Category Archives: Robots, Brain, Mind and Behaviour

Children will learn from robots

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We featured a previous post on one of the most emotionally literate robots in the world Nao, who was developed by Aldebaran Robotics and is currently being used by the ALIZ-E project scheduled to end this year. This cute robot has been tested at aged care facilities and proved helpful for such tasks as monitoring and reducing people’s anxiety levels by engaging with them emotionally.

Now, another European project is testing Nao in a slightly different role – that of a tutor. Needless to say, EMOTE, a three-year research project launched in 2012, also picked up Nao for his ability to empathise.

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Swarm construction

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Watch these termite-inspired robots in action 

Termites are some of nature’s most magnificent architects that can easily build complex mounds that exceed their own size by several orders of magnitude – occasionally reaching up to nine meters in height. Paradoxically enough, each of these tiny insects does not have even a remote idea of what kind of structure it is building, nor does it receive orders from any termite authority. In fact, the termites’ architectural prowess makes no sense except in the context of swarm intelligence.

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Machines as Medical Mock-Ups

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3DModel_faceIn the near future, doctors may try out treatments on virtual versions of ourselves

Advances in  medical technology have played a major role in increasing people’s average life expectancy.
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Biomimetics: Where’s it at?

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Researchers explore the state of the art of Biomimetics

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Does it make sense to study the living to make machines? Or explore the intricate architecture of a shell to design a building? Within this field, scientists look to nature for their best ideas—we’re talking about Biomimicry. It’s a scientific field that blends a flow of ideas from the biological sciences into engineering. Biomimetic research is bringing together scientists from disciplines such as Neuroscience, Cell Biology, Computation, Psychology, and many others to produce new technologies that make sense in today’s ever-changing world.
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It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s Robobee!!!

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Harvard University says hello to the tiniest flying robot ever

Pictured next to an American coin, this little machine weighs in at a mere tenth of a gram. The Robobee, developed at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering,  is officially the smallest flying robot ever created and it’s just completed some very successful first flights.
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Artists, Philosophers and Robots

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Ghost in the Machine- Guy David

The development and design of future technology should foster some unlikely alliances

The late professor of English and Cultural studies at De Montfort University, Nicholas Zurbrugg, focused largely on the analysis of the contemporary, the experimental and the avant-garde. His 1999 paper, Virilio, Stelarc and ‘Terminal’ Technoculture, published in Theory, Culture and Society,
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The 2012 Living Machines Conference

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Here’s a taste of what went on over the 3 day event organized by the Convergent Science Network

Electro sensors inspired by fish who navigate their way through murky waters, robots that dance with the honeybees, and artificial muscles and blood vessels making their way into modern medicine. These are just a few of the research topics that were Continue reading →

Up Next… Neo-Humanity?

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Check out Russia 2045

Could we reach an age of cibernetic immortality? It’s a controversial question (to say the least) however, Dmitry Itskov is now making it loud and clear that he thinks the answer is yes and the Russian media tycoon doesn’t stand alone in his opinion. By founding the Russia 2045 movement in 2011, Itskov is now supported by a team of over 30 experts including some of Russia’s leading astronauts, physicians, mathematicians, neuroscientists and engineers (oh, and he’s also recieved the thumbs up from Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama).
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BrainGate2

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¨Turning thought into action¨

The Robotic arm moves  a thermos filled with coffee towards Cathy Hutchinson’s  mouth while she imagines carrying out this same motion with the very  hand she has been unable to move for the past fifteen years.
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Humanoid Robots

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They’re doing their best to walk the walk and talk the talk

Humans may not have the fastest or strongest bodies on earth but they are super multifunctional. Sure, we can’t jump as high as frogs, or swim as well as dolphins but we’re still able to achieve both forms of motion. The versatility of our physical ability has inspired us to create a world filled with tools and structures that would be impossible for many other animals to use – can you picture a cat using a door handle or a fish using stairs?
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