Monthly Archives: February, 2011

Robovie PC Wins the Robot Marathon – Only Two Teams Even Finished!

This past weekend's marathon in Osaka was a widow-maker for its contestants. Assuming, of course, that robots have widows. Of the five contestants competing...
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Your Car is the Arcade: Driving Simulator Uses Real Vehicle in Virtual Worlds

Daredevils have an insatiable need for speed, but they play with fire when pushing their vehicle or driving abilities too far. Tag Systems offers...
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Advertising Robot Follows You Everywhere (video)

Belgian shoppers may be too polite to deal with the terror that is the future of advertising. Marketing agency Duval Guillaume came up with...

While NASA’s Robonaut 2 Is In Orbit, Its Hype Has Escape Velocity

Sorry to kill your buzz, NASA and GM, but your jointly developed humanoid robot, the Robonaut 2, is way over hyped. The 300 pound...

Another Robot Teacher Enters Korean Classrooms

In the next three years, South Korea is going to suffer a massive invasion. Not from the North, but from robots conquering its classrooms....

Get Ready for RoboGames 2011! Coming in April to San Mateo (video)

The robots are coming, the robots are coming! This spring, the San Mateo Fairgrounds will host RoboGames, the annual international event that sees robots...

Watch the Bipedal Robot Marathon Live Feb 24-27th! (i.e. Now!)

History is in the making in Japan, as humanoid robots compete to see who will be the first to run a full length marathon...

Starbucks’ Interactive Storefront Window is Latest in Digital Trend (video)

As if they needed more ways to draw you in, Starbucks is experimenting with interactive touchscreens to attract customers to their stores. Two Canadian...

Toyota Robots Play Trumpet and Violin In Tokyo (video)

There are many things that make humans unique, but apparently a love of music isn't one of them. Toyota had its violin and trumpet...

Manchester Airport Hires ‘Holograms’ (video)

Visitors to Manchester Airport may be a little startled when they meet customer service reps John and Julie - these newest additions to the...

Lasers, Magnets and 3D maps…Zapping Your Fat Goes High Tech

Looking to get rid of your love handles, or perhaps an extra chin?  Be ready to, quite literally, feel the burn.  Okay so you...

Becoming Cybernetic: 3D Custom-Fit Knee Implants from ConforMIS

Like the treads on car tires, the all important cartilage within our knees is slowly wearing down. By the age of 65, in fact,...

First Planned Taste Test for Artificial Meat is Probably Doomed

What does artificial meat taste like? Our chances of learning the answer anytime soon look dismal. Vladimir Mironov at the Medical University of South...

France’s First Baby Born To Treat Siblings With Genetic Disorder (video)

Umut Talha's name means "our hope" in Turkish, and his birth brought some much needed good fortune into the lives of his siblings. The...

US Soldiers Using Sniper Detecting Microphones (video)

Small lightweight microphones are saving the lives of US soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. Shoulder Worn Acoustic Targeting Systems (SWATS), developed by defense...

Volvo’s New Pedestrian Detector Brakes Car For You (video)

"By 2020, nobody shall be seriously injured or killed in a new Volvo" -- Volvo's Vision2020 Statement In the next decade Volvo wants to end...

Dodge Commercial: We Will Never Let Computers Drive Our Cars (video)

What's the newest way to sell a Dodge Charger? Tell buyers that it's only available for humans. In a strange, presumably tongue-in-cheek, commercial Dodge...

Pet 2.0: Pleo the Robo-Dino Described by Innvo Labs CEO

There’s nothing more awesome than a dinosaur, unless that dinosaur is also a robot. Last October, we introduced you to Pleo rb (reborn) by...

Audi Sells Cars By Appealing to Our Empathy with Robots (video)

Emotions help set humans apart from robots, but they also make us easy targets. Audi is advertising their new A4 TDIe automobile with a...

At Least Half of Americans Diabetic or Pre-Diabetic by 2020

We have heard for years that diabetes is a serious problem in America, but people really do not like to listen. The result of...

2000+ Robots in US Ground Forces in Afghanistan

For every 50 US soldiers in Afghanistan, we have about 1 robot, but those numbers are getting better every year. From 2009 to 2010,...

Programmable Bio-Nano-Chips: First Viable Medical Lab on a Chip?

We often find out too late what's happening inside our bodies when it's stricken by disease or cancer, but those days could be coming to...

Anything You Search For Can and Will Be Used Against You in a Court of Law

What’s the worst possible way your online activity could come back to haunt you? Losing your job? Or getting expelled from school? How about being put...

I Am The Very Model of a Singularitarian – Hilarious Video

Oh YouTube, you have so many precious gems hidden among your piles of social excrement that it takes me years to find some of...

HealCam is Chatroulette for the Sick, Another Sign of Patient Empowerment?

