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

Holograms You Can Feel

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by Aaron Saenz on August 14th, 2009

Ladies and gentlemen, we are one step closer to having a fully functional holodeck. Thanks to the Shinoda Lab at theUniversity of Tokyo, you can now touch holograms. Concentrated blasts of ultrasound are used in conjunction with traditional holography to give you the impression of feeling the objects you see. It’s an amazing concept and will allow an entirely new way to interact in virtual reality. Marvel at the video from Shinoda Labs after the break (sorry, no sound).

Shinoda Lab uses ultrasound so you can feel holograms.

Shinoda Lab uses ultrasound so you can feel holograms.

Called the Airborne Ultrasound Tactile Display, the specially calibrated ultrasound emitter gives you the impression of physical pressure at the location of a holographic object. Because you aren’t actually touching the hologram, there’s no decrease in the quality of the image. Unlike a traditional speaker, the ultrasound can be focused at a particular location, so you only feel pressure at a certain point. This precision allows AUTD to let you feel individual drops of virtual rain, a bouncing ball, or even a tiny animal running across your palm.

I think it is hilarious and awesome that a key component of  the Shinoda Lab setup is a remote control from the Nintendo Wii. Two wiimotes serve as IR sensors that track the movement of your hand in the hologram space. In order to see your hand, you have to have a tiny marker place on your finger that is very reflective to IR light. As far as hand-tracking goes, it’s a remarkably simple setup. There are some obvious limitations you can see from the video. The size of the hand isn’t well preserved in the virtual space (probably because only one part of the hand is tracked in IR). Still, I’m sure Nintendo is overjoyed with the inventiveness of the Shinoda Lab. Especially since Shinoda just exhibited AUTD at the SIGGRAPH conference in New Orleans.

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Highlights From Day One At Singularity University

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by Keith Kleiner on June 30th, 2009

singularity_universityYesterday was the first day of the Singularity University summer session.  I was at the NASA Ames campus throughout the day to witness and record the event on video for the Hub (see highlight video footage at the end of this post).  The energy at the University is absolutely thrilling.  Its hard even to convey in words.  Tons of smart, motivated people are gathered to discuss, debate, and learn about the intersection of genetics, solar energy, computer networking, and other accelerating technologies.  Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the day was when Ray Kurzweil sat before the students and staff for more than an hour, allowing anyone to ask him questions and share ideas and thoughts.  Such an opportunity to interact with the luminary is but a small sample of the rare and stimulating experiences that Singularity University will be able to offer its students this summer.

I hesitate even to call the 40 attendees of the University “students”, for this term brings to mind images of youths in high school or undergraduate studies that are still at the very beginning of their learning curves.  Nearly all of the 40 attendees of Singularity University are at the Ph.D level or beyond in their professional and academic careers.  Visiting scholar or simply professional might be a more appropriate term.

The University is a new entity, and as such it is creating traditions and customs as it goes along.  In a presentation to the students and staff, Peter Diamandis presented several ideas aimed at creating a sense of community and tradition within the University.  A class ring, inscribed with symbolism and geekiness (the year is written in binary) will be given to each of the students and staff.  A class t-shirt will be designed and also a class poster.  Will a school song emerge at the end of the summer?  How about a student created yearbook, online or otherwise?  It is up to the students and staff to decide on these traditions as they plot out the important first year of Singularity University.

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Is the University a Dying Breed? Technology and Education

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by Drew Halley on May 1st, 2009

Goodbye freshman seminars, beer-pong, student loans, and your cap and gown. Hello online coursework, digital textbooks, lecture mp3’s, and a radically new form of higher education. I can hear it already: “College is so 20th century.” As technology booms, is the university a dinosaur lumbering its way to extinction?

skullIn the eyes of many, yes. David Wiley, a professor at Brigham Young University, recently claimed that the modern university “will be irrelevant by 2020.” Why pay for expensive, boring lectures when you can tap the same vein – for free – with lectures on your iPod? What use are pricey textbooks when their content is widely available online? Critics see the ivory towers of higher education crashing down, quickly replaced by the pillars of the information age. But are these predictions prophetic, or simply alarmist?

It isn’t a new argument. Remember that scene in Good Will Hunting? “You wasted $150,000 on an education you could have got for $1.50 in late fees at the public library.” Theoretically, this is true: the informational content offered at a university could be acquired elsewhere, for free – assuming, of course, a tremendous amount of time and dedication on the part of the self-taught student. The general argument being made nowadays is that the increased ease-of-access ushered in with the information age will make this sort of thing more common. You don’t have to get a library card, I guess.

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