The increasingly bizarre 2005 World Exposition is to take place in Japan this year, and the most recent “what the hell” announcement comes from PC accessory maker Buffalo. In cooperation with Chubu University’s “SoLan” solar-powered blimp, Buffalo will provide internet access to expo visitors by equipping the blimp itself with wireless LAN equipment. Four 802.11g access points will be installed inside the blimp, set to take flight about 30 to 50 meters in the sky above the EXPO Dome and other locations. And since you can’t really have something like this without a live webcam broadcast, Buffalo went ahead and slapped the necessary equipment for that on it too. I will also mention the setup is not entirely wireless; there is still a cable connecting the blimp to the ground and getting the signal to the wireless access points in the first place.
Press Release [Buffalo via Internet Watch]
