Robot bed transforms into wheelchair

Panasonic's new robotic bed transforms into a wheelchair, allowing the elderly or people with disabilities to get up without assistance. It's also perfect for very lazy people who just don't want to get up in the morning.

You can stay in the bed while it turns into a wheelchair. Half of the mattress rises and half lowers while a motorized unit beneath it automatically slides out from the bed.

In chair mode, the robot detects people and obstacles and helps users avoid collisions.

The bed's futuristic robotic canopy automatically rises when the unit transforms. It has a screen that acts as TV, controller for home appliances, and home security camera viewer.

Other new mobility solutions to help the aging Japanese population stay mobile include Rodem, an ergonomic electric wheelchair, Toyota's thought-controlled wheelchair, and the Hybrid Assistive Limb, a robotic power suit.

Panasonic is showing off its Robotic Bed this month at the International Home Care & Rehabilitation Exhibition 2009 at Tokyo Big Sight.

Is Japanese technology past its prime?

Japanese electronics makers are hemorrhaging red ink. Overseas competition (Samsung and LG) is intensifying, the domestic labor pool is shrinking and consumption is limp. Are Japan's glory days as a technological powerhouse over?

That's the question posed by this insightful article by David McNeill in The Independent quoting yours truly. Yes, it's amazing to see how much Sony, whose first product was a rice cooker that didn't work, is struggling amid these tough times.

The article highlights the fact that Japan is essentially a hardware-oriented culture. It's no surprise that the Internet was not created in Japan, and that the most recent popular electronics that make use of it are not Japanese. Are Japanese manufacturers destined to fade away due to the old cliche that Japanese lack "groundbreaking creativity"?

I don't think so. Japan is a very creative, imaginative society, as anyone who's studied it to any extent can attest. There are many factors that limit the spread of successful, innovative Japanese products, some social or structural and others economic. Besides, the products that are gaining market share may not have a Japanese brand on the outside, but often have Japanese technology on the inside, as McNeill notes:

Toshiba, for example, manufacturers the mini hard drive that powers the iPod, Japanese companies monopolize the production of semiconductor-grade silicon, and make much of the optical fiber and laser diodes that form the backbone of the internet; Nikon and Canon supply many of the optical machines that print lines on computer chips, and so on.

I think the death of Japanese manufacturing has been greatly exaggerated.