Researchers at Gifu University's Graduate School of Medicine have developed a robot patient that will provide helpful support for students who are learning to diagnose medical conditions. The humanoid robot is programmed to suffer from one of eight different medical conditions, and it uses sensors to determine the pressure placed on its skin. When students press on a localized area of the robot, the robot will verbally tell the student whether or not it feels pain in that area. The robot has a total of 24 sensors embedded under a layer of soft, warm synthetic skin, creating numerous points for medical students to place their sweaty hands on those lonely Friday nights. Studying with this robot will familiarize students with the physical symptoms of particular human medical conditions and finally give them the experience they need to drop out of medical school and open their own robot massage parlor and escort service.
The Micro.Spheres project invites human visitors into a room filled with 16 autonomous robot balls. The presence of the visitor sets off the sensors in the balls, which move around the room to achieve a new state of equilibrium. If the person in the room is continuously moving, the balls are too. If the person stands still or leaves the room, the balls will find a state of balance and stop moving. The project is supposed to address changing social structures, but if they added a few spikes to the balls and swapped out the word "micro" with "death" or "danger," they could have a successful movie franchise on their hands. Did I say successful? I meant terrible.
Leave it up to those whacky scientists at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to invent another animal robot that has absolutely no use for anyone anywhere ever. The OCTOR (sOft robotiC manipulaTORs) project is focused on both creating tentacle-like robots and completely destroying the foundation upon which acronyms are based. DARPA is researching robot tentacles in an attempt to create a robot appendage that can navigate narrow spaces and manipulate oddly-shaped objects. The "Octarms" that have been developed so far are powered by compressed air and fitted with pressure sensors on its surface and a camera at its tip. It is unclear about the eventual use of these Octarms, but researchers may use them for "bomb disposal tasks," since slapping a bomb around with a pool noodle is probably the safest way to deactivate it.
If there's one thing to look for in a peaceful bicycling experience, it's the relaxing sound and exhaust of a gasoline-powered internal combustion engine! The RevoPower "Wheel" is a hub-based bicycle motor that can easily be swapped with the front wheel of almost any adult bicycle. The Wheel contains a balanced 23cc, two stroke internal combustion engine and gear train that can achieve speeds of up to 20 mph. A simple throttle device on the handlebars controls the speed of the engine, and a fuel tank in the water bottle holder powers it. The Wheel should be released in late 2006 to early 2007; shortly after which the product will be taken off the market when the Wheels begin disconnecting from their bicycles en masse and slamming into congregations of old ladies, kittens, and newborn babies.
The Origami DVD Player is a new concept being developed by Israel-based MagInk. When not playing a DVD, the Origami can be folded down, compressing the screen so it is approximately the size of a portable CD player. This concept relies on a flexible screen, which MagInk plans to manufacture with full-color e-paper technology. I like the idea of giant, newspaper-sized screens on portable electronics, but folding up a screen might create some problems. What happens when a crease in the screen blocks out some important plot information? Where would I be if I didn't know Willy made it over those rocks? I wouldn't have "Willy is free" tattooed on my neck, that's for damn sure.
If back alley knife fights get in the way of juggling your job and family, you might want to consider picking up the Shocknife. The Shocknife is a training knife that delivers a localized shock of up to 7,500 volts. The blade itself is incapable of cutting, and the shock will deliver only temporary pain, not serious injury or incapacitation. The blade is mainly targeted at police training exercises, offering a drastic improvement over the commonly used wooden and rubber training knives. A case of two goes for $900, and let's face it, nightly knife fights provide an easy and quick way to settle those pesky dinner table arguments.