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Blogging the future

Could our pets be one day replaced by robots? Futurist Ross Dawson explores this idea, using Pleo, the new robot dinosaur as an example. Pleo, although only a robot, acts like any other animal: he responds to interaction and can establish an emotional connection with people. And the best part is that he doesn’t need to be housebroken.

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Aristotle once said, “Art imitates Nature.” Observation and imitation of nature are fundamental for science too. Therefore, paraphrasing Aristotle, we could say that robotics is now imitating nature.

When researchers plan new robots, they are often inspired by the world of animals. For example, they are inspired by their appearance and actions. Behavior is another element from the world of animals that drives the development of new robotic forms. Pleo, the first domestic robot that acts like a real animal, is, indeed, born from the observation of our pets’ behaviors.

If you think about it, what makes our relationship with animals special is their way of responding to our presence. They follow our voice, they are happy when we come back home, and they come close in search of affection. This is exactly what they did with Pleo: the software is written with instructions that allow the robot to simulate a real behavior responding to specific stimuli. Will robots take the place of pets? Futurist Ross Dawson, expert in innovation, tries to give an answer to this and other questions.

More Info:

• http://rossdawson.com/
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y5WInXF02s

This cartoon from 1953 brings us on a fantastic tour of the possibilities of television, to the time of “new” media.

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I have always enjoyed revisiting the fiction of the past in order to play one of the most classic games: spot the differences. It is the game that I invite all of you to play today, while watching this video.

In this 1953 MGM cartoon, director Tex Avery and producer Fred Quimby present their whimsical vision for “televisions of the future.” While none of their wild ideas actually exist today, their cartoon is still worthwhile for other reasons. First of all, the video illustrates some of the commonly-held beliefs of the time concerning proper places men and women occupied in society (think of the television inside of the washing machine).

The cartoon is also a great representation of the power technology has to excite the human imagination. At the time this cartoon was made, televisions were some of the newest and most complex pieces of technology everyday people came in contact with. By presenting ideas as to the possibilities of televisions, Avery and Quimby poke fun at the oftentimes overly lofty conceptions people can have as to the ability technology has to better human existence. Still, many of the innovations were very practical and useful for that time period. Whereas the television of the future was able to automatically correct a fuzzy picture, perhaps today’s television of the future will be able to recognize the viewer and automatically pick desired TV shows. We’ll just have to wait and see.

A new iPhone RFID prototype has been created which uses physical objects to control media playback. iPhones will soon be able to play videos just by coming into close contact with a physical object, allowing us to take advertising and marketing to another level.

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When cellular phones first came out, were fascinated with the fact that we could now communicate without the need of a landline. The first mobile phones were enormous, and over the years became more compact and sophisticated. Although we are now able to access the internet and play video games with our cell phones, the technology is about to get even more interactive.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a generic term that is used to describe a system that transmits the identity of an object or person wirelessly. RFID is used in mobile phones under the term Near Field Communications (NFC). Incorporating a NFC reader into the iPhone would allow the phone to interact with other objects around it. If a person were to tag a toy and link it to a video on the phone, when iPhone came near it, the video would automatically play. Of course this is very basic now, but the potential for the future is huge. This could completely change the way marketing works.

Imagine walking through the mall and your iPhone would go off when going by tagged objects, or merchandise that is trying to be sold to you. Maybe there will be a way to personalize marketing for different demographics as well. It would drastically change the way that our cell phones help people get through daily life. Although this technology could eventually make shopping a nightmare (imagine the iPhone going off constantly), but one thing is certain: cell phones are undergoing another major breakthrough that will change them forever.

More Info:

• http://www.rfid.org
• http://www.nearfield.org/2009/04/iphone-rfid-nfc

New technologies are not only changing our everyday lives and how we work and communicate with others; they are also bringing new customs to our societies. The National Texting Championship, held in New York City, is an example of such a phenomenon. The idea is simple: whoever can write the fastest text message wins.  There have only been three competitions so far, but the event is quickly attracting more and more Americans.

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Do you know what was written in first text message ever sent? “Merry Christmas”. It was the Christmas of 1992, and 22 year-old Neil Papworth sent his Christmas greetings to his colleague Richard Jarvis, who at that moment was at a holiday party near Vodafone’s complex in Newbury, England. To send the message Papworth used the keyboard of a computer. Little did he know what sort of technological revolution he had actually started.

18 years later, the number of text messages sent is now more than 2 trillion. Text messaging has not only created a new way of connecting with people, but it has also brought with it a new way of speaking and new cultural norms. In order to fit an entire message into only 160 characters, people have created new vocabulary, have begun including symbols into everyday speech, and have given numbers a new functionality. Teenagers are the original inventors of this new way of speaking, and their national texting champion for 2009 is 15 year-old Kate Moore. So what does it mean to be the texting champion? A first-place trophy, $50,000, and…bragging rights for the rest of the year.

LG’s US National Texting Championship is no easy feat: there are several elimination rounds, which include a text obstacle course, blindfolded texting, and texting while being hassled. Kate, who averages 14,000 messages a month with bills just under 300-pages long, beat over 250,000 texters to win.

What does this new and innovative competition mean for our future societies? It stands to demonstrate how our culture is evolving quickly. We are constantly looking for better and more efficient ways of communicating and existing in this world. Undoubtedly, the texting trend has grown exponentially, as more adults are beginning to also use text messaging as their main form of communication.

More Info:

• http://www.lgtexter.com/past_winners.php

Scientists at UC Berkeley, California have engineered materials that can modify the natural visible direction of light, and make the object appear invisible to human eyes. These 3D materials curve light waves around the object in which they are applied. Thanks to this new technology, it may actually be possibility to walk around with an invisibility cloak in the near future.

