 Robotics And AI
15 July 2011
This is your brain on androids
Ever watched a kids' movie where the animated human characters are realistic but just not quite right and maybe a bit creepy? Then you've probably been a visitor to what's called the "uncanny valley." Until now, the uncanny valley was poorly understood, but new MRI brain scans help explain why we feel repulsed when confronted with fake humans that appear too human...
24 June 2011
Demonstration of memflector brings brain-like computing a step closer
The first ever demonstration of simultaneous information processing and storage using phase-change materials points the way to computers that more closely resemble biological systems...
13 June 2011
MRI scans predict pop music success
An experiment originally designed to see how peer pressure affects teenagers has also been found to accurately reflect the success or failure of pop songs...
29 November 2010
Academics bemoan Google's lack of transparency and the homogenization of information
Google's monopolization of online academic search and lack of transparency is leading to less information diversity, say European scientists who warn that the production of scientific knowledge is "way too important to leave to companies and intelligent machines"...
13 September 2010
Pressure-sensitive crystalline semiconductor used to create artificial skin
Engineers have developed a pressure-sensitive electronic material from semiconductor nanowires that will help overcome a key challenge in robotics: adapting the amount of force needed to hold and manipulate a wide range of objects...
10 September 2010
Robots taught to deceive
Researchers have developed algorithms that allow a robot to determine whether it should deceive a human or other intelligent machine and which techniques to use for the best deceptive strategy...
29 June 2010
Transform! Origami robots self-fold
Researchers have demonstrated a concept they call "origami robotics" using a single thin sheet composed of interconnected triangular sections that can transform itself into different shapes...
15 April 2010
Cheap-and-cheerful memristor tech set to spur AI research
The recent demonstration of mass-produced memristors performing stateful logic operations and their likely application in an artificially rendered memory and learning process known as "spike timing dependent plasticity" will make memristors the must-have tinkertoy for AI researchers...
7 December 2009
Implant enables direct alphanumeric input from brain to computer
Using a technique known as electrocorticography, neuroscientists at the Mayo Clinic have demonstrated how brain waves can be interpreted to directly enter alphanumerical characters into a computer...
25 June 2008
Researchers Demo Neural Implant That "Learns"
The neural implants used to control prosthetic limbs have traditionally been relatively crude affairs, relying on an inflexible pattern of signals from the brain to activate a robotic limb in a preordained manner. Now, however, University of Florida researchers have devised a way for neuronal devices to evolve with the brain as it learns...
29 May 2008
Monkey Mind Over Matter
A monkey has successfully fed itself using a robotic arm controlled by signals from its brain. The researchers involved say the breakthrough could lead to the development of brain-machine interfaces for people with spinal cord injuries and those with "locked-in" conditions such as Lou Gehrig's disease...
22 May 2008
Jumping Robot Designed With Rough Terrain In Mind
European researchers have unveiled a novel, grasshopper-inspired jumping robot that weighs a miniscule 7 grams but can jump 1.4 meters - more than 27 times its body length. The tiny robot is designed to explore rough, inaccessible terrain or to aid in search and rescue operations...
2 November 2007
In Design We Trust
Automated machines are driving us all crazy for the very same reasons the Terminator was considered the perfect killing machine. They can't be bargained with, and they can't be reasoned with. They don't feel pity or remorse or fear and they absolutely will not stop, ever, until you fall into a pathetic sobbing heap on the floor...
19 October 2007
Context And Computer Vision
A bunch of computer scientists believe they can create computers capable of seeing the world with a human perspective using a simple, but lesser-known, publicly available widget from Google...
23 March 2007
Have You Hugged Your Robot Today?
Earlier this month, Korea announced that it was drafting a set of ethical guidelines for robot producers, users - and the robots themselves. "How quaint," I thought, until further research revealed that assorted futurists and AI experts are at this very moment diligently working toward establishing equal rights for robots...
2 March 2007
Researchers Map Neuron Connections
A modified rabies virus has been used to identify all of the connections to a single brain neuron, a significant step toward understanding how the brain is "wired"...
29 January 2007
Researchers Plan Soft-Bodied Robots
A multidisciplinary initiative focused on engineering a new class of robots that are completely soft-bodied has been launched...
18 December 2006
Direct Brain Control Of Robot Demonstrated
A metal skullcap with electrodes sticking out allows the wearer to control the movement of a humanoid robot using signals read directly from their brain...
18 August 2006
A Portrait Of The Artist As A Tin Man
What is creativity? What creates value in art? If creativity is derived from the ability to link together and express diverse inputs, then would robots capable of doing this be deemed to be creative? But if we can't comprehend and define our own creativity, how can we ever expect a robot to create something that we consider art?
10 August 2006
Novel Robot Will Be "Dynamic And Graceful," Says Prof
A robot that moves around thanks to an inverse mouse-ball drive could provide a much better platform for human interaction than wheeled or humanoid-type legged robots...
19 May 2006
Software Personalities To Populate Virtual World
Developed by AI experts, computer scientists, sociologists and linguists; a virtual world populated with software entities that interact socially is about to be switched on...
5 May 2006
Bringing Up BabyBot
Researchers hope BabyBot, a new robot modeled on a human infant, will bring science closer to understanding consciousness. The methodology behind BabyBot is in stark contrast to many other AI initiatives that have expended a great deal of effort into cramming prefabricated "knowledge" and "facts" into machines in the hope that they will ultimately end up mimicking human intelligence. Results from this top-down approach range from patchy to downright disappointing, so it's no surprise that a growing number of AI researchers are now looking more seriously at BabyBot's bottom-up approach...
28 April 2006
Artificial Eye Borrows From Nature
Berkeley researchers have built an artificial compound eye using self-aligning and self-writing techniques borrowed from nature...
21 April 2006
 Bionics: The Six Million Dollar Question
You won’t hear much about bionics outside medical conferences these days, but when The Six Million Dollar Man hit the airwaves during the 70s, it was a hot topic of conversation around the water cooler. Today, against a backdrop sketched by nanotech futurists such as Ray Kurzweil, bionics is set for a comeback, but this time, we’re told, it’ll be for real. The six million dollar question is: could someone equipped with today’s bionics go mano a mano against Col. Steve Austin and come out on top?
17 March 2006
Super Strong Artificial Muscles Could Power Next Generation Of Robots
Radical new artificial muscles fueled by alcohol or hydrogen could power prosthetic limbs, autonomous robots and marine and aerospace vehicles...
23 November 2005
Brain Begins To Reveal Its Codes
Neuroscientists have been able to “read out” part of the brain’s visual system’s code involved in recognizing visual objects...
14 October 2005
 Artificial Intelligence In The Garden Shed
Chess programs, digital dogs and robot vacuum cleaners are all well and good but they do not represent self-generated thought, as they can only perform the tasks that their programmers have fed them. To create true artificial intelligence we almost certainly need to first understand human consciousness. And the best way to do that, according to one maverick scientist, is to build your own android...
20 June 2005
Open The Pod Bay Doors... Please
A new software language promises to equip computers with reasoning powers that better reflect the subtleties intended by their human operators...
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