USC: Restoring Memory, Repairing Damaged Brains -- LOS ANGELES, June 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire Biomedical engineers analyze—and duplicate—the neural mechanism of learning in rats LOS ANGELES , June 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Scientists have developed a way to turn memories on and off—literally with the flip of a switch. (Photo: ) Using an electronic system that duplicates the neural signals associated with memory, they managed to replicate the brain function in rats associated with long-term learned behavior, even when the rats had been drugged to forget. "Flip the switch on, and the rats remember. Flip it off, and the rats forget," said Theodore Berger of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering's Department of Biomedical Engineering. Berger is the lead author of an article that will be published in the Journal of Neural Engineering . In the experiment, the researchers had rats learn a task, pressing one lever rather than another to receive a reward. SOURCE USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Company: Time Magazine Names the XOS 2 Exoskeleton "Most Awesomest" Invention of 2010 Last updated: 10/27/2011* Raytheon’s second-generation exoskeleton (XOS 2), essentially a wearable robotics suit, has been named one of the Best Inventions of 2010 by Time Magazine . The suit was unveiled for the first time in September during an event at the company’s Salt Lake City research facility. The wearable robotics suit is being designed to help with the many logistics challenges faced by the military both in and out of theater. * The content on this page is classified as historical content.
Good-bye, Wheelchair, Hello Exoskeleton In a warehouse that looks like a cross between a mad inventor's garage and a climbing gym, a pair of mechanical legs hangs from the ceiling on ropes. With the quiet whir of four motors, one in each hip and knee, the legs take a step, then another and another. This is an exoskeleton walking suit, and it is taking the hundreds of thousands of steps that regulators demand to prove that it's no mere toy but a reliable medical device, one that just might change the lives of people who thought they'd never again rise from a wheelchair. The Berkeley, Calif., warehouse is the home of Ekso Bionics (formerly known as Berkeley Bionics), a young company that's about to step out onto the world stage. Photo: Gabriela Hasbun Hello, Ekso User Tamara Mena, who was paralyzed in 2005, gleefully puts her exoskeleton walking suit through its paces. When you don the Ekso, you are essentially strapping yourself to a sophisticated robot.
The Truth About Kenji, the Robot Programmed to Love In early 2009, news broke that an experimental Toshiba robot that had been “programmed to love” was malfunctioning. The story, paired with the above image of a half-Frankenstein, half- Asimo automaton running amok with a captive damsel-in-distress, graced some of the internet’s most-read tech blogs and news sites. Gizmodo, IGN, the Next Web, and others all ran stories about Kenji, the robot-turned-stalker that refused to stop hugging a terrified female intern. It was a slightly chilling and totally titillating narrative, and it played directly into our science fiction-fed imaginations—the ones still avidly populated by increasingly sentient and sure-to-short-circuit robots. It was also a complete hoax. Yet the robo tall tale continues to quietly circulate around the web four years later, masquerading as blogged truth. Word that Kenji the love-struck robot was still lurking around online was delivered directly to my inbox. Right. The article also wasn’t new. But they did.
Association for Robots in Architecture - Mann wird wegen seiner digitalen Brille angegriffen – Zeit noch nicht Reif für diese Technik? | NewGadgets.de Ihr dachtet Google Glass ist etwas neues? Falsch gedacht! Computer die man als Brille mit sich herumträgt gibt es schon länger und Steve Mann, der sich schon seit 34 Jahren mit dieser Technologie auseinandersetzt, wird liebevoll “father of wearable computing” genannt.Er trägt seine digitale Brille, Projekt EyeTap Digital Eye Glass, immer mit sich herum. Nun ist sein EyeTap kaputt, denn man wollte ihm die Brille gewaltsam vom Kopf reissen. Passiert ist dies am 1. Die komplette Geschichte, die dank der Brille auch noch bebildert ist, könnt ihr hier nachlesen. Da seine Brille natürlich über eine Kamera verfügt, wurden Bilder gemacht, die sich nun perfekt dazu nutzen lassen um die Angreifer zu identifizieren. Dies war nur ein Einzelfall, klar, es gibt ja auch noch nicht viele Menschen die solche Brillen tragen. Abgesehen von der kaputten Brille, war die Situation für Mann sicher mehr als demütigend und ich hätte nicht gerne in seiner Haut gesteckt! Digitale Brillen im Alltag