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It was 1961 when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby designed “The Fantastic 4”, giving life to a very popular series of comedies, including personalities that entertained millions of readers. Out of you readers, who has heard of the adventures of Susan Storm, the “invisible woman”. After around 40 years, the fiction that seemed to remain confined to comics, spread to scientific laboratories.

Some interesting trials have been conducted since 2006. Researchers from Duke University, directed by Prof. David Smith, created a “meta-material”, made from electromagnetic waves, which rendered objects visible only to specific detectors. In only 3 years, this field has taken a giant leap forward.

At the University of Berkeley in California, a team of scientists led by Prof. Xiang Zhang, from the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center put together for the first time a 3-D material capable of deflecting the natural direction of visible light through infrared lighting. Xiang has created a carpet cloak from nanostructured silicon that conceals the presence of objects placed under it from optical detection.

This discovery could contribute to further create a base material that will have an optic effect on images and render them invisible. A creation like this would be a hit with fantasy film fanatics. One can only wonder than limitless possibilities and applications that will come from this discovery, and hoping that not only the military sector will benefit from the innovation.

More Info.:

• http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2008/08/11_light.shtml
• http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/01/15/invisibility-cloak.html
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4zwzlnExVU
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ-aLyiU_i0&NR=1
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja_fuZyHDuk
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeiFcJC7diA

Imagine watching your favorite TV show from your living room sofa undisturbed while someone right beside you listens to their favorite song play on the stereo. The development of such a device that would allow us to do this was practically unimaginable only a decade ago. However, we may all have the privilege of owning such a device in the near future.

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In the late 19^th century, when Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, projecting recorded sounds was a byproduct of his efforts to “play back” recorded telegraph messages and to automate speech sounds for transmission by telephone. Certainly, he could have never imagined the extent of the evolution of his and his successors’ technologies. Today, we not only have the means of projecting sound, but we now have the capability of directing or “aiming” sound to a specific point.

There is a revolutionary technology, created by researcher Joe Pompei of MIT, where sound is focused to target a specific area. Pompei’s “Audio Spotlight” was no mistake either. Joe explained where his inspiration came from, “I started to become interested in really what the shortcomings of traditional loudspeakers were.”

Traditional speakers transmit non-directed sound at wavelengths of several feet. Pompei’s Audio Spotlight transmits millimeter-sized, ultrasonic waves in a very narrow beam of sound, which becomes audible as it travels through the air. Essentially, Joe has figured out a way to use ultrasound that “excites” the air and causes sound to be made “in midair.”

These new waves can travel much further, and more focused, than normal sound waves.  The signal processor/amplifier are integrated into a system about the size of a traditional audio amplifier, and they use about the same amount of power as well.

Pompei has founded the company, “Holosonics” in which he sells the Audio Spotlight. “Environments that need ‘sound without noise’ are our workhorse application: museums, corporate visitor centers, event or gallery installations and retail sales displays. But our ultimate destination for Audio Spotlight’s is the home.” Look out for the Audio Spotlight as it may be on store shelves sooner than expected.

More Info:

• http://www.holosonics.com/
• http://web.mit.edu/
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-aLJ4Kjm3A

Tech entrepreneur, Tan Le, explains what Emotiv is and how it may be applied in the future. There are many possible applications for this type of technology: from a more realistic video game experience to aiding people who are wheelchair-bound.

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The research on (BCI) Brain Computer Interface, started in 1970 at UCLA, with financing from the National Science Foundation. The research from this sector are now numerous, and point towards neuro-prosthetics that can repair a persons poor hearing, as well as eyesight and movement. The systems of BCI are based on the interpretation of brain signals, and work to improve the way they function.

Today however, with an extraordinary influence by videogame fanatics, it is possible to find on the market a headset for videogames that can turn thoughts into actions: Emotiv. The special headset has a non-invasive technology that can interpret electric impulses from the brain, and monitor the reactions from the user. The headset is configured through the software Emokey, that allows the integration of our mood to any type of videogame.

Emotiv allows for three levels of detection: expressive – to notice the expression of our face; affective – captures our emotions, which dynamically modify the context of the game (music volume and colors – adapt to our sensations); cognitive – to control objects, by simply thinking of the action that are about to take place.

Technology entrepreneur Tan Le was interviewed by David H. Freedman from INC Magazine.

More Info.:

• http://emotiv.com/

All five senses are appealed to with the new cocoon helmet, which allows the user to be in any location or historical event and actually have all their senses stimulated simultaneously.

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Whoever thought history cannot be relived, and that every corner of the globe cannot be explored, might want to rethink their theories. Imagine sitting at home, and being able to relive moments that happened centuries ago, or feeling as if you were in the middle of the scorching hot Sahara desert. Technology isn’t far from creating this fantasy into a reality.

The Virtual Cocoon will consist of a headset incorporating specially developed electronics and computing capabilities. The project leaders are scientists David Howard from the University of York, Alan Chalmers and Christopher Moir from University of Warwick, along with experts from the Universities of Bangor, Bedford, and Brighton.

One puts on the virtual helmet, and the user immediately sees the action unfolding right before their eyes thanks to the high definition screen. A surround system accompanies the scenery, and chemicals are released to match the exact scent of the event. If one dares to venture into the desert, they will feel the scorching heat, or if they are strolling a beautiful garden, the scent of roses will be released to make the experience and unforgettable one. Smell will be generated electronically using a technique that will deliver a pre-determined smell recipe on-demand while the team intend to provide a texture sensation relating to something being in the mouth and tactile devices will provide touch input.

More Info.:

• www.davidhoward.co.uk/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Chalmers