New Intelligence Toilet II targets women

Toto (the toilet maker) and Daiwa Housing are teaming up once more to offer a sequel to their infamous 2005 “Intelligence Toilet.” The new “II” is equipped with all of the original health monitoring features (urine sugar analysis, blood pressure check, BMI and body weight measurement), plus an additional function designed to appeal to women: urine temperature measurement and analysis.

According to the press release, this data can be used to determine one’s basal body temperature and hormone balance—information which can help women keep track of their menstruation cycles, in addition to increasing physical awareness with the aim of “smarter” dieting and skin care. Like the original, all of this information collected by the toilet is beamed through your home network to your PC where it can be monitored in the form of charts and graphs.

While an innovation like the Intelligence Toilet is quick to make headlines both in Japan and overseas, the question remains: how many people are actually shelling out the ¥350,000 ($3,500) plus (and upwards of ¥610,000 or $6,100) to have one of these systems installed in their homes? On that note, it was interesting to learn that Daiwa has reportedly sold 10,000 Intelligence Toilets since the April 2005 debut (Toto makes them, Daiwa sells them). Not exactly a revolutionary number, but not a mere pittance either. Their sales projection for the II is more modest: 4,800 in three years.

For a more in-depth look at the world of Toto toilets, see the recent PingMag interview with Mariko Shimasaki from Toto. For those of you in Tokyo, Toto also runs the excellent Gallery Ma, an architecture and design gallery (with a noteworthy book shop) in Nogizaka near Tokyo Midtown.

Tags: health, Lifestyle, Toto, Women
Category: Technology & Gadget Trends
Other categories: Marketing & Ad Trends, Fashion & Lifestyle Trends

DecoChoco, custom chocolate straight from the game center

At the beginning of the year, we covered Tirol’s DecoChoco service, which encourages consumers to customize the packaging of these popular little chocolates with photos uploaded onto their PCs. Since the interface allows for decorating the photos with stamps and borders a la print club, we likened the service to the popular schoolgirl pastime of “purikura.” Now, however, Tirol has teamed up with innovative maker of print club machines Furyu, to offer the service directly from the arcade using actual print club photos.

Furyu print club machines offering the DecoChoco service have a function for users to input their mobile phone address (after the finishing decorative touches have been added). A text message is then sent to the indicated phone that contains a unique access link for a site where users can choose which of their prints to turn into candy wrappers and place an order. A set of 45 costs ¥2,362 and takes 2-3 weeks for delivery (no, delivery doesn’t usually take that long in Japan, these things are just really popular.)

Decorative print club stickers were emblematic of a whole generation of pre-mobile phone camera gyaru, but these days the clunky, stationary photo booths have a lot of competition as mobile phones allow users the same functions of print club and then some—meaning purikura needs to modernize or face extinction.

However what is perhaps more telling by this DecoChoco meets print club innovation is how it cuts out the PC, as the idea of going home and uploading the photos interrupts the immediate and social aspect of the experience. Since September, Tirol has offered its original PC-based DecoChoco service on mobile phones and with the print club element filling in for what the mobile is lacking (larger interface, increased decorating options, room for more than one user), the service is now finely tuned to meet the needs of the current generation of picture posing, chocolate chomping school girls (for whom, given their propensity for mobile phones, are just as likely to view the PC as clunky and stationary) .

Tags: FMCG, Purikura, Tirol, UGC
Category: Technology & Gadget Trends
Other categories: Marketing & Ad Trends, Fashion & Lifestyle Trends

Mental Anguish calculator, Infinite Janken for rock, paper, scissors solitaire

The piggy bank has certainly gotten a makeover recently and now Wiz Inc. offers a new take on the traditional calculator, the Consolation Money Calculator. What looks like a standard desktop calculator (except with an unusually large screen) actually has two modes, one for normal functions and one for “consolation calculation,” to determine the net worth of any emotional anguish incurred on account of another.

