Learning from home may be the only option for some but robots can help fill some critical gaps
Cris Colaluca is a 14 year old boy who is attending class at his local school for the first time in six years. Technically, he’s sitting at a desk in his room, in New Castle, USA, but a mobile VGo robot allows him to experience his seventh grade math class between two of his peers in the front row.
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Cyborg, Neil Harbisson listens to the music of colour
Harbisson’s visual world is painted in black, white and shades of grey. A rare genetic condition termed Achromatopsia is what’s responsible for colouring his surroundings like the pages of a newspaper.
He took an interest in both art and music at an early age and began studying fine art at Institut Alexandre Satorras in Mataró, Spain, where he had special permission to use only black and white.
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Take a sneak peek at a favourite from this year’s Sundance Film Festival
Robot and Frank premiered this week at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Directed by Jake Schreier and written by Christopher Ford, this dramatic comedy features a relationship between an elderly man and a robot bought for him by his kids who are concerned about his well being .
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Business bot by Elys Dolan ¨He'll do your tax return and wear a tie but draws the line at shirts¨.
Robotic advancements are boosting existing industries and paving the way for entirely new ones.
In the business world, robots are basically placed in either one of two categories: industrial or service. Industrial robots are the ones that help us manufacture cars, process food and assist in a great many tasks where repetitive assembly is required.
Presently, the number of industrial robots greatly surpasses that of service robots. According to the World Industrial Robotics 2011 report, there were 1,035,000 Continue reading
Electron microscope image of the microbe, Geobacter sulfurreducens
The U.S.’s Naval Research Laboratory powers mini robots with microorganisms
All sorts of robots are used to help us explore outer space but bigger isn’t always better when it comes to extraterrestrial explorers. These machines require loads of energy and last time we checked, outer space lacks electrical outlets….
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Europe supports more research on robotics and the law
The two year European project ROBOLAW (Regulating Emerging Robotic Technologies in Europe: Robotics facing Law and Ethics) is scheduled to start in March of this year.
The main goal of this project will be to provide the European Commission with a “White Book on Regulating Robotics”. Essentially, this will be a set of guidelines which will contribute to the future establishment of a solid framework of ‘robolaw’ in Europe.
Spelling help robot — Girl, 10, Germany
“What would happen if robots were a part of your everyday life—at school and beyond?”
Latitude, an international research consultancy, asked nearly 350 children in Australia, France, Germany, South Africa, the UK and the USA to draw a picture and write a story that answers the question above.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s Mechanical cast members
The video above features a special performance of a Shakespearean classic put on by Texas A&M University several years ago. The students and professors involved in the production thought this would be a great way to see how people respond to and interact with robots. Continue reading
If you can’t make the meeting… send in your robot!
The American company Anybot has created telepresence robots that can be used in variety of scenarios. Whether at home or work, who says you can’t be in two places at once?
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Check out some of the bots at this year’s CES Tradeshow in Las Vegas while CNET’s Luke Westaway entertains us with several duels of man Vs machine