Geminoid F might not be ready to give Meryl Streep a run for her money, but the female humanoid robot was designed for the stage. Created by ART Intelligent Robotics and Communications Laboratories under the direction of Professor Ishiguro Hiroshi, Geminoid was designed to replicate the appearance of a twenty-something woman, with the exception that she is controlled via remote ...
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PR2 Robot Now Has a Sense of Touch
Now PR2 doesn’t only fold your socks, but also doesn’t crush your bones when you shake its hand. PR2 by Willow Garage has been a robot in the spotlight since its creation in late-2006 by ex-Google employee Scot Hassan. PR2 has pooped up in the media a few time throughout the years, and he finds himself the subject of headlines ...
Read More »Researchers Aim to Create a Census for Robots
“Have you filled out your robot census? No? You know that’s illegal right?” We’re not quite there yet, nor do we really have the need, but eventually, robots might have a census of their own. In fact, a small scale version is already underway. Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University launched a robot census to determine how many robots existed on the ...
Read More »Nuclear Weapon-Guarding Robots Are Just Biding Their Time
The Hawthorne Army Depot, a 600,000 sq. ft. storage facility in western Nevada, has employed a new race of guards to protect the security of their weaponry and nuclear waste. The MDARS (Mobile Detection Assessment Response Systems) robots patrol the outskirts of the military installation with expert precision only a machine can provide. With a top speed of 20 mph, ...
Read More »Automatic Cake Decorator Lets Grandma Take a Load Off
It’s not that I’m against over-working geriatrics, but I’m very pro-properly decorated baked goods. And a tired grandma is an unmotivated grandma. Which is where the Automatic Cake Decorator comes into play. Grandma has spent about 45 minutes on her feet, icing and assembling the cake that I demanded for my birthday with the threat of a hellish tantrum if ...
Read More