The Future Is Here Today...Robots, Genetics, AI, Longevity, Singularity

Behold the RollTop, The Computer You Unfurl (video)

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by Aaron Saenz on March 4th, 2010
rolltop laptop computer

Evgeny Orkin designed this new concept computer: a laptop that rolls up to be carried.

2010 may go down in history as the year of the tablet, but that hasn’t stopped anyone from dreaming about the next form the portable computer may take. Evgeny Orkin’s thesis project, called RollTop, is a concept video of a laptop that rolls into a tube to take with you on the go. Not only does the RollTop transform from tube to laptop, it can also change into a tablet, or a digital frame, all thanks to the use of a flexible OLED touchscreen. It’s a cool concept piece, even if no one’s working to actually make it, and it’s taken YouTube by storm with over 2 million views since September. RollTop is a good sign of things to come: the more people work with and innovate current models of computers, the better we’ll be able to design the human computer interfaces of tomorrow. You should definitely check it out below:

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10/GUI – Desktops Without a Mouse, Operating Systems without Windows (video)

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by Aaron Saenz on February 18th, 2010
10/GUI concept

The 10/GUI concept calls for a screen-sized touch pad on the desktop. Seems like a step sideways, but it could be the next generation of human computer interface.

Teams of developers are racing to construct the next great human-computer interface, and most already have a product to peddle. Clayton Miller is still working on an idea. His 10/GUI is a group focused on conceptualizing the system that will replace the mouse and keyboard as the most common user interface. Their proposed interface is unlike a tablet computer, or a gesture controlled system. 10/GUI wants a display size touchpad on the tabletop so that all ten fingers can interface with the computer without overlapping the screen. Coupled with this new hardware comes a new software paradigm. 10/GUI avoids a two dimensional (or even three dimensional) windows-based digital space in favor of a single dimension of frames. Sort of like your entire screen becoming a task bar. 10 finger touchpad and linear arrangement of applications makes for a really cool approach to the standard problems of desktop computing. Take a look at the following video and judge for yourself whether this is genius or just madness.

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Remote Controlled Robot Pet Sitter

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by Aaron Saenz on November 2nd, 2009
The Robot Pet Sitter could be remotely accessed so that you can play with your pets while away from home.

The Robot Pet Sitter could be remotely accessed via the internet so that you can play with your pets while away from home.

Okay, I rarely spend time looking at “concept machines” but this one just made me chuckle enough that I had to share it. In our hectic lives there is one group that constantly suffers from lack of attention: our pets. So what’s the solution – spending more time at home, or giving your pet a backyard, maybe even finding someone to help care for your pet? No, of course, not. That’s not technologically advanced enough. What your pet needs is a robotic sitter, one that you can control from anywhere in the world via WiFi. MintSelect, a technology concept community, has dreamed up their Robot Pet Sitter, a device that will let you speak to, watch, and even play fetch with your animal. Teach your pet to obey its robotic overlord just as it would obey you.

As far as I can tell, the Robot Pet Sitter would function almost exactly as a Rovio. Like that robot, the Pet Sitter would connect to your home WiFi network and allow you to access the device through a web browser. While I can’t speak to whether or not animals will enjoy interacting with robots, I do know that telepresence is a developing trend in technology. Remotely accessing your home, for security or pet soothing, is just the beginning. Once we are able to transmit sensation from a machine to a human (a capability known as haptics) people will feel what is happening to the robot they are operating. In essence, you will be able to interact with distant objects just as if you were there with them. That level of connectivity may make travel obsolete.
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