Author’s note: this post exclusively features a new – well, new to me – lens. Specifically, it’s a manual focus Vivitar VMC 70mm-210mm Series 1 f/3.5 with a macro mode. It only works in manual mode with my Nikon D80, so I used this fair as a chance to play with exposure, ISO, aperture, etc. If this is Greek to you, please recognize the irony of attending a IT fair showcasing the latest and greatest tech with a lens probably created around the time I was born.

The ‘World IT Fair’ is a misnomer – with few countries outside of Korea represented, it’s an ‘international’ fair at best and Korea-dominated in truth. If you’re a fellow geek, you probably made it while it was open – a few days after the event has closed, I’m here to say one thing:

You didn’t miss much.

Things seemed to fall into one of two general categories: stuff that didn’t work well, or stuff that was the same as last year. A couple things were the exceptions to those two categories, but frankly they hardly merit a category of their own.

I was early to the fair, so I meandered around the outside of the ground level of COEX. Yeah, I’m a big sucker for flowers. Playing with manual focus isn’t something I normally do when I shoot, but there was ample time to experiment.

Computer circuits from something or another.

So the focus isn’t perfect… but she’s kinda cute. One vendor offers the classic ‘make-a-puzzle-from-your-photo’ deal – you know, the same thing photo labs have been doing since the 1990′s…

Human-shaped robot? Check. Human-like face? Check. Commercial purposes? Check – not pictured is the coffee menu being held across the robot’s mid-section. The touch screen supposedly featured four languages – except the blasted thing didn’t work without a second guy punching a rapid-fire set of buttons to reset the device.

 

One of the few aforementioned exceptions: use a plastic-and-metal pen about the size of a carrot to touch the language icons, then touch a phrase or word to hear it. Not sure how many kids are trying grammar in four languages at the same time, but it’s nice to have options.

They’re not quite aviator sunglasses, but these 3D glasses let the screen shine.

A quick shot of some 3D racing game – I caught neither the name nor the system it was for.

File this one under ‘seen it before’ – anyone else remember the Nintendo Power Glove from circa 1989? I wanted to like it, I really did – but in the two attempts to play a kart racing with the glove, both failed thanks to some error with the controller or the computer connection.

Somewhat like a Segway, this Lego-like contraption stayed balanced on its two wheels. Not pictured was a second device on a circular balance board – sorry to say I’ve seen it before, though to be fair I can’t precisely place it.

 

A fancy controller for an aircraft simulation game.

Another Lego-like system with enough sense to pick up an aluminum can.

A nicely detailed rendering of the Eiffel Tower, courtesy of a 3D printer. This model was perhaps 2 inches (5 cm) tall; in the blurry foreground is a men’s ring.

Refrigerator paneling, anyone? Rigid, and supposedly usable for a lot of different things, the gentlemen at this Chinese booth was one of the few that could converse in English.

Released in November 2006, the Nintendo Wii can be found in millions of homes around the world… Wait, that’s not the Wii? But it has the same wireless controllers and the tennis ‘paddle’… Not pictured is a demonstration unit, which also features an lookalike version of Nintendo’s old-school Power Pad, released circa 1988.

The picture may be exciting, but it’s essentially a closeup of a larger computer screen monitoring other computers or servers.

This is where manual focus was not my friend – a swiftly moving robotic fish with green eyes, perhaps straight out of a sci-fi flick.

Same robot type as the Wondergirls’ robot dancers, although a little clunky looking by itself.

One other exceptions to the two categories – a fully-articulating right hand of a life-size robot:

The name of this robot? Robo Thespian. A brief conversation with the robot handler implies he can act. Somehow I doubt Paul Ajosshi will be out of a job anytime soon.

More than a few elements just did not compute. A shining example of a Konglish brochure, completely in ‘English’ trying to be an Amazon-like online platform for selling stuff. A large intriguing machine, with no explanation of what it’s doing, and the ‘no photo’ sign hidden by the guy standing a meter away watching me take a picture. A lot of random exhibitions that looked thrown together by universities, neither promoting a project or a product (that I could easily spot, at least). Paper bags being given away promoting green growth. After arriving early, over a dozen staff sat in front of their registration-desk computers – either surfing the internet or looking busy while pointing people to the ‘do-it-yourself’ booths.

At least there were no new displays of robot English teachers – one silver thread in an otherwise drab expo.

Ratings (out of 5 taeguks): How do I rate destinations?
Ease to arrive:

Foreigner-friendly:

Convenience facilities:

Worth the visit:

© Chris Backe – 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

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