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Hardware Technology

Super Door of the Future 338

Posted by CmdrTaco from the absolutely-ridiculous-ideas-that-i-still-want dept.
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"
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Super Door of the Future More

Super Door of the Future

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  • Oh boy! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    A door! This is exciting!

  • Uh-huh. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by blair1q ( 305137 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @12:41PM (#13366926) Journal
    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.
    • Not to mention it uses 374.553% more energy to open than a regular sliding door.

      Although hanging vinyl slats have been around for a long time, as a customer I wouldn't want to walk through those.

    • Re:Uh-huh. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by LurkerXXX ( 667952 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @01:01PM (#13367032)
      Don't forget you also get 100+ times as many moving parts that can fail and require repair. I'll pass.

      • Re:Uh-huh. (Score:5, Funny)

        by Fishead ( 658061 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @01:19PM (#13367101)
        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. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by deglr6328 ( 150198 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @01:18PM (#13367097)
      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. (Score:5, Insightful)

        by ultranova ( 717540 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @01:26PM (#13367134)

        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. (Score:5, Interesting)

        by morcheeba ( 260908 ) * on Sunday August 21, 2005 @04:02PM (#13367829) Journal
        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.
    • A doorway with hanging vinyl slats would work far better.

      But hanging vinyl slats are ugly and this is cool. It is easy to make a conjecture that this new thing has a lot more gaps, but without seeing the implementation, cannot be sure. Possibly less hygenic as the slats are touching everyone and everything that walks through, not to mention that I've never seen them clean or cleaned.

      No thanks.

    • Uh-not. (Score:2, Interesting)

      by gomel ( 527311 )
      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. )
      • I wonder what the people at /..jp think about it.

        Not sure seeing as the Google translation doesn't do all that hot, but the translation of /..jp [google.com] is somewhat interesting.

        "It has been said that the anonymous person..." I like that a lot better than what we've got :)

  • Seems to be working real well..? Or not. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Henriok ( 6762 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @12:42PM (#13366928)
    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?

  • The girl in the video is cute (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 21, 2005 @12:42PM (#13366930)
    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: (Score:4, Funny)

    by XanC ( 644172 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @12:42PM (#13366933)
    "Shh!"
  • Of course, the maximum size of the doors is about 5'6"....

  • hmmm.. I dunno.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by peculiarmethod ( 301094 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @12:43PM (#13366937) Journal
    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.

  • But.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Yumi Saotome ( 470249 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @12:43PM (#13366941) Journal
    What will happen to all those cool movie scenes where people kick down doors and bust in with guns blazing?
    • What will happen to all those cool movie scenes where people kick down doors and bust in with guns blazing?

      Those will still happen when the door refuses to open.

      A bonus feature will be "spear mode" where the door pretends to open, then selectively closes one or two leaves. It's a tiger trap, I tell you.

    • They'll just shoot at the door, and it will let the bullets come in.

  • Whoops, the lower bars didn't open. (Score:3, Funny)

    by mikeophile ( 647318 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @12:43PM (#13366944)
    Pwned by a door.

    Yeah, I see this really taking off.

  • Good thing it keeps bugs out... (Score:5, Funny)

    by ccccc ( 888353 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @12:43PM (#13366945)
    Because the thing seems to have enough as it is.

  • Hmm (Score:5, Funny)

    by blackicye ( 760472 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @12:44PM (#13366946)
    They're gonna need a triple wide version if they want to sell this to McDonalds.

  • Prior Art (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 21, 2005 @12:44PM (#13366949)
    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 (Score:3, Insightful)

    by theskeptic ( 699213 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @12:45PM (#13366956) Journal
    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.
    • They also need to increase the range on the sensors somewhat. I really hate having to stop while I wait for an automatic door to open, when I could just have pushed a manual door and kept walking - and this seems to delay people even more than standard automatic doors.

  • hmm... (Score:5, Funny)

    by waltznumber3 ( 899425 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @12:45PM (#13366957)
    I'll look into it when it comes with Sirius Cybernetics Corporation's new GPP feature.

  • Not bad (Score:5, Informative)

    by WillRobinson ( 159226 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @12:46PM (#13366963) Journal
    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.

  • Fat Ass Accomodation (Score:5, Funny)

    by Loundry ( 4143 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @12:48PM (#13366970) Journal
    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.

  • This door sucks. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Khyber ( 864651 ) <techkitsune@gmail.com> on Sunday August 21, 2005 @12:50PM (#13366981) Homepage Journal
    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.
  • link [slashdot.org]

    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

    • 4. my karma whoring days are over, you may as well delete my uid

      You're sure you don't want to sell it on EBay? I'd be interested to know what UID #7811227 would fetch.

