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April 30, 2005
iBOT
INDEPENDENCE® iBOT™ 3000 Mobility System, one of the most scientifically advanced devices of its kind ever brought to market. Power across sand, gravel, grass and other rough terrain…travel easily over curbs…rise to an "eye-level" position where you can reach new heights …climb up and down a flight of stairs -- you can do all this with your iBOT™ Mobility System. Created for people like yourself who want to be more active, this is the first powered mobility system that lets you go more places and do what you love - on your own and with little planning.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 01:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 27, 2005
Building robots with people in mind
n the isolated, otherworldly landscape of Utah's painted desert, NASA scientist William J. Clancey made an important breakthrough about how to create robots to assist astronauts on a future mission to Mars.
As geologists on the team explored the depths of a ravine, Clancey realized one of the most important needs of space travelers is the ability to stay in touch with home base.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 06:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 25, 2005
Wired for the Furture
And you thought airports were hell on regular people. For Steve Mann, renowned University of Toronto engineer and "cyborg," getting on a plane can be a harrowing ordeal - even without the in-flight meal. Mann is a pioneer in the science of "wearable computing." He typically spends his days in a boiler suit stuffed with portable computers and laced with wires. Sensors monitor his vital signs, and a digital visor built like a pair of Ray-Bans augments his vision.
Three years ago, a fully wired Mann was barred by airport security from boarding a flight in Newfoundland. Mann said he was strip-searched and injured by airport staff when electrodes were ripped from his body, and lost $56,800 worth of sensitive equipment. "I was dizzy and disoriented and went downhill from there," he said.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 06:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 24, 2005
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 04:21 PM | Comments (0)
April 23, 2005
Mixing information with optimal results
Advancing the state-of-the-art in information integration is one of the first systems to successfully apply logic-based artificial intelligence in the hunt for information as governments, companies and universities attempt to navigate today’s maze of data.
Developed by the IST programme-funded project INFOMIX, it overcomes many of the problems that have beset existing commercial and academic applications, especially when searching inconsistent and incomplete data sources. Capable of extracting information stored in multiple formats from the Internet and private and public databases, the system provides end users with homogeneous data, allowing them to obtain precisely the information they want when they want it.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 01:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 21, 2005
Whatever happened to machines that think?
In futurology, a technological singularity is a predicted point in the development of a civilisation at which technological progress accelerates beyond the ability of present-day humans to fully comprehend or predict. The singularity can more specifically refer to the advent of smarter-than-human intelligence, and the cascading technological progress assumed to follow.
CLEVER computers are everywhere. From robotic lawnmowers to intelligent lighting, washing machines and even car engines that self-diagnose faults, there's a silicon brain in just about every modern device you can think of. But can you honestly call any machine intelligent in a meaningful sense of the word?
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 05:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 20, 2005
Concept Centaur
Like the mythical half-horse, half-man of Greek lore, Concept Centaur combines the best of several technologies to create an innovative whole. The result of exploration by Segway LLC's product development team, Concept Centaur will challenge the way you think about four-wheeled transportation.
Read more about Concept Centaur
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 06:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 19, 2005
Robots in space the next frontier
Within two decades, a Japanese space shuttle will blast off with astronauts working alongside robots to make Japan a brand name in space.
That's the plan the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) pitched to the technology ministry's Space Activities Commission this month.
The JAXA long-range vision includes astronauts using robots to probe for resources, conduct research and beam lectures back to Earth-bound students. They would travel in a reusable space vehicle.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 05:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 18, 2005
The end is nigh
When you've gotta go, you've gotta go - but how, and when? Experts from around the world assess the natural and man-made threats to human survival.
How will it all end? Some say we are likely to go with a bang, others predict a slow, lingering end, while the optimists suggest we will overcome our difficulties by evolving into a different species.
Humans have a 50-50 chance of making it through the 21st century without serious setback, says Sir Martin Rees, the astronomer royal, professor of cosmology and astrophysics at the University of Cambridge in England, and author of Our Final Century.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 07:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 17, 2005
CAPTCHA
Computers can do all sorts of amazing things, from searching the Web at an incredible rate to playing chess at a grandmaster level. Yet some tasks that are easy for people to perform remain remarkably difficult for computers. For example, computer programs have a hard time reading distorted text or deciphering images.
In the last few years, computer scientists have worked out an ingenious security scheme that takes advantage of such a mismatch. The scheme relies on computer programs that can, without further human intervention, automatically generate and grade tests that the computer programs themselves can't easily pass. Yet most people generally have no difficulty passing the same tests.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 04:00 PM | Comments (0)
April 15, 2005
Touching Molecules With Your Bare Hands
A group of scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has developed a new way of looking at and interacting with molecules so small that they cannot be seen even with the world’s most powerful microscopes.
