Crave companionship? Do you find yourself lacking in love and absent affection, or do you simply need a good hug? Finally, thanks to Japanese robotics engineers, a hug will always be at the ready with the Sense-Roid HugBot. Read more »
Spitting to some, including yours truly, is disgusting. That said, we’ve all sent saliva flying from our mouths at one point or another for a variety of reasons. Some spit to display disdain, others spit when eating seeds of some sort, while many shun spitting altogether. New scientific research however shows that spit may hold a very important place in society, determining one’s true biological age. Read more »
I am sure you have heard/encountered some people who think that one shouldn’t eat meat because it’s taking advantage of animals. Political correctness aside, I see some flaws in their arguments, but I will not get into that here. (There is, of course, the argument that raising animals for food contributes largely to the problem of greenhouse gases.) Instead, I propose a solution which may or may not ruin your appetite. It’s easy enough for non-carnivores to take the stand that real animal meat should not be consumed. For those who like their meat, though, actually foregoing meat is a totally different matter. Enter Mitsuyuki Ikeda, a Japanese scientist who Read more »
Robots have yet to best humans in solving a Rubik’s Cube, but they are making inroads concerning social media and are becoming more human-like everyday. Disconcerting to say the least. Read more »
Facial recognition software is fascinating. Software, be it on a computer, or as an app on a smartphone which can capture an individual’s likeness and recognize who the individual is, often is expensive, does not work, or the technology is owned by another. Two Cornell undergraduate students, Brian Harding and Cat Jubinski, have just taken the wrap off their project which dispels the aforementioned notions associated with facial recognition systems. Read more »
![Amazing 3D, 360-degree fog display [Video]](http://www.forevergeek.com/wp-content/media/2011/03/Sparkle-Rabbit-160x160.jpg)
Fans of Star Wars and Star Trek no doubt dream of the day when a 3D, 360-degree, on-demand, immersive, digital environment is made a reality for any and all who want it. Read more »
Gentlemen have the benefit of having a unique perspective when it comes to women. We know we stare at the bottoms of a nice-looking woman. Case closed. Or is it? Read more »
As consumers get their heads around all things high definition, the next big thing is 3D TV. We already know that a number of consumer electronics companies and broadcasters are pushing full steam ahead with plans to launch hardware and programming in 3D, and now Sony and CBS have partnered to open up a 3D Consumer Research Centre. Located in the CBS Television City research facility at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, it’s designed to be “a dedicated resource devoted to studying 3D in all its forms”. That’s according to Sony Electronics’ executive VP and CMO, Mike Fasulo. Created in two zones, one section will focus Read more »
We’ve talked about printers printing human organs, and toasters printing images on bread. How about a printer that actually prints food? Over at the MIT Labs, the Fluid Interfaces Group is running a project that involves what they call Cornucopia, a “personal food factory” which is essentially a three-dimensional printer that brings together ingredients to produce food. The machine stores food in refrigerated canisters, and then when food is needed, the machine pipes in ingrediets, and heats or cools these as necessary. These are then deposited layer by layer until the desired output is achieved. Cornucopia’s cooking process starts with an array of food canisters, which refrigerate and store a Read more »
A common issue faced by any robot designer would not only be how to power the machine, but how the robot will recharge. If you’ve watched WALL-E, you’ll know that this cute little critter has to bask in the sunlight for a few moments to recharge his batteries (after which the familiar Apple-like sound would signal his “booting up”). How about other robots? Imagine having to plug in your robot at the end of each day. That would be tedious, wouldn’t it? And it would defeat the purpose of having a machine that should be autonomous in the first place. There have been research that looked into robots plugging themselves Read more »
