PASMO Home Security and Tracking from Tokyu

Written by: Michael Keferl on May 12, 2008 at 7:54 pm | In DIGITAL LIFE | 4 Comments

Japan’s Tokyu Security is slowly unveiling a series of home, school, work, and child safety services all integrated into the ubiquitous PASMO card, which is now carried by millions of Tokyoites every day.

PASMO, which was originally released as a contactless RFID payment card for trains in Tokyo, has been slowly integrating other services and becoming much more than just a train pass. Credit cards, retail point programs, coin locker keys, and cashless payment are all part of the system, effectively reducing the number of things we have to carry around every day.

Now we can add the keys to our homes as well. PASMO is being introduced at apartment buildings, making it possible for residents to enter the premises and their own apartments with their personal PASMO cards. The Denen Hills complex is one such example.

In addition, PASMO is also offering child tracking services so parents can keep instant tabs on their children. When the child uses PASMO to check-in at school, enter/leave a train station, or arrive back at home, the parent is notified via mobile or PC. Of course, this doesn’t involve GPS tracking as with kid-friendly mobile phone, but can go a long way in providing a sense of relief to busy parents.

Such systems are also being deployed at companies to give building access, but can also be useful for paying for cafeteria food and even transport fees to work (if the employee is lucky enough). However, the ease of PASMO gives way to privacy issues as well, and a company card would effectively give them the ability to track your every movement. Late to work? A quick check can show whether your “late train” is actually just a “late you”.

As our wallets get lighter, so does our privacy. The anonymity of cash is slowly disappearing anyway, whether we use RFID cards or not. One of our sources at Toppan, a printing company and innovator in RFID, told us that one of their ultra-micro chips is being considered for integration into paper currency in the name of “preventing counterfeiting”.

This technology is amazing, no doubt about it, and we would never advocate limits on these innovations, but it’s surely important to keep in mind where this can go in the very near future should governments get even more involved than they already are.

Tags: PASMO, RFID, Safety, Security, Tokyu
Category: DIGITAL LIFE
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Tokyo Gas post-earthquake Bousai Disaster Drops

Written by: Michael Keferl on October 5, 2007 at 5:12 am | In MARKETING IDEAS | No Comments

This seems to be earthquake week at CScout Japan, perhaps inspired by some recent minor Tokyo tremors.

In Japan, most households cook and heat up water with gas. In the case of an earthquake, gas is switched off to prevent fire, and must usually be done manually. Now Tokyo Gas is giving out restart guides printed on retro tins filled with old-style candy called Tokyo Gas Bousai (disaster) Drops.

More than anything, we just really liked the tin design and the…err…colorful iconography. Nothing like some candy after a disaster.

Pictures via KaeruLab

Tags: Earthquakes, Safety
Category: MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

IZAt convertible fashion makes your jacket a tent

Written by: Michael Keferl on October 2, 2007 at 2:38 am | In LIFESTYLE / FASHION | 2 Comments

Earthquakes are part of the life of every Japanese. Just think of the Tokyo earthquake in 1923 or the Hanshin earthquake in Kobe and Osaka in 1995. Always remembering these, Japanese search for new technology for early warning and prevention from catastrophe. They build earthquake proof houses and prepare at home for sudden emergencies.

Of course, with this being Japan, the style of the products is also important. One of the latest products is the IZAt (Immediate Zip Aid Tarp), fashion that doubles as housing. It’s versatile fashion at its best: Build a shelter, wear them as clothing, or wrap them around wounded people. It has zippers on several parts for “building” different forms, and they can be combined to build even larger structures.

Pictures from excite.jp and IZAt.

Tags: Earthquakes, Functional Clothing, Safety
Category: LIFESTYLE / FASHION
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, DIGITAL LIFE, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Gragraph home seismograph for earthquake safety

Written by: Michael Keferl on September 28, 2007 at 5:16 pm | In DIGITAL LIFE | 2 Comments

For those of you in earthquake prone areas (or in the general vicinity of Asashoryu), you probably feel tremors quite often, but don’t really know how they register. The Gragraph home seismograph is a new way to chart basic seismic data at home, keep records of it, and also increase safety.

When an earthquake is happening, the Gragraph emits an alarm that grabs your attention, states the intensity, and then recommends precautions (duck and cover) based on the strength. Its calendar function stores previous events and times for your reference as well.

While we’re sure these won’t become as common as smoke alarms, many Japanese are certainly worried about The Big One that is “coming soon”, and take other precautions such as safety lights and emergency water. Safety in general is a major industry in Japan in many areas, particularly when it comes to earthquakes.

Gragraph homepage
Order Gragraph online

Tags: Earthquakes, Safety
Category: DIGITAL LIFE
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

KDDI kid-friendly phones: GPS tracking and emergency services

Written by: Michael Keferl on January 17, 2007 at 9:08 pm | In DIGITAL LIFE, MARKETING IDEAS | 2 Comments

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that cell phone users are getting younger and younger these days, but these phones coming out this month from KDDI’s AU phone service are made with kids in mind. The A5520SA Series are “junior phones” that certainly look like they’re made for kids, but is this a market that needs its own phones? Young kids may be fairly ambivalent about having their own phones, but they’re more for the parents than the kids anyway.

Until recently, kids that did have phones usually got one of their parent’s old ones, but phones like that can be complicated and/or provide features that parents don’t want their kids to have. One of our good friends actually had one of her son’s ten-year-old friends “accidentally” connect to an erotic chat service, forget to turn it off, and rack up a nice $300 bill! These phones all prevent this kind of access and have settings to restrict talk-time and emails.

For these phones from KDDI, however, it’s all about letting parents worry less. They’re not only easy to use for kids, but also include GPS for parents who want to keep tabs on little Hiroshi-kun after school via their own phones. There’s also a “buzzer” button that kids can push if they get into trouble, and that will make a huge noise as well as activate the GPS and send an email to the parents with the coordinates. Because it also sends a GPS email to the parents when the phone is turned off, the battery is actually locked to the phone to make sure it always has power.

These all sound like great features, but why just for kids? Couldn’t we all benefit from some of these features, particularly the emergency ones? It remains to be seen whether phones like this are going to be standard issue for Japanese kids, but we can think of a lot of adults who would prefer to have basic, easy phones with emergency functions.

Pictures via KDDI

Tags: AU, Children, GPS, KDDI, LBS, Mobile, Safety
Category: DIGITAL LIFE, MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS