Super Door of the Future

romka1 writes "Japanese scientists came up with a new automatic sliding door that opens to the approximate shape of the person or object passing through, minimizing entry of dust, pollen, and bugs while keeping precious air-conditioning in. Here is a Real Demo Video"

Comments

Oh boy!

[Anonymous Coward]

A door! This is exciting!

Re:Oh boy!

[Cracell]

In other news a women from Ohio is sueing japense scientists for their automatic sliding doors insulting her by opening wider for her then anyone else.

Uh-huh.

[blair1q]

So while you get maybe 2% more insulating efficiency than a regular door when it's open, you get 500% less insulating efficiency when it's closed.

A doorway with hanging vinyl slats would work far better.

Oh wait. Those have been around for 30 years.

Re:Uh-huh.

[nuntius]

That's what traditional beaded doorways are for. Plus they look cool.

Re:Uh-huh.

[LurkerXXX]

Don't forget you also get 100+ times as many moving parts that can fail and require repair. I'll pass.

Re:Uh-huh.

[deglr6328]

Could be useful for extremely clean (class 1) cleanrooms where particle contamination is always an issue. With vinyl curtains, they are always open a little and have to be touched in order to move them aside to moving through. This contaminates them and they are not very easily cleaned. With a conventional door, even sliding ones, it has to be opened very wide, allowing lots of contamination to enter everytime someone uses it. This would be an elegant solution to both problems. I think it is a mistake however, to make each slat have its own detector. It should instead use a simple, single, (low power) scanning laser a foot or two before the door to quickly characterize the size and shape of the person about to pass through.

Re:Uh-huh.

[Fishead]

Ha ha ha, typical technician response.

I remember a salesman trying to talk me into a Nissan Murano by telling me that there is a seperate computer controling the torque and brakeing for each tire. Greeeeaaaaattt, just what I want, instead of a blue screen of death I get a firey scream of death?

Re:Uh-huh.

[ultranova]

Could be useful for extremely clean (class 1) cleanrooms where particle contamination is always an issue. With vinyl curtains, they are always open a little and have to be touched in order to move them aside to moving through. This contaminates them and they are not very easily cleaned. With a conventional door, even sliding ones, it has to be opened very wide, allowing lots of contamination to enter everytime someone uses it. This would be an elegant solution to both problems.

No. The elegant solution to the "always open a little" problem is to have the air exchange system to put a small overpressure into the room, making any leaks blow dust outward, not inward - of course you need to clean replacement air, but you'd need to do that anyway.

The touching problem is not a problem - if someone contaminates the vinyl on their way in, then he will contaminate everything else on the room anyway, and if someone contaminates vinyl on their way out, the contamination of the room already happened.

If you're worried about the particles escaping the room (it's a bioweapon lab, for example), just make the next chamber have an underpressure, and suck the particles into filters.

Re:Uh-huh.

[morcheeba]

I'll second what ultranova said - that positive pressure ventilation keeps the dust out. It's even used in instruments inside clean rooms - after probing wafers, we put them inside a small case (1 foot x 1 foot x 4 feet tall) that is even cleaner than the room (already a class 100 room - everyone in bunny suits, but no breathing apparatus)

But, mostly, entrance and exit are done with a double-door system. Open the first door, step in, close it. Then the timers activate the blowers and dust is removed from your suit. Then the inner door unlocks and you go in, freshly dusted off. There is an interlock that prevents both doors from opening at the same time.

Re:Uh-huh.

[plover]

Ever actually used ABS? Ever been in a situation where it made the difference between frightening someone and ramming them? Don't be too quick to dismiss it. Unless you're on the oval in a car you've set up for racing, ABS is a huge win.

It's not even close to the difference between a "good driver" and a "bad driver". ABS pumps the brakes roughly 4-5 times per second, far faster than the spring in my brake pedal is capable of even returning the pedal. Yes, it reduces steering ability during heavy braking maneuvers, preferring to stop the car in a straight line, but the trade off is a 40%+ shorter stopping distance.

And it fails safe. If your ABS goes out, you still have full manual authority over your brakes.

Re:Uh-huh.

[EtherealStrife]

AH! But non-abs allows you to floor the brake pedal completely, and non-abs equipped cars stop sooner than abs (in 'normal' weather/driving conditions). The abs benefit is the ability to TURN while braking, *NOT* stopping distance. I think you got that switched around. :) abs allows you to avoid obstactles while still braking, but if you're not in a situation where the obstacle CAN be avoided then abs is actually hurting you. The exception is if you live in an icey region, where abs *does* improves traction (and therefore stopping distance), but everywhere else I'd elect to go without abs.