  • Reliability (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Ed Almos ( 584864 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @12:53PM (#13366995)
    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 (Score:5, Insightful)

      by binaryspiral ( 784263 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @12:59PM (#13367022)
      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. :(

      • But the difference is that the elevator is a solution to the real problem of having to climb up very long stairways in high-rise buildings. What problem with previous, simpler automated door designs does this door actually solve?

    • This thing sounds almost Rube Goldberg-like. It may be a good idea for the purposes it's been designed for, but it seems really impractical for any real-world use.
    • Well, in the original Star Trek series the Bridge doors were opened by a stagehand that was standing behind them in a narrow space, holding a pair of ropes. In the book "The Making of Star Trek" the author relates that one day on the set, the door operator dozed off (no fresh air, heat from the lights, etc.) just as Captain Kirk tried to enter the turbolift. I don't remember if Shatner actually broke his nose or just bruised it.

      Gene Roddenberry once received a letter from an individual that managed a nur
      • Instead of using passive IR sensors... use (gasp) active IR sensors or ultrasonic - like autodoors today use.

        I miss the days of having jump on the mat in front of the grovery store to open the door for my mum. :-)

        • Re:Reliability (Score:3, Informative)

          by SnowZero ( 92219 )
          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 [acroname.com]. I wonder if some of their problems are the large number of sensors interfering somewhat.

  • marvin (Score:2, Funny)

    by bigalsenior ( 869954 )
    just another set of self gratifying doors

  • hmmm (Score:2)

    by yagu ( 721525 ) *

    I just watched the video and I couldn't understand a single word they said.


  • In some retro-decorated apartments, I've seen doors that worked like this. The tenants called them "bead curtains"...
  • The square foot of the opening may be smaller, but the number strips increases the surface area of every interface; I imagine that the door can't be airtight when closed!

    Also doesn't this require multiple motors? Another failure mode if the door doesn't open the strip at eye level and smacks someone in the face.

  • When I Pass (Score:3)

    by PingPongBoy ( 303994 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @01:02PM (#13367037)
    The know my profile [incrediblehulk.com] already.
  • Mostly in Hollywood... to be used in movies that MOCK the future.

    IMHO

  • Especially when you try to stumble into your doorway after a night of heavy sake drinking.

  • date of the video (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 21, 2005 @01:08PM (#13367056)
    The .rm file is date 30.9.2004 and the copyright says 2003...
  • WORST idea EVER...
  • This is a big improvement on a revolving door for exactly what reason?
    - Not as air tight
    - Requires power/servos/sensors
    - Not as reliable
    - Can accidentally close on pedestrians
    Oh, wait, it takes up less space... I guess the Japanese are willing to suffer any inconvenience in exchange for something that uses a little less real estate.

    So, what does this door do during a power failure? The options of failing open (security nightmare), failing closed (fire evacuation nightmare) or reverting to manual operat


    • I don't see how it's not airtight. Or rather, why it couldn't be. A series of interlocking self-lubricating rubbery strips on each panel would make it as air tight as anything else.

      Reliability of so many parts is clearly an issue.

      But yeah, the killer is power-off safety. There's no good answer for that one. Unless...an emergency release panic-button on the inside that somehow allowed the door to spring open electricity-free?

       
    • they are servo controlled, i am sure. that means you could attach a manual lever to the gearing to open all the panels at once.
  • Ghastly it all is. Absolutely ghastly.
  • Automation does not always equal improvement.

    I am perfectly at ease having battery back up for my computer, but you would need one for your door too. A standard sliding door can be pushed open fairly easily during power outages - imagine having to push 17 slats just get through.

    Our energy use already surpasses its availability in peak times (recall rolling blackouts in California, the heat induced blackouts in NE US). Now they want to add DOORS to the grid? I wouldn't think there would be a lot of cons
  • As opposed to a fake demo video? ;)
  • More like the Super Door of Two Weeks Ago On Engadget.

    These days it seems like Slashdot is just a clearinghouse for week-old stories posted on all the other tech sites.

  • Imagine this in 3-D (Score:2, Interesting)

    by minkie ( 814488 )
    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.
    • 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...
  • There is another, even more impressive system for controlling crap from getting into your building and energy getting out.

    It's called the revolving door.

  • Neat, but... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Bob Cat - NYMPHS ( 313647 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @02:40PM (#13367452) Homepage
    Can it perform cunnilingus on a hardwood floor?
  • Looks like Shake has already thought of this [2112.net]. Not that the house is any cleaner though...

    Oh yeah... sorry Geddy's jet is in the way. Take off, eh?

  • may not break-even (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Ancient_Hacker ( 751168 ) on Sunday August 21, 2005 @05:17PM (#13368155)
    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? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Bad to the Ben ( 871357 ) on Monday August 22, 2005 @03:52AM (#13370258)
    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.

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