Yesterday was the first day of the fourth Make: Tokyo meeting held at the Ookuyama campus of Tokyo Institute of Technology. Organized by Make Magazine, it showcases the work of inventors who are not affiliated to large companies. Instead, students, start-ups and hobbyists were there to display their work and share ideas.

The prize for most outstanding use of an everyday item had to go to Jinno for his Rainbow Engine, a beautiful kaleidoscopic machine, whose main part consisted of a disk made from Scotch Tape that, when filtered through another disk, created the beautiful display of colors you can see in the picture.

Craftive presented off a clock that allows you to travel back in time. The Photolock has a camera attached above to record images of the people who pass before it, when you turn the dial the clock goes back in time then flashes through images back up to the present moment.

An eminently practical device came from OkometubuY. It allows you to take time-lapse shots with your DSLR camera, and costs only around ¥800 to make. A similar device would set you back ¥15,000 in a professional camera shop.

Many devices were trying to interact with social networking services such as Twitter or Mixi. A sensor by Koress Project can detect whether you’re around or not and will inform your friends via Twitter if you are. A little macabre, but the makers also claim that it can detect whether you are dead, making it a useful device for people with elderly relatives.

A cuter idea to help friends stay in touch was Coconachi from Yukai Gaku Engineering, a robotics startup company who recently enjoyed a lot of buzz on the Internet for their augmented reality game Miruku. Coconachi is an avatar that represents your friends, if your friend posts a comment on Twitter, it’ll move about, make a cute noise and flash its lights.

If your friend logs off, it’ll also inform you, in an appropriately cute way of course. It can transmit a variety of emotions through sound and movement, so you’ll feel closer to your friends. The soft and squishy robot is aimed at women who wouldn’t usually be interested in such technology.

Perhaps even more loveable was this pair of cuddly creatures that attach to one’s cell phone strap or key chain from Iamas. Lovers get one each and when they meet up can link their furry friends via the heart-shaped port.

When they do so, the creatures emit purrs of satisfaction, even more titillating still, if pressed together the creatures buzz with joy. In a country where public displays of affection are frowned on, this is a way for young couples to connect physically without grossing out passersby.

Though it didn’t have any discernable practical use, this device from Research Associate Atsushi Kitani of Musashino Art University had hordes of people gathering round it just to get a chance to play. As you move your hand over the white keys, those ones in your shadow lift up. Perhaps this would be fun in a club environment?

Lastly, there was a really lovable interactive device aimed at animators from ViVienne. Simply manipulate the cuddly bear’s motion and it appears onscreen. You can then edit or alter the motion as you see fit. Tokyo Make held a lot of more cool new devices and inventions, so make sure to visit next time. (JapanPulse)