The main monetary advantage is even wear on your tires, but I'd rather blow a few hundred dollars to replace bald tires than thousands in increased insurance costs for not stopping soon enough.

And for those of you questioning my sources, it comes to you from a AAA test driver / mechanic I discussed this with back when I worked in a local garage. Even pro-abs sites (such as ABS-Education, which is funded by abs manufacturers) emphasize the turning ability over the stopping distance.

Re:Uh-huh.

[fbjon]

What the hell are you talking about? The brake distance becomes shorter because locking the wheels is inefficient braking. The ABS prevents the wheels from locking, and thus increases braking power, except on soft roads, or if you have an inefficient system. If you need efficient braking on a soft road (like gravel), you are driving too fast in the first place. And if you want to lock your wheels on a snow/ice road, you are suicidal.

Do you think an average person, or indeed, a more-than-average person can outperform ABS brakes in terms of lives saved? Do you know how unlikely that is? Remember that maximum safety is a probability, learn to live with it. That's what I learned in driving school: how braking works with it on, with it off, and why it won't save the driver from his own stupidity.

Re:Uh-huh.

[EtherealStrife]

Again with the damned wiki quotes. I admit, it's a great source of information, but it's all public input with very little moderation (or rather, very *slow* moderation). The article did hit the curb weight issue on the head of the nail, however. There's a reason why many compact cars are equipped with only two disk brakes, and no abs. With one of these boats on wheels (aka SUVs), ABS is necessary because of the incredible force being exerted on the tires when the wheels are 'static'.
The primary benefits for abs over non-abs kick in when that static friction is lost (with non-abs), and for light cars that takes considerably longer than SUVs and large trucks (where the momentum is enough to almost instantly cancel out any static friction between rubber tires and road surface).
If a lighter car (such as my own 2300-2400 lb '99 Corolla) is equipped with abs there is significant loss in braking power when the brake is NOT engaged (ie when the abs is releasing to allow disk brakes to momentarily cool, and for the wheel to rotate). This loss is not completely covered by the added friction (and braking power, as a result) when abs IS engaged.
For one of these 4000-5000 lb monstrosities (or more), you WOULD have to be an expert to keep pace with the abs, and even the abs is far from the optimum engage/disengage rate. As the soccer moms keep demanding larger and larger gas guzzlers, the antilock brake industry is hard pressed to keep pace.

On something of a side note, BMW has recently utilized some incredible breakthroughs in the technology, which led them to the Multiple-Brake-Light-Intensity 'warning system' on their vehicles, to warn following cars that the BMW is braking rapidly and to hopefully avoid being rearended. If I remember correctly the initial cost was somewhere in the whereabouts of $10k per brake, however, so just keep an eye out for the higher end beemers. :)

Seems to be working real well..? Or not.

[Henriok]

OK.. seen the video and this things seems to be working a lot worse than I thought it would. Really, people are going to be hurt using this!

Really.. are we having that much problems with doors?

Re:Seems to be working real well..? Or not.

[Anonymous Coward]

this is about inovation and ideas.
it doesnt matter that this is a piece of crap, its a building block.
its sad you dont see more of this in america anymore.

Re:Seems to be working real well..? Or not.

[Man in Spandex]

Dude, its Japan.

They got Toilets with heated seats probably playing AM/FM radio while spraying hot water on your ass.

Re:Seems to be working real well..? Or not.

[uits]

"probably playing AM/FM radio"
Dude, its Japan.

They are streaming *.ogg over cell phone networks to serenade your sprayed ass.

Re:Seems to be working real well..? Or not.

[TheoMurpse]

They are streaming *.ogg over cell phone networks to serenade your sprayed ass.
Dude, it's Japan.

The toilets are mechanized to comb and part your asshair properly for maximum grippage of your tighty whities to your cheeks.

Re:Seems to be working real well..? Or not.

[sryx]

They got Toilets with heated seats probably playing AM/FM radio while spraying hot water on your ass.
Are you sure you weren't just taking a dump in some restaurant's kitchen sink? It seems to fit all the criteria :P
-Jason

The girl in the video is cute

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't know about the door, but I will buy it if I girl is included in the package.

The command to open it:

[XanC]

"Shh!"

What about real sized people?

[FluffyWithTeeth]

Of course, the maximum size of the doors is about 5'6"....

hmmm.. I dunno..

[peculiarmethod]

What about someone carrying a glass panel?

guess you could turn sideways..

will it recognize my imaginary friend walking beside me? I'd hate for my children to go insane cause they saw their uncle bobbins refused entry.

Re:hmmm.. I dunno..

[cnerd2025]

Haha. I also like how the door aparently pulls your boxes in for you...