A new website is looking to pair up patients anonymously to help them find a community of their peers. When you have a serious...

Happy Valentine’s Day From the Automated Chocolate Factory (video)

Chocolate sales are likely to reach nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars in the US alone this Valentine's day. As we prepare to consume...

A Warning to LCDs – Watch Your Back, AMOLEDs are Coming

If you, like me, tend to drop your electronic devices and have spent countless dollars repairing cracked screens, rejoice!  The Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting...

It’s Showtime: IBM’s Watson To Make History On Jeopardy!

Today, February 14, 2011, IBM's Watson computer system is slated to take on the world's best humans in a televised duel of the world...

Yes, The Khan Academy IS the Future of Education (video)

I'm just going to come out and say it: the Khan Academy is the best thing that has happened to education since Socrates. The...

$1.5M Robbery of Bellagio Casino Foiled Thanks to RFID Chips

If you're thinking of robbing a Las Vegas casino, and you're not George Clooney, I have a word of advice: give up now. As...

TIME Magazine Shines a Spotlight on Kurzweil, The Singularity

This is a good week to be Ray Kurzweil. The noted inventor, author, and futurist turns 63 on Saturday, and there's no better way...

Google Translate Voice Now on iPhone – Star Trek Come To Life (video)

The Universal Translator is one step closer to reality. One awesome and frustrating step. The Google Translate mobile app, now available on iOS as...

Braille Watch to be Created Through Crowd-Sourced Funding (video)

How do the blind tell time? You can help decide. David Chavez is a designer in California who has a great idea for a...

Ford To Make Roads Safer By Networking Cars Together Wirelessly (Video)

With auto technology getting more and more advanced every day, we are often looking to our cars to do the mundane things for us,...

Mathletics: Training and Competition Online Is Future of Education

Mathletics is another sign that the internet holds the future of education. Sydney-based 3P Learning developed the Mathletics program as a way to augment...

Japanese Company to Sponsor first Robot Marathon – 26.2 Miles to Glory

Robots have barely learned how to walk, but Vstone is already pushing them to run. The Japanese robot research and manufacturing firm has announced...

Interactive Billboards That Talk To Your Phone – Welcome to Marketing 2.0 (video)

Mobile phones have become one of your portals to the digital world, so it's only fitting that salesmen are starting to knock on that...

Robot Jet Fighter Takes First Flight, Aims for Aircraft Carriers in 2013

Navy officials and military developers are beaming with smiles of success for they are the proud papas of the newest military marvel: a robotic...

Ebocloud, A Novel About The Social Singularity

The Singularity may arrive through robots, computers, or bioengineering...or it might be created by Facebook. Ebocloud, the debut novel from Rick Moss, is set...

MIT Brings Hologram Video One Step Closer With Kinect Hack

A note to researchers out there: when you develop your amazing technology, try not to compare it to things we've already seen in movies...

UK Engineer Designs Own Life-Saving Implant, 20 Patients Follow

In the six years since Tal Golesworthy had the implant he designed inserted into his own chest, his device has saved the lives of...

G-Slate Tablet To Come With 3D Cameras and Glasses – A Trend Too Far?

T-Mobile recently unveiled the LG G-Slate tablet, a 4G mobile device that will be able to shoot 3D videos in full high definition (1080p)....

Great Videos From the Kinect Hacking Competition on ROS

The Kinect 3D Sensor may be a robot's best friend. Willow Garage recently sponsored a Kinect-hack competition for the open source Robot Operating System...

Will Vicarious Systems’ Silicon Valley Pedigree Help it Build AI?

Facebook, Space X, Numenta...Vicarious? In Silicon Valley the pedigree for a startup can make or break it. Vicarious Systems is a fledgling company -...

Automated Car Convoys Pass First Test in Sweden (video)

Not sure if you'd trust a computer to drive your car? Europe has an automated alternative that may suit you better. The SAfe Road...

Heartland Robotics Moves Headquarters, Aims to Nearly Double In New Year

What's going to be the next big thing in robotics? Maybe a new take on the industrial machine. Rodney Brooks, one of the founders...

Who Understands Recent World History Better – You or a Chimp?

The world has undergone some radical change in the past fifty years, but our perception of it continues to lag behind. Don't believe me?...

Google Digitizes Famous Art – Amazing New Virtual Museums

You can now explore some of the world's most precious works of art to a depth that even their creators may not have known....

Texas Student Attends School as a Robot – A Sign of Things to Come

Freshman Lyndon Baty's immune system is so fragile he can't risk being surrounded by people his own age, yet he attends classes at his...

What’s the Internet? Hilarious Video of NBC’s The Today Show 1994

Let me take you back seventeen years - Ace of Base was on the radio, Mrs. Doubtfire was dominating the box office, and The...
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