Nov 242011
 
Moving a Robot/With a Kinect/Over the Internets/Is a Revolution

Yasakawa Japan has retrofitted one of their robots with an off the shelf MS Kinect. And just like that, telepresence takes a huge leap forward.

Nov 102011
 
ASIMO: Awesome Android or SuperTech Puppet?

If ASIMO doesn’t keep improving, becoming more adaptive and autonomous, I see many late nights with a little white robot waking from a terrible nightmare screaming: “Help, Help! PETMAN is coming to get me!

Sep 142011
 
All Your Jobs Are Belong to Us.

The robot revolution has been imminent for several decades, ironically. Regardless of timeframe, the fact of the matter is that we’re now pushing and developing at such a pace that it’s inevitable – at some point robots have to match our sci-fi expectations – and I think it’s now actually factually …

Aug 302011
 
Grandma's Robot Friend - Not Creepy at All.

PARO is supposed to represent something related to Robots Taking Care of the Elderly. I’m all for the idea in general, but do the elderly really want a cutesy robotic stuffed animal friend? Seems to me it’s kinda, oh I don’t know… revoltingly condescending. But okay, while I understand that in the referenced piece it’s merely presented as a thought exercise, one would expect it to be a bit closer to something people wouldn’t want to club to death. The study is going on in the middle of good ol’ America, so just when I thought I’d never again have to [read full post]