Re:What are we supposed to view the video in?

[pHatidic]

You seem to be mistakenly implying that the video is viewable on other operating systems.

But....

[Yumi Saotome]

What will happen to all those cool movie scenes where people kick down doors and bust in with guns blazing?

Whoops, the lower bars didn't open.

[mikeophile]

Pwned by a door.

Yeah, I see this really taking off.

Good thing it keeps bugs out...

[ccccc]

Because the thing seems to have enough as it is.

Hmm

[blackicye]

They're gonna need a triple wide version if they want to sell this to McDonalds.

Prior Art

[Anonymous Coward]

The technology for the new design seems to be in it's infancy, but Japan has proven once again that it's a least 10 years ahead of everyone else.

What? Looney tunes have been doing this for years.

nice demonstration

[theskeptic]

but I think it would be too weird for many public places that employ automatic doors. There are two sensors on each panel. When the engineer was demonstrating it, part of his head was still being obstructed by one panel.

Maybe the sensors on the panel should be at a 45 degree angle to leave some margin of safety. I'm guessing the speed of the panels will probably to be improved to bring them in line with automatic doors.

hmm...

[waltznumber3]

I'll look into it when it comes with Sirius Cybernetics Corporation's new GPP feature.

Re:hmm...

[LordHatrus]

*sigh* But think of how horribly depressing that would be...

Not bad

[WillRobinson]

Looking at the video, it is a good idea. Their opto sensors which are in the ends of the slides are not as responsive as they should be, but this is a minor diffculty.

Good applications would be between walls of warehouse and shipping. Which could still maintain as a firewall sould one occur.

Additional sensor could be added to detect object other than those centered on the door. Software even in the example could tell the ones above or below to open for at least a 2" minimal clearance.

Again, good concept, just needs a bit of polish.

Re:Not bad

[SnowZero]

The Japanese are now accustomed to automatic doors. After I spent a few months there, upon returning to the US I'd sometimes wait at a public door until I remembered it wouldn't open. Thus revolving doors are expected to be automatic too. Unfortunately, making a door like that safe is tricky, and there's a very famous case of a toddler dying in a automatic revolving door (see here). I don't think anyone in Japan is going to install a revolving door for a while, what with people calling them deathtraps (even if all the issues were fixed). Ford didn't exactly release the Pinto 2.

Also, there is of course the cool factor of having a door like the one in TFA. It might attract a few more people to come into your shop. Combined with an ordinary slinding outer double-door, it could be pretty good at sealing things too.

Re:Not bad

[EvanED]

There's a Douglas Adams article in A Salmon of Doubt talking about a trip to some resort on the Great Barrier Reef (I think). The resort had people stationed at all of the doors to open it for visitors.

The reason? It was a popular Japanese tourist destination, and they were often so used to automatic doors that they would sometimes stand in front of them for a minute or two waiting for them to open automatically.

(Or so says Douglas Adams)

Re:What are we supposed to view the video in?

[bersl2]

You know, there's a RealPlayer for Linux. It's not that bad either.

Of course, I use MPlayer + mplayerplug-in.

Problem solved, unless you're not on x86.ni-gul

Fat Ass Accomodation

[Loundry]

I can't wait for the thoughts and comments of this door opening exactly enough to accomodate the fat ass of a pear-shaped person.

You know what I'm talking about. Sometimes you see a person who has a really fat ass. There's nothing wrong with having a big fat ass, but you still look at it. Hell, maybe you're even turned on by it. Polite society requries us not to mention it. But it's practiacally an eye-magnet. With super glue on it. And extra gravity (due to mass).

But the door, by nature not constrained to the whims of polite society, will "mention" it.

Or what if the door's sensors/algorithm fails and the person's fat ass gets stuck in the door? I suppose that would be even worse.

Re:Fat Ass Accomodation

[Muhammar]

Q: How do you accomodate for people having different heights and shapes?

A: Well, they will not be all that different after our SharpEdge(TM) door.

Re:Fat Ass Accomodation

[SnowZero]

I think the door should audibly announce the maximum width it had to open to. Additionally it should record daily maximums and announce if an object exceeds the current record.

This door sucks.

[Khyber]

With all those independent moving parts, I can imagine maintenance is a pain in the ass. Not to mention the energy required to move all those parts, then the power for the computer, sensors, etc. I also imagine this isnt' very insulating, either. The article mentions it preserves air-conditioning? With that many parts I fail to see any reliable method of sealing the door off, I can imagine there's a lot of gaps for 'necessary movement.' While thinking of minimizing the entry of pollen/mold/allergens is nice as well, you could do just as easy with one of those air barriers we use at the loading bays that keeps someone cool with air, but it's strong enough of a barrier that it keeps flies and bugs out, and actually does keep the AC more than just leaving a door open.

