Even in an age of security leaks and government surveillance, amazingly, Americans still feel pretty good about the role that technology will play in their lives, according to a new study. However, when you ask them about the specific advances—like bioengineering, wearable tech, drones, and robots—Americans are a bit more wary of welcoming the future. Read More >>
We've successfully engineered giant robot arms for building cars on an assembly line. But smaller mass-produced items—like electronics—still mostly rely on the nimble hands and fingers of a human. Building and controlling robots on a very small scale is still very difficult, but a company called SRI International may have found a clever solution using magnets. Read More >>
Coming across as a socially functioning human who expresses real emotions can be such a drain. If only there was a high-tech way to replace your flat, expressionless gaze with a digital approximation of human warmth. Well, search no more. AgencyGlass is here. Read More >>
We were promised robots. The future, science fiction told us, would be a world swarming with automatons that did all the jobs we didn't want. But you know what? Robots are really expensive and hard to build. Two MIT scientists want to change all that with inkjet printers and techniques borrowed from origami. Read More >>
With what has to be one of the most ambitious Kickstarter projects to come along in a while, the folks behind this Mini Mobile Robotic Printer want to revolutionise the mobile office. Because of instead of carrying a page-wide device that has to pull paper through it, this little marvel will instead print directly on a piece of paper while it rolls around on top of it. Read More >>
Google's continued push into the robotics industry continues, with its latest investment being a stake in Silicon Valley's Savioke, which focuses on service industry machines. Read More >>
As impressive as Boston Dynamics' humanoid robot ATLAS moves, it's still not completely free to explore wherever it wants. Thick trunk lines keep it tethered to machinery and pumps that provide power, hydraulic fluids, and of course communications and data. But researchers at MIT are now working to free ATLAS of its leash-like umbilical cord sometime in the next six months. Read More >>
My, my, my how the tables have turned. The past few years have seen countless human jobs filled with our less-whiny robot counterparts. But it turns out that, at least for Toyota, the pros of total automation haven't outweighed the cons. Meaning human factory workers are back in business. Read More >>
Looks like Boston Dynamics' super creepy hazmat robot, Petman, just got a new best friend. Say hello to Porton Man, the Ministry of Defence's brand new £1.1 million, animatronic robot pet. Read More >>
Feeling brave? How about getting a tattoo? A tattoo from a 3D printer? That's not as ridiculous as it sounds, as a group of students from the ENSCI-Les Ateliers design school in Paris has shown. Armed with some inspiration and a MakerBot 3D printer, they swapped the extruder for a pen to see if the hardware could be used to ink up someone's arm. Read More >>
This week Festo unveiled a bird-inspired wind turbine, but yesterday, the company unveiled a new robotic creation that's a little more recognisable. The world may not have a huge need for a bionic kangaroo—outside of Australian-themed amusement parks—but emulating the marsupial could result in robots with remarkably long endurance. Read More >>
Until now, humans have had one significant advantage over computers and robots: We were the only ones who could teach the machines how to function. Now, researchers at Washington State University have created computers that can teach other computers. And they're using Pac-Man to do it. Read More >>
Humans are the worst—there's no denying it. But isolating yourself from the rest of humanity doesn't exactly come with the best track record either. Now, though, you can get the best of both worlds thanks to SociBot-Mini, a depth-sensing, mood-reading, friends'-identity-stealing disembodied robot torso. Read More >>
SociBot-Mini is a weird little desktop robot, one with a face that's designed to be part display. The USP is that it can load in an image of someone's actual face, then display and animate that while you talk to them, with eyes that follow you about the room. That won't in anyway distress children and animals. Read More >>
The nuclear-charged "Judgement Day" may have been due on August 29th, 1997 according to Terminator 2, but for a series built around a time paradox, it's safe to say we're not out of the woods yet. Especially as Skynet-mastermind Cyberdyne has just been listed on the Tokyo stock exchange. Read More >>
4
