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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Cognition Technologies’ new Semantic Map lets computers — and, conceivably, evil robots — “understand” the English language in much the same way humans do, based on word tenses and context in a sentence. With this technology, a computer or search engine can understand virtually every word in the English language — for a vocabulary about ten times that of a typical American college graduate. The system is already being employed in search engines, allowing people to ask questions in human-phrasing instead of unnatural, machine formatted word strings. Researchers say the ability to understand language is an important building block of the nascent Semantic Web, and will make the Replicants of the future extremely difficult to detect.

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Source: Joseph L. Flatley

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Filed under: Robots

Robots teaching robots? Check. Robots teaching humans? Check. Robots learning things on their own accord? Um, terrifying? All kidding aside, the UMass Mobile Manipulator is one smart cookie. Put simply, this intelligent robot pushes objects around in order to identify how they move, and once that’s accomplish, it begins “manipulating them to perform tasks.” If this sounds awfully similar to something your infant does, that’s because the two are indeed very much related. UMan, as it’s so eloquently dubbed, packs its own wheels, battery pack, one-meter arm, three-fingered hand and webcam in order to interact with the world, and sure enough, one researcher even mentioned the potential of it learning to operate a pair of scissors. Great, what’s next — a BFG?

[Via CrunchGear]

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Robots

Alright, so maybe the recently announced Ultimate WALL-E robot doesn’t actually get down and dirty on video, but he does maintain a pretty positive attitude after being poked, prodded and generally invaded for a full five minutes. The latest collaborative effort from Disney and Thinkway Toys was spotted recently at Maker Faire, and if you’re interested to see what exactly $190 will net you later this summer, head on past the break and click play.Continue reading Disney / Thinkway Toys’ Ultimate WALL-E robot cleans up on camera

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Robots

We both fear and heart our cuddly, skull crushing robotic overlords here at Engadget; that we can’t deny. Now meet the work of Nemo Gould, artist of post-consumer waste, liege, and robot supreme commander. His latest work entitled Little Big Man is on display at the San Jose Museum of Art for the new Robots: Evolution of a Cultural Icon show. The 8-foot tall Big Man is made from a vintage radio cabinet, street light poles, and of course, antlers among other human scrap and squander. Little Man sits at the heart of the beast and pulls the levers which drive the malice from within. Check the video clip after the break.

[Via Technabob]

Read — Little Big Man
Read — Robots: Evolution of a Cultural Icon show

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Source: Thomas Ricker

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Filed under: Robots

Artist France Cadet has created what was clearly meant to be a thought-provoking treatise on animal rights, the changing relationships of humans and animals, our ethical concerns on hunting, and an ever-morphing perception of what it means to be human… but it also comes off as looking really, really cool. Using the better half of the Aibo-wannabe I-Cybie robo-dog, Cadet reprograms the half-bots — called “Hunting Trophies” — to detect movement and react angrily when a viewer approaches. There are 11 different species in the collection, including a robot impala, lion, zebra, and warthog. Guess what? Despite those lofty philosophical goals, each one is more adorable than the next. Want.

[Via PROTEIN OS]

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Source: Joshua Topolsky

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Filed under: Robots

We’ll be straight with you — Wizkid would be a lot easier to take seriously if it looked even remotely like a fellow Earthling, or at least an animal. Instead, we’re left with a curiously designed, but totally brilliant robot that can hone in on human faces, remember your preferences and understand hand motions. Essentially, the creature is set to improve our lives by cranking up the stereo when we wave a CD in its grill, playing games with lonely souls and keeping us occupied with other on-screen interactive applications. No word on whether this kiddo is destined for the commercial realm, but folks incredibly curious can go say hello at The Museum of Modern Art in New York.

[Via Primidi]

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Robots

Forget controlling your dreams — after all, isn’t the idea of having a mechanical buddy act out whatever your off-kilter brain thought up last night much more appealing? In an interesting endeavor, Fernando Orellana and Brendan Burns have teamed up to design a humanoid that actually takes sophisticated dream interpretation results (garnered by analyzing data from a variety of sensors) and acts out whatever was going on in one’s mind. Quite frankly, we’re not even sure we’d like to remember some of those overnight journeys — let alone see some bot play it back — but if you glanced this headline and immediately crossed your fingers for a video, head on past the jump to get just that.Continue reading Humanoid acts out your dreams, encourages insomnia

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Robots

Everyone knows you can’t take a robot bowling. After a few pitchers of beer-flavored suds, deep-fried mushrooms, and pickled eggs even the most well-mannered robot will turn ugly. Bring a vision-guided, fireball-throwing industrial robot and it’s guaranteed. Hey robot, this isn’t ‘Nam. This is bowling. There are rules. See for yourself after the break.

[Via Hack A Day]

Continue reading Robot goes bowling, gets angry

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Source: Thomas Ricker

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