Earprints, tail therapy and calorie scanners: Japan's latest inventions

Qoobo Therapy Robot was arguably the star of CEATEC 2017.

Tokyo, Japan (CNN)Located in the industrial city of Chiba, just outside of Tokyo, CEATEC is the biggest electronics show in Japan.

Each year, the nation which gave the world the bullet train, the Walkman and blue LED light showcases its latest, cutting-edge consumer technologies.
In 2017, Sharp introduced the 8K era with its dazzling 27-inch monitor of the same resolution due to release next month, Lenovo debuted a Star Wars Jedi Challenge game that allowed users to engage in virtual reality lightsaber battles and there were robots galore. This is, after all, Japan.
CNN highlights eight of the quirkiest inventions showcased at the event.
    &quot;Gundam Concierge Haro&quot; was one of the many robots on display at CEA-TEC 2017.

    Get the perfect chew

    It looks like a Bluetooth hands-free device, but bitescan is actually measuring your chewing strokes as you eat.
    Hung from the ear, it is smaller and lighter than existing bite counters (they're normally attached to the chin) and can determine a user's bite speed, number of bites per minute and type of bite using a waveform detected on the back of the ear.
    Sharp has somewhat gamified the concept: the device syncs up to a smartphone app which categorizes results by animal type i.e. slow chewers are tortoises.
    The product will go on sale next year. Sharp says it will then share the data it collects with Japanese universities. The aim, it says, is to allow the user to achieve the perfect chewing habits.
    Quite why we need to do this will presumably become clearer in time.

    Earprint to replace the fingerprint?

    Thought your fingerprint was secure? Think again. Researchers at Michigan State University last year proved it can be hacked using little more than an inkjet printer.
    Enter the earprint.
    Developed by US-based technology firm Descartes Biometrics, it works like this: Firstly, the user downloads the ERGO software onto their smartphone.
    The user lifts the device to the side of their head and presses the center of the touch screen on their ear. A sound is then sent into the ear, and due to the "unique geometry of the ear," the sound that is echoed back is specific to each individual.
    ERGO uses sensors embedded in modern Android smartphones, meaning no additional hardware is required.
    Authentication takes about one second, and the company says, improves with use, storing up to ten scans of the user's ear.

    An army of factory robots

    Omron&#39;s artificial intelligence (AI) Automatic Transportation Mobile Robot at  CEATEC.
    Omron artificial intelligence (AI) Automatic Transportation Mobile Robot machines are designed to work together in factories.
    The white robots, launched in January, gather data as they roam around, creating maps in their "brain" which they then use to independently navigate their environment.
    All the controller has to do is set the robot's destination and it will navigate its own route. Laser sensors on all sides of the "body" allow the robot to detect unexpected objects -- a person, for example. Using those maps, it can reroute to the destination.
    The robots can travel at 1.8 meters per second, and carry a maximum load of 130 kg -- although the greater the load the slower they travel.
    And their application isn't limited to factories. At Incheon Airport in South Korea, a mobile robot has been serving customers drinks.

    The calorie scanner