Nov 2 2009 Great: MIT Developing Dashboard Death Bots
MIT, a school best known for not accepting me despite two super-sweet essays and several threatening phone calls, is now developing a robot companion for drivers. Why? Because we need more distractions in the car.
AIDA (Affective Intelligent Driving Agent) communicates with the driver via a small, sociable robot built into the dashboard. The idea is to develop an informed and friendly passenger, the buddy perpetually riding shotgun who aside from reading the map and helping with navigation, acts as a companion. As such, AIDA is being developed to read drivers' moods via their facial expressions and other cues (hand gestures?) and respond to them in the proper social context. It communicates back in very human ways as well: with a smile, the blink of an eye, the drooping of its head.
AIDA analyzes the driver's mobility patterns, common routes and destinations, and driving habits. It then merges its knowledge of the driver with its knowledge of the city around it, mashing up the drivers priorities and needs with real-time information on everything from tourist attractions to environmental conditions to commercial activity to help the driver make better decisions.
Yeah, but can he take the wheel? Because what good is a robot in the car if it can't drive you home? I don't need a friend in the car THAT'S WHY WE HAVE TEXTING, am I right? No, I'm dead wrong. Literally: DEAD. WRONG. Don't text and drive.
This message brought to you by the GW and everyone else who agrees that you already suck at driving bad enough without another distraction.
MIT Introduces a Friendly Robot Companion For Your Dashboard [popsci]
Thanks to Jeff, tom and Kristi, who just get lost and play 'I Spy' with themselves in the car like normal people.
Feb 9 2009 'Sixth Sense' Device Created, Sadly Doesn't Capture The Ghost That Lives In My Closet
The brainiacs at MIT have gone and created a 'sixth sense' device, which is basically a smart phone/camera/projector combo small enough to be worn on your face like my fist. KA-POW! Also, it does stuff, and won't leave you bruised.
The device...can turn any surface into a touch-screen for computing, controlled by simple hand gestures. The gadget can even take photographs if a user frames a scene with his or her hands, or project a watch face with the proper time on a wrist if the user makes a circle there with a finger. The device can recognize items on store shelves, retrieving and projecting information about products or even providing quick signals to let users know which choices suit their tastes.
Other than letting some of you live out your fantasy of looking as cool as Tom Cruise in 'Minority Report' it can really let you connect as a sixth sense device with whatever is in front of you," said MIT researcher Patty Maes."It is very much a work in progress. Maybe in ten years we will be here with the ultimate sixth-sense brain implant."
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Brain implants -- that's where I draw the line. There may be nothing but cobwebs, The Golden Girls theme song, and a candy bar wrapper up there, but, damnit, this is my brain we're talking about here. That said, I'll saw my own skull open if it gives me x-ray vision.
MIT researchers make 'sixth sense' gadget [physorg]
Thanks to Ain and Icehawg, who created a 7th sense device but their research was muffled because it was too far ahead of its time.
Jan 17 2009 Stop Confusing Me, Damnit: The TOFU Robot
TOFU is a meat-free robot that looks and acts like a penguin crossed with a Furby crossed with my ex-girlfriend's muff (which I DID see once when I walked in on her in the shower -- score!) Developed at the MIT Media Lab, the little bastard dances to music and has OLED eyes that look eerily sexy. "He's a "squash and stretch" robot, one that uses techniques of social expression employed by 2D animators to give himself some personality." I have no idea what that means but I've killed my fair share of Furbys and, by God, I'll kill a battalion of these little robotic bitches too. But....those eyes....
UPDATE: Humankind, please forgive me, for I have sinned in the most I had-sex-with-a-robot way possible. And, I still have some more reading to do on the subject, but I think I might be pregnant.
May 6 2008 "Verb For Shoe" Shoes Are Available, $700
The Verb for Shoe "smart shoe" has been in the works since 2004. It was developed by MIT spinoff company VectraSense and they're finally accepting preorders. What do you get for your $700?
