Asia in 3 minutes: An umbrella revolution in Japan, Spiderman comes unstuck in Seoul
Australian winemakers fear sour grapes from China, Duterte puckers up with a (married) overseas worker
Drone brolly uses artificial intelligence to hover above user
A Japanese company is on the cusp of solving that age-old problem of never having enough hands to carry the shopping and unlock the car door because you are holding an umbrella to keep the rain off: a hybrid drone-umbrella that uses artificial intelligence to hover just above a user’s head. Asahi Power Service is presently putting a series of drone-powered parasols through their paces at its research facility in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo, but also intends to produce waterproof umbrellas when the technology has been perfected. The company’s Free Parasol takes its name from its hands-free operations and has a canopy that opens out to a width of 150cm. Beneath the canopy is the “brains” of the brolly, an AI device that can be programmed to lock onto and then follow the user’s head.
What next? The company said its prototype weighs 5kg, limiting its operating time to a mere 20 minutes on a single charge. The aim is to reduce that weight to 1kg and the ability to operate for 60 minutes without recharging.
Spiderman surrenders halfway up 123-storey Lotte World Tower
French urban free-climber Alain Robert attempted to scale the world’s fifth-tallest building, getting more than halfway up the 123-storey Lotte World Tower in Seoul before security staff forced him to abandon the ascent. The 55-year-old, dubbed the “French Spiderman”, made his way up the building bare-handed and without ropes as staff pursued him from inside. “I climbed about 75 stories and then after that, it was a bit like cat and mouse,” Robert said. “Finally, I decided to surrender.” He was taken to the rooftop on a maintenance cradle and arrested. As he awaited processing by police he said his climb was to celebrate the recent peacemaking efforts between the two Koreas and he hoped the authorities would take that into account. “I did it because of what is happening now between South Korea and North Korea,” Robert said.
What next? Robert has scaled more than 100 structures without ropes or other safety equipment. His successes include many of the world’s tallest skyscrapers and iconic buildings, such as the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House, the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
