Scientists at the University of Washington have created contact lenses with embedded electronic circuitry and lights. The lenses have been successfully and safely worn by rabbits and do not obstruct vision. This development brings us a step closer to lenses that could enable us, for example, to zoom in on distant objects or lenses that can superimpose information on the external environment (augmented reality).
After a week of talking flesh fusing with machines, animal experiments and other under-the-skin issues, it’s important to mix it up with some funny videos! Yarr, here be geeky humor.
Recent news tell of software that analyzed over 6,000 barks from 14 Hungarian sheepdogs in 6 different situations. It could consequently discern whether the a dog was in a stranger, fight, walk, alone, ball or play scenario. This isn’t the first time we’ve tried something like this, but previous devices haven’t been very successful (have you seen any talking dogs around?).
Last year I had the pleasure of seeing Dr. Miguel A. L. Nicolelis do a lecture at Reykjavik University about his research on mind-controlled robotics. His previous efforts have put him in the spotlight more than once which include enabling a monkey to control a robotic arm with his mind. Now Nicolelis and his team has pushed the bar by enabling a monkey to move robotic legs in a walking pattern.
It’s that time of the year again. A holiday aftershock. Crazed consumers say the man in the black turtleneck visits today. With the MacWorld 2008 keynote only about half an hour away I’m naturally at the computer, eagerly awaiting updates. I must admit that I haven’t been keeping a hawk eye on rumors or leaked information. I suppose that makes the keynote even more intriguing. I’m including a short list below of sites providing live coverage, plus a quick look at a product expected to make its debut.
The Ra desk lamp is not your average desk lamp in terms of visual value. The artificial vertebrae design rattles loudly on my aesthetic scale.
The Crunchies is a competition to recognize and celebrate the most compelling startups, internet and technology innovations of the year. Amongst the five finalists in the Best Technology Innovation category we have Twine; a semantic web application I’ve been testing for some time.
As usual, the Consumer Electronics Show 2008 has brought an onslaught of hot gadgets. Here are a few videos of new robotic products expected to hit the market this year. A special star goes to WowWee for their Rovio telepresence bot which sounds and looks truly fantastic.
A few years ago I read about an experiment that used living cortical neurons from a rat brain to perform calculations. More specifically, the neurons were connected to the controls of an F-22 fighter jet simulator. After some training, the brain was able to fly the jet in tough weather conditions. Today Geylen brought my attention to another similar experiment. An associate professor at the Uni. of Arizona has built a robot chassis controlled by the brain of a moth. He predicts we’ll be using such organic-machine hybrid computers soon.
Bring out your robot; your Roomba, your Robosapien, your Pleo, your AIBO, they’re going to want to see this. A new report states that personal robotics industry is expected to reach USD$15 billion in 2015. If we compare this to previous predictions, they all bode massive growth like a choir of singing synthesizers.
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