An embedded computer that automatically adjusts the shoe to your feet, syncs with your PC, and communicates with the shoes of others to exchange contact information.
Wow, for all that functionality I was expecting to pay at least $1,000. Of course, if you don't have $700 you could just, oh I don't know, buy a pair of shoes that fits and write people's contact information on your hand. For that kind of Pillsbury dough I was expecting flubber soles, a couple burning lasers, and a money back guarantee that you can't lose a bar fight if you're wearing them. I guess what I'm getting at is this: I lost a bar fight last night. I was wearing sandals. And, contrary to popular belief, beating someone in the head with a flip-flop doesn't do shit.
Verb For Shoe "smart shoe" finally goes on sale for $700 [engadget]
Nov 30 2007 'Bar Of Soap' Predicts Your Use For It
The 'Bar Of Soap' comes to us from MIT Media Lab's Brandon Taylor and Michael Bove. The idea behind the device is that it determines its functionality based on the way you hold it. If you hold it like a TV remote then its little accelerometers tell the device to display the appropriate controls like volume and channel. If you hold it like a phone it will act like a phone. Granted the device made doesn't actually have TV remote and phone functionality, just the capability of determining if you're holding it like one. And right now only 60-70% of the time. Making it far less effective than a Wii-mote.
"Bar of Soap" Prototype Detects Intent from Your Touch (You Scoundrel) [boingboing]
Nov 6 2007 Reebok Timetanium: A Math Nerd's Dream
John Maeda, of MIT Media Lab fame got together with Reebok (not sexually) to develop a new shoe. John is well known (by some) for his math and design skills, and the resulting shoe, the Timetanium, is the resulting hybrid of these two fields. Only 100 pairs are being made, and they'll be available through the Reebok Custom website on November 13th. They feature some unique styling and John's handwritten notes printed on the interior. No word on price, because when I tried to look it up my computer exploded, meaning they'll be expensive. I just love that name, the Timetanium. Such a clever combination of time and titanium. Kind of like the code-name of my nudey mag stash, the Empornium. See what I did there? I combined the word emporium with porn to make a clever name. The wife will never catch on. "Don't mind me dear, just running down to the empornium for a little five finger discount. *snicker, snicker*"
Two more pics after the running jump.
Sep 12 2007 Dishmaker Prototype, Um, Makes Dishes
MIT Media Lab's Counter Intelligence Group (which is appropriate because this thing is definitely counter intelligent) came up with this Dishmaker prototype. Sure it looks like a big metal piece of crap with lots of exposed wires and a power strip, but it makes dishes. It holds 150 acrylic wafers at a time, and can make a dish in about 90 seconds, including bowls and cups. After use, the dish can be recycled by reheating to 300 degree Fahrenheit and re-flattening. Each wafer can be recycled approximately 100 times, making them, uh, fairly reusable. I'm still having a hard time understanding why this was made though. It's not like my dish space is a pressing concern. And you're not saving water because I'm sure the plates have to be cleaned between recyclings. Because if you didn't, you'd have less of a plate next time, and more of leftovers held together with plastic. Which is grody.
Dishmaker Prototype, Um, Makes Dishes [ubergizmo]
Aug 20 2007 Weight Watching Robot Keeps You Healthy
Those MIT geeks are at it again, this time developing a robot that is supposed to help you watch your weight and make healthier dietary choices. She interacts with you via touchscreen, where you can input the foods you've eaten, look up recipes, etc. She keeps track of your food intake and stats, and makes suggestions for what to eat. She even speaks (despite not having a mouth) and tracks your movement via face recognition. Speaking of which, just look at those eyes, how dreamy. I can imagine her in my kitchen now. "Hey you sexy thing, how about I drive another Twinkie into me? No? How about a bag of Doritos? No again? Then let me at some of those Girl Scout Cookies? What!? Fine, I'll settle for a kiss you hot little thing you. You're plenty sweet for me anyways. XOXO. Mmmmmm."
Weight Watching Robot Keeps You Healthy [BotJunkie]
