.
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Band caps? still using standard def? Connection can't be used with 8k?
"because the there is no delivery mechanism for getting content to the 4K TV"several countries are broadcast 4k right now, including the US. Yes it's only in one area, just like any other roll out starts.
Comcast is rolling out its 4k system.
OK gramps, it's time you realized that you have been outpaced. Now go enjoy you 8 bit game, or SImon, or whetever the hell you old people play while the rest of us talk, mkay? yes, yes, i heard the sto
Re:too bad NBC likely will not have much 4K / 8K (Score:4, Insightful)
None of those.
Besides watching the pirate version will be far better. The *NBC channels do that dumb docudrama thing when anyone but the USA is competing. No one wants to watch that shit, show more sports.
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Actually, it looks like the FCC is going to loosen up some of it's restrictions on Broadcast TV. so there is hope.
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8k isn't just a resolution bump though, so the transition will be harder than it is for 4k. No current form of video compression is really suitable for over the air transmission of 8k. No current or planned disc format supports it. Even the video cameras that film it are very different - for example there can't be any manual focusing because a human will never get it good enough by eye alone, it needs to be automatic.
Anyway, TV manufacturers have to milk 4k for all it's worth first.
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NHK has promised 8k in time for the show. 8k resolution, 120fps. Hardly anyone outside Japan will have a tv capable of displaying it.
Laughable. My brain implants give me better resolution than that. Just ask the the wizards at Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.
Now if only I could get something done about these arthritic diodes...
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Hopefully Japan will commit to providing live streaming of all events over the Internet at 8k! That would be awesome and impressive.
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Unfortunately every other county's internet would then melt.
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It is nice seeing something state of the art at the Olympics in something other than security, surveillance, and human restraint/detention systems.
Re:8k (Score:4, Interesting)
Japan isn't as technologically forward as people seem to think, especially in business. They still us the fax machine more then email, and good luck finding an ATM you can use if tyou are out of your area.
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Actually, you can use most ATMs around the country, but most close in the evening and at night.
But yes, they generally distrust computers. And given the latest NSA/GCHQ revelations, I have to agree!
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I agree the fax machine fetish is weird, but I have never had a problem using an ATM anywhere. Well, some don't like my foreign cards, but Japanese cards work in all of them, and I have travelled the length of the country.
Get ready... (Score:5, Funny)
How much satellite bandwith is there to cover UHD (Score:2)
As right now Dish and directv will be hard pressed to offer 4K with out putting a lot more birds up.
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That's what h.265 is for. Same bandwidth required but higher resolution. Or alternatively, same resolution, but a fraction of current speeds.
Are you happy with how the satellite companies molest the signal?
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But in the same time that Directv when from MPEG 2 HD to MPEG 4 HD most cable systems are still on MPEG 2 with loads of old HD boxes still in use.
and the satellite systems have more covage also (Score:2)
and the satellite systems have more covage also fios has the over compressed iN DEMAND feeds for out of market sports.
Also fios has hit the QAM wall and is now moving to MPEG 4.
Re:How much satellite bandwith is there to cover U (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, judging by the fact that my cable company routinely scales stuff down to 720p (or worse in some cases) and calls it high-def, I'm sure some marketing idiots will just come up with their own definition for UHD and claim they're delivering it.
To be honest, I figure 4k and 8k TV is many years away from widespread adoption. My current TV is only about 2 years old, and I have no interest in replacing my stuff because the movie companies think they can get even more money out of me.
I'd be more interested in higher resolutions for my computer monitor than my TV.
No lie . . . (Score:5, Funny)
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Did he find it? I have often marveled at the speed and efficiency of Wisconsin's confectionery logistics operatives.
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Last time one of my friends was in Green Bay, he spent two hours asking directions to the Fudgepackers museum.
The key difference being, you're a lot less likely to get the shit beat out of you for being a smart-ass in Japan than Michigan.
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Last time one of my friends was in Green Bay, he spent two hours asking directions to the Fudgepackers museum.
The key difference being, you're a lot less likely to get the shit beat out of you for being a smart-ass in Japan than Michigan.
I don't think any Lion's fan will beat the shit out of someone making fun of Green Bay.....
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Confusing Michigan with Wisconsin doesn't count as being a smart-ass.
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Hey, cut me some slack, it's not like I pay attention to football (American).
Not until playoffs, anyway.
