Murata’s Seiko-chan (Murata Girl) self-balancing unicycle robot first came onto the scene back in 2008, but has recently been upgraded so it can tool along 3 times faster than the original. An ultrasonic sensor and camera help Seiko keep on the straight and narrow, avoiding obstacles along the way.

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Seiko-chan can now turn on a 2-centimeter radius, and can even balance itself on a narrow balance beam (I’d love to see her make her way along a tightrope someday).

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If you happen to be attending the CEATEC show in Japan from October 6th through 10th, you’ll be able to see Seiko-chan up close and personal. Other than getting bloggers like me to write about them, I can’t think of too many practical uses for a balancing unicycle ‘bot, can you?

[via Robonable via Plastic Pals]

The player was designed by Japan’s Hers Design, some of the same minds who brought us the Xbox 360 case design. The company offers a variety of sleek, modern electronics and appliances under the Metaphys brand name.

It’s unclear if and when this design will go into production, since they’re still listing it as a design prototype. I’d be concerned that somebody might slice off a finger or two with it.

I’ve never seen a picture of this first prototype, but I actually like it. Like the final version of the Xbox 360, the first prototype was all white. However, it featured a glossy, pillow-like square case design, with a large glowing green “X” on the side.

The second prototype was seen floating around the Microsoft campus before the final design was announced in 2005. It featured a metallic-looking industrial case that almost looked like the wheel of a car. I’m really glad they didn’t go with this design, because it wasn’t as timeless (or as practical) as his other concepts.

What’s interesting is that both of the prototypes he’s revealed also had a carrying handle, so I’m guessing Microsoft originally wanted the console to be more portable. Oh well, maybe someday they’ll get that figured out.

You can check out more of Murata’s amazing design work on the new Hers Design Tour website.

The clever design even includes a giant “matchstick” which turns the candle on when struck against the side of the tubular silicon fixture. Each candle comes with its own charging base which can provide up to 8 hours on a single charge. They also come with a wall mounting bracket if you’d like to use them as sconces.

METAPHYS Lighting’s Hono 24000 LED candles were designed by Chiaki Murata, who also has the distinction of being the lead designer for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console.

All this nifty industrial design and technology does come at a price though, with each light costing ¥9,975, or about $85 USD each, you’ll be hard-pressed to cover your birthday cake with them.