Humans Show Empathy for Robots | Human-Robot Interactions From R2-D2 in "Star Wars" to Furby, robots can generate surprisingly humanlike feelings. Watching a robot being abused or cuddled has a similar effect on people to seeing those things done to a human, new research shows. Humans are increasingly exposed to robots in their daily lives, but little is known about how these lifelike machines influence human emotions. Feeling bad for bots In two new studies, researchers sought to measure how people responded to robots on an emotional and neurological level. Scientists assessed people's levels of physiological excitation after watching the videos by recording their skin conductance, a measure of how well the skin conducts electricity. The volunteers reported feeling more negative emotions while watching the robot being abused. In the second study, researchers use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to visualize brain activity in the participants as they watched videos of humans and robots interacting. Human-robot interactions
Visual prosthesis A visual prosthesis, often referred to as a bionic eye, is an experimental visual device intended to restore functional vision in those suffering from partial or total blindness. In 1983 Joao Lobo Antunes, a Portuguese doctor, implanted a bionic eye in a person born blind. Many devices have been developed, usually modeled on the cochlear implant or bionic ear devices, a type of neural prosthesis in use since the mid-1980s. The idea of using electrical current (e.g., electrically stimulating the retina or the visual cortex) to provide sight dates back to the 18th century, discussed by Benjamin Franklin,[1] Tiberius Cavallo,[2] and Charles LeRoy.[3] Biological considerations[edit] The ability to give sight to a blind person via a bionic eye depends on the circumstances surrounding the loss of sight. Technological considerations[edit] Visual prosthetics are being developed as a potentially valuable aid for individuals with visual degradation. Ongoing projects[edit] Dr. Dobelle Eye[edit] Dr.
Automaton Astro Teller has an unusual way of starting a new project: He tries to kill it. Teller is the head of X, formerly called Google X, the advanced technology lab of Alphabet. At X’s headquarters not far from the Googleplex in Mountain View, Calif., Teller leads a group of engineers, inventors, and designers devoted to futuristic “moonshot” projects like self-driving cars, delivery drones, and Internet-beaming balloons. To turn their wild ideas into reality, Teller and his team have developed a unique approach. The ideas that survive get additional rounds of scrutiny, and only a tiny fraction eventually becomes official projects; the proposals that are found to have an Achilles’ heel are discarded, and Xers quickly move on to their next idea. The moonshots that X has pursued since its founding six years ago are a varied bunch.
Modality (human–computer interaction) In human–computer interaction, a modality is the general class of: a sense through which the human can receive the output of the computer (for example, vision modality)a sensor or device through which the computer can receive the input from the human In less formal terms, a modality is a path of communication between the human and the computer. When multiple modalities are available for some tasks or parts of tasks, the system is said to have overlapping modalities. Having too many modalities for a particular task is not a smart idea, however if you do not have enough modalities that will not be good as well. The computer can be equipped with various types of input devices and sensors to allow it to receive information from the human.
Brain Scans Show Humans Feel for Robots Star Wars’ R2-D2 shows that a robot—even one that looks more like a trash can than a person—can make people laugh and cry. Now, in research to be presented at the International Communication Association conference in London, scientists have shown that when the human brain witnesses love for or violence against a robot, it reacts in much the same way as if the robot were human. Engineers worldwide are developing robots to act as companions for people—for instance, to help the elderly at home or patients in hospitals. However, after the novelty of using a robot fades, people often feel less interested in using them. Scientists want to learn how to create more-engaging robots, but there has been little systematic research on how people react emotionally toward them. In other videos, experimenters acted violently toward the targets—for instance, strangling them with a rope. The researchers were surprised by how similar the brain responses to both humans and robots were.
Wired glove A wired glove (sometimes called a "dataglove" or "cyberglove") is an input device for human–computer interaction worn like a glove. Various sensor technologies are used to capture physical data such as bending of fingers. Often a motion tracker, such as a magnetic tracking device or inertial tracking device, is attached to capture the global position/rotation data of the glove. Wired gloves are often used in virtual reality environments. History[edit] The Sayre Glove, created by Electronic Visualization Laboratory in 1977, was the first wired glove.[1] In 1982 Thomas G. One of the first wired gloves available to home users in 1987 was the Nintendo Power Glove. This was followed by the CyberGlove, created by Virtual Technologies, Inc. in 1990. In 2002, the P5 Glove was released. Following the P5 Glove is 5th Glove. Alternatives[edit] An alternative to wired gloves is to use a camera and computer vision to track the 3D pose and trajectory of the hand, at the cost of tactile feedback.[5]