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Bitter cold hell holes. So, no real difference.
Plenty of time (Score:5, Funny)
2020, wow! That's only 7 years away, can they get ready that fast?
Well, I suppose if Chinese gymnasts not yet born can get ready by then, they can, too.
not for the laws and bigger testing of auto cars? (Score:2)
Also an high profile crash can lead to a long shutdown / court cases that may take years to work though the system.
apollo 1 astronauts knew about the risks (Score:2)
apollo 1 astronauts knew about the risks of space but the guy of the road who get's hit by a failing car?
also who will pay his bills while all the party are fighting over who will pick up the costs?
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The Chinese gymnasts have been born already, they just don't yet have the papers to prove that.
I think you have that backwards. They have the papers to prove they were born already, they just haven't been born yet.
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2020, wow! That's only 7 years away, can they get ready that fast?
Don't worry. the Japanese can add a special night shift, working by the glow from the ocean.
And 1 additional thing if it can be fit in. (Score:3)
Athletes!
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If they actually get mega-high def, 5G coverage, OR self driving cars, that will be a lot more than the citizens in most other countries get out of the games. Debt and headaches from lots of really annoying tourists seem to be all that usually comes out of the games for the locals.
Actually (Score:1)
Glow-in-the-dark [slashdot.org] Athletes!
All for naught if there are no mechs on the street (Score:5, Interesting)
In 2020, I would expect nothing less than armed Mechs patrolling the streets. Not some American OCP ED-209 garbage either, no, only a sleek and shiny Gundam, Veritech, or some other type of mech will do.
OCP ED-209 (Score:2)
the ED-209 was the mech that went crazy at the beginning of the movie. The one that looks like it was the model for some of the Mechwarrior mechs.
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And get this, you fire the weapons, by Laughing. If this wasn't designed for someone from the league of super evil I don't know what was.
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only a sleek and shiny Gundam, Veritech, or some other type of mech will do.
Duh, the police use Patlabors.
I heard the swimming pools... (Score:4, Funny)
... will be self-heating and will glow in the dark.
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... will be self-heating and will glow in the dark.
Not if TEPCO employees [slashdot.org] have anything to do with them...
I'd settle for Bug-Free (Score:3)
I'd also settle for fewer goofs by judges. Maybe they can come up with robotic judges.
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Maybe they can remove all subjective competitions?
Yeah But... (Score:2)
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We got rid of the petty dictator Bush so I'm sure we can do the same with the current guy.
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Sigh...Lets hope the petty dictator Obama is gone by then.
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Not American (in which case, fuck you and your shitty government*), too young to vote, or just ignorant of the election/term schedule?
* Yes, I know my government sucks a big one, but when I hear foreigners badmouth it, I tend to default to the "I don't come in to your job and tell you how to flip burgers" mentality. Especially considering that, generally speaking, any government with the kind of power the US wields would be equally corrupt.
Role of the modern Olympics (Score:4, Interesting)
The Olympics have overshadowed the World's Fair as a forum and showcase for technology, art, social events, and efforts by each host country to create a "model society" if but for a brief period. Most host countries pour far more money in than they will recover because of the prestige and the opportunity to push their political ideology on the world's televisions.
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Vocaloid (Score:3)
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Olympics? (Score:2)
I'd settle for an ultra high tech nuclear disaster management, instead of morons pushing random buttons that shut off the cooling pumps.
Those bullet trains are still in use, too (Score:5, Interesting)
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I found the lack of groping while boarding disconcerting.
All I want... (Score:3)
... is a Bob Costas-free Olympics.
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That's about as likely as a Dick Clark free New Year.
Every time I see Dick Clark, I start looking around for his phylactery.
High resolution (Score:1)
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(*) except in areas where it competes with FiOS, in which case the cable company is magically able to provide additional bandwidth. Funny how that works.
Also, think about how good your eyes have to be in order to see the differences between 1080p and 4k at common TV sizes (i.e. less than 50")
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It depends on distance, and it allows clarity when breaking the image into smaller images.
Plus, get a big TV.
Didn't the Olympics (Score:1)
... have something to do with sweat and sneakers?
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Just you wait, you get all that and tentacles!
I'm glowing with anticipation! (Score:3)
I'm positively radiant about the next Japanese Olympic Games. When news of the details leaks out, everybody is going to just melt down with excitement!
Thanks IOC!