The new technology, which combines hand-held objects with sophisticated computer displays, is called Tangible Interfaces for Structural Molecular Biology, and its creators envision it as a technology useful for both educational and scientific research.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 07:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 13, 2005
Hi-Tech Carers
By 2050, the over 65s in Japan are expected to make up a third of the population... and it's likely that technology will be relied upon to help look after them. My Special Partner is part of a Golden Years mini-series broadcast on BBC Two.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 05:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 12, 2005
The top three reasons for humans in space
It’s late at night, and you receive an urgent phone call from the White House. “The President wants to know why we should continue to put humans in space. He wants a one-page summary on his desk by tomorrow morning.” What do you write?
Lists of reasons for human spaceflight are readily available. The National Space Society has a detailed list, and SPACE.com has its Top 3 and Top 10. Nonetheless, there is a need for a concise list that can be easily recalled—perhaps something like this:
Humans are in space:
3. To work
2. To live
1. To survive
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 01:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 11, 2005
i-Copter
ROBOT helicopters could be buzzing over Australia's broadacre paddocks and rural fires in the near future with a Brisbane aerospace company developing a low-cost model similar to surveillance craft used by the military.
At slightly less than $1 million the intelligent helicopter developed by privately owned V-TOL Aerospace won't be on the shopping list of every farmer and rural firefighting unit.
The V-TOL i-Copter™ Seeker is an intelligent VTUAV platform that can be customised to carry payloads of up to 10kg in a 230mm 2 axis gyro-stabilised gimbal. Operational Control is semi-autonomous or autonomous using a secure wireless LAN (i-Copter™ operating in V-TOL i-System™) that also provides a secure data link for real time sensors.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 04:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 09, 2005
Cockroaches Inspire Robot
To most of us, cockroaches are a nasty nuisance. But to a team of engineers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, the pesky critters are excellent role models.
So when the scientists set out to build an antenna for a robot, they turned to cockroach biology.
The sensor-laden antenna they built resembles a cockroach's navigational appendage. The antenna sends signals to the robot's electronic brain, enabling the machine to scurry along walls, turn corners, and avoid obstacles, just like a cockroach.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 12:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 08, 2005
Smart Email
A University College Dublin (UCD) scientist has filed a patent application for a new technology that he believes can turn email into a much more effective business tool.
US-born Dr Nicholas Kushmerick, a senior lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at UCD, has developed the technology over the past year during his part-time position as visiting scientist on IBM's Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) initiative. This is a programme that aims to forge links between the computer maker's Dublin software lab and the academic community in order to turn new technology into marketable products.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 02:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 05, 2005
Digital actors: Matrix Online
Laurence Fishburne and Jada Pinkett Smith should be afraid for their jobs. In "The Matrix Online," a new massively multiplayer online game, the cast of the sci-fi film trilogy has been reprised - and replaced - by digital actors.
"Essentially what we did was build 'The Matrix,'" Jason Hall, senior vice president for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, told The Associated Press. "The only difference between 'The Matrix Online' and what you saw in the movies is you can't access it through a jack in the back of your head."
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 04:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 04, 2005
Do black holes really exist?
Black holes. Superdense collapsed stars that helped make Steven Hawking famous, and introduced a legion of little kids to Maximillian Schell. Conventional wisdom has it that when a star reaches the end of its lifespan, it may collapse in on itself, becoming a singularity of such great density that nothing can escape its gravitational pull, including light. Obviously, this would make observing one difficult, to say the least. More recently, astrophysicists have postulated that supermassive black holes lie at the hearts of galaxies, including our own.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 04:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 03, 2005
Sort of human, but not quite
Donald McLellan has a pretty smart computer.
It watches what he reads and writes and can go online for information it thinks he might need. "If I didn't have it, I'd have to hire a research analyst to sit next to me," said the corporate vice president at Motorola Inc.
McLellan uses software called Watson, developed at Northwestern University and marketed by Chicago's Intellext Inc., which is part of a new wave of programs that provide computers with something akin to human intelligence. But these programs do not think for their users.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 07:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 02, 2005
ACTROIDS
From hostesses to security, the expo is a venue for testing human interaction with automatons.
A head and tusks of a frozen mammoth may be the main draw for some at the Aichi Expo. But hordes are also flocking to glimpse what the future has in store: robots as common as household appliances.
The expo features many such robots working alongside, or even in place of, humans.
The idea to showcase them was the brainchild of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). It aims to show off cutting-edge Japanese technologies now leading the world of robotics.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 03:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 01, 2005
Tech brain implant reads man's mind
Cybernetics - the fusion of human beings and technology - is helping one paralysed man control his environment by connecting his brain to his PC.
Quadriplegic ex-American football player Matthew Nagle is using a system that converts his thoughts into actions on a computer. Nagle's brain is connected to his computer by the BrainGate system, which thought impulses using a sensor implanted in the motor cortex of his brain.
Posted by Vishwakarma C. K. @ 06:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
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