Japan’s aging population spurns new gadgets
Written by admin on June 23rd, 2008 in Gadgets and Devices.
Gadget makers in Japan are starting to change the focus of their new devices to the older generations as the population in their home territory continues to age. By 2055 over 40% of people in Japan are expected to be over the age of 65, meaning products need to appear and appeal to these older audiences to capture market share.
Sei Toyama, organizer of the Tokyo Toy Show commented:
Toy companies are increasingly focusing more on toys for adults due to health worries but also lonelier people as there are more single households as the population ages and fewer women marry
Examples of these new gadgets include a Taxi Walker from Bandai Namco Group, which monitors how far a person has walked and shows them the equivalent money saving by not using a taxi. Sega is tackling lonely people with a nodding plant called Pekoppa that responds to speech; as well as the A.M.P. music robot we reported on last week.
Expect to see more gadgets for adults and the elderly appearing over the next few years as Japan adjusts to its population changes.
Read more at AFP
Matthew’s Opinion
I remember the designer behind Katamari, Keita Takahashi, submitting an entry for the Game Developer Conference Europe 2005 Game Design Challenge. It raised a few eyebrows because it was a robot cat for grandmothers, which was interactive, purring and responding to being talked to. Now that kind of gadget will be near the top of the list for Japanese manufacturers.
Japan is a nation that carries the idea of gaming and play right through their lives, in contrast to Western countries where gaming is mainly seen as something for kids. Adult gadgets usually revolve around TVs, camcorders, mobile phones and digital music players, but are these really what you yearn for when you are past 65?
It will be interesting to see what new ideas Japanese toy makers come up with and how they translate to the West. I think Nintendo have already made headway with the Wii and DS, but I’m sure there’s a many more surprising gadgets to come that appeal to older audiences.
Tags: Hi-fi, Ogg Vorbis, wireless, digital
