It also has a more limited vocabulary for interpretation between Japanese and Chinese, German and Korean. A lab prototype offers a peek at the future by allowing callers to make hotel reservations without having to worry about speaking the native tongue. The voice translates the caller's words seconds after they're uttered. The technology is still being refined and researcher Sagisaka says there are no firm plans yet for commercialization. The company is now marketing the solution as an environmentally friendly alternative to both the potential hazards of weedkillers and the misery of pulling up weeds by hand.
Farmers spray the liquid three or four times after the rice plants have been transplanted.
The black carbon cuts out sunlight, preventing weeds from growing, but because rice is placed into the paddy as a shoot that rises just above the water-level, it is unaffected. Indeed, the rice plants even benefit as the dark carbon does manage to absorb some sunlight and so helps raise the temperature of the water. The product is also environmentally friendly since carbon is often used as fertilizer in rice fields. While the idea is simple enough, the technology used to make the product is more complex, says Eiichi Nakayama, a senior manager at the Tokyo-based dye maker. The process involves grinding the carbon into particles measuring just one micron, or one-thousandth of a millimetre.