Re:This door sucks.

[bigwavejas]

Totally, I have a hard enough time remembering to buy replacement light bulbs, let alone infrared opto sensors.

dupe via comment

[ghee22]

link

WILL IT NEVER END?! ... just kidding, this actually shows that I read too much slashdot.

Obligatory comments:
1. Proof that Japan is light-years ahead of US in tech -- This is also a comment dupe
2. Seems as the doors have trouble opening at the top of a persons head -- another comment dupe
3. something about profit-- yada yada
4. my karma whoring days are over, you may as well delete my uid

Reliability

[Ed Almos]

The conventional door has one thing in its favor, reliability. The electronics controlling this beast had better be 100% reliable because a malfunction could take one of two possible forms:

1) Door fails to open. Having expected the door to open you then walk around with a nose like Mike Tyson for a few weeks.

2) Door closes early. Nasty, very nasty.

Call me old fashioned, but first thing tomorrow I want to see a real door on my office.

Ed Almos
Budapest, Hungary

Re:Reliability

[binaryspiral]

Before discounting this as a joke... think about elevators that people made fun of for centuries because the technology at the time made them deathtraps.

Now we hit a button and rise 40 stories to a cubicle that we WISH had a door on it. :(

Re:Reliability

[SnowZero]

Instead of using passive IR sensors... use (gasp) active IR sensors or ultrasonic - like autodoors today use.

The door in the article appears to be using (active) Sharp IR distance sensors. I wonder if some of their problems are the large number of sensors interfering somewhat.

marvin

[bigalsenior]

just another set of self gratifying doors

When I Pass

[PingPongBoy]

The know my profile already.

date of the video

[Anonymous Coward]

The .rm file is date 30.9.2004 and the copyright says 2003...

Re:What are we supposed to view the video in?

[ScrewMaster]

Yes, but Xtra Problems will arise.

Imagine this in 3-D

[minkie]

Take a whole bunch of these and stack them up in series. As you approach each one, it opens as closes again behind you as you pass. You end up in a moving bubble. That would be cool.

Re:Imagine this in 3-D

[silentbozo]

You end up in a moving bubble. That would be cool.
 
Depends on how airtight the slats are. I wouldn't want to run out of oxygen before I got to where I was going...

Uh-not.

[gomel]

I think you miss the point of the story. A hint is burried in the last sentence:

Quote: The technology for the new design seems to be in it's infancy, but Japan has proven once again that it's a least 10 years ahead of everyone else.

It's simply a gadget to troll for sarcastic comments from the clueless gaijin. ( I wonder what the people at /..jp think about it. )

Re:Fat Americans

[hackwrench]

They only look 5'6 because they live so far away! Remember the difference is always attributed to the other guy.

Neat, but...

[Bob Cat - NYMPHS]

Can it perform cunnilingus on a hardwood floor?

Re:Super door of the future?

[Sparr0]

Slashdot is not about the news. It is about discussing the news. And until I find another forum with the level of customized viewing (I read at +3, but my custom filters include -3 Funny and +1 Freak) that Slash offers it will continue to be the best place to find thoughtful discussion of the topics we cover here.

Ob. HHGG

[Haydn Fenton]

Sure is. Especially if the Marketing Division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation has anything to do with them...

Thank you for using this door. I've enjoyed opening for you. Hhmmyaahh...
What a pleasure it is to open for you. I will gladly close for you now.

It was a pleasure to open for you!

[iamlucky13]

Courtesy Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

In the USA

[tsmithnj]

This door would open completely 99% of the time.....

may not break-even

[Ancient_Hacker]

One tends to forget that a sliding door needs a lot of open space inside the wall. That space ends up being uninsulated, so it's gonna one cold and warm wall on either side of this door. Plus that section of wall can't have any supporting columns, so some much stronger columns and a stronger crossbeam have to be used. It's not something easily retrofitted into a house not already designd for it. Also the first time somebody gets pinched by the door all their profits are going to go *poof* to handle that lawsuit. And does the door come with a full-time person to keep all the mechanicals clean and lubed? Looks like a very high-maintenance gadget. Otherwise it looks cool.

What happens if shape not constant?

[Bad to the Ben]

What would happen if say, I was talking and expressing myself by moving my hands and arms as I was walking through the door? My shape would not be constant, so would the door have to continuously adjust? If it wasn't fast enough, would I end up bashing it?

Having the sliding parts so close to the body leaves very little room for error.

Genuine People Personality?

[klokop]

Do these doors have a cheerful and sunny disposition?