It works like this: first enter your profile information, choose the perpetrator of your anguish (from a list of option such as “boss,” or “boyfriend/girlfriend”) and the origin, fill in a few more details particular to your previous selections and hit the “mental damage” button to calculate your results. Since it really is just for fun, the “mental damage” equates to responses such as “beer” or “dinner” displayed in cute images on the liquid crystal screen.

The Consolation Money Calculator debuts on January 24th for ¥2,415. Also in stores on that day from Wiz Co.’s Koyoi Ani line (for ¥1,029) is the “Successive Janken” key chain game. The popularity of janken, or rock, paper, scissors, knows no boundaries in Japan and this game allows for unlimited practice against a digital opponent. Play involves choosing one of three buttons (rock, paper, or scissors) on the bottom of the “scissor hand” shaped game.

The appeal is based on the theory that if the entire world’s population of 6,600,000,000 were to engage in a giant tournament of janken, a player need only win 33 times consecutively to claim the world title (according to the press release). As players rack up consecutive wins, the standby screen updates their world rank, leading to the ultimate goal of global supremacy. Consider it “mugen” (endless) janken, but with a target (however unrealistic) in sight.

Although, keeping in mind how long some school kids spend on the trains in their morning commute, Successive Janken might just turn out a few top ranked players.

Tags: gadgets, Toys
Category: Technology & Gadget Trends
Other categories: Marketing & Ad Trends, Fashion & Lifestyle Trends

Custom Starbucks Combini prices, coffee trends

Starbucks Japan, who kick started the chilled cup coffee craze with it’s Discoveries line, has a subtle but cute marketing strategy taking place on the convenience store shelves. In the place of ordinary price tags, Starbucks is using these decorative branded ones.

Plastic models evoke what the packaged beverage would look like if you were stopping to sip at a café rather than drinking on the run.

Considering that chilled beverages are only highly marketable half of the year, we’ve got our eyes on the heated shelves in anticipation of what manufacturers have in store. So far however, we’ve just seen the Starbucks Double Shot canned coffee and the Tully’s Winter Shot, a “heated” cup coffee that debuted last winter.

In other coffee news, JT’s canned coffee brand Roots has announced the December 8th launch of a new product, “Fine Days! Low Sugar.”

In addition to being significantly lower in sugar than the average canned coffee, the beverage contains a 50% increase of the polyphenols found in coffee, which are presumed to have anti-oxidant qualities.

Tags: beverages, FMCG, JT, Starbucks
Category: Marketing & Ad Trends
Other categories: Technology & Gadget Trends, Fashion & Lifestyle Trends

Digital Signage: NEC Eye Flavor reads consumers

NEC continues on its quest to equip digital signage with with all the tools necessary to know everything about the consumers that enter its perimeter. The all-knowing ad is now a reality.

Eye Flavor uses an embedded camera to gather demographic information about visitors, but also to gauge how well particular advertisements affect those that see it. It can tell whether viewers simply glanced at the display, gave it a passing look, stopped, or ignored it entirely. From this information advertisers can know exactly which ads grab their targets in a real way, and the locations that host the displays can more specifically target advertisers with strong demographic proof.

More hands-on possibilities mean changing the ads to fit the crowd on the fly, and offering discounts/coupons in the form of QR codes for mobile phones.

To test the system, NEC had the Eye Flavor installed at the Granduo shopping center in Tachikawa for three weeks in October, and it’s now available for real utilization for about $20k.

NEC has been doing a great deal in the last couple of years, particularly for technology to gather demographic information about shop visitors and then track their movements. Other systems can track movements within a store, which items were visually attractive, time spent at displays, and other valuable data. We’ve gone into this a great deal in the Trendpool, where we highlight these among a wide range of new retail technologies.

Press Release from NEC

Tags: Digital Signage, Marketing, NEC
Category: Marketing & Ad Trends, Technology & Gadget Trends
Other categories: Fashion & Lifestyle Trends