Global Visions

Like most future-oriented gatherings, the 2005 World Expo in Aichi, Japan, was a showcase of cool gizmos. But with contributions from more than 120 countries, the exhibition, which is held in a different city every five years, was also a multinational take on what the future might be, with innovations ranging from the practical to the preposterous. Utensils at the food court were made of biodegradable plastic, and electricity was generated by an eco-friendly onsite system (even the garbage was used for fuel). And while the theme in Aichi was Nature's Wisdom, many of the 22 million visitors who flocked to the expo between March and September met robots that could sing, subtract or speak four languages. Shanghai will be the host of the next expo, in 2010. Here are some of this year's highlights.

ECO-DESIGN The fac,ade of this house, created by Louis Vuitton for an exhibition on sustainable development, is covered with 4,000 plates of sea salt

GUARD DUTY Tmsuk's security robot patrols a set route. When it detects suspicious objects, it picks them up and transports them to a designated area

CLEAN CAR General Motors' AUTOnomy concept vehicle is powered by fuel cells instead of an engine. All that comes out of the tailpipe is non-polluting water vapor

KID SITTERS Who needs child care? NEC's PaPeRo "personal partner" robots talk, read, sing, take orders and remember names and faces. They even do math

AUTOPILOT Toyota's driverless NGV bus runs on compressed natural gas and uses magnetic markers embedded in the road to find its way

GREEN ROOM Japan's pavilion, built with recycled materials, had solar air conditioning, geothermal heat and microbe-powered fuel cells

ALMOST HUMAN An "actroid" greeting robot walks, gestures and provides information in Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English

SPIRAL SPECTACLE A 3-D model of the DNA double helix showcases a novel way of projecting videos along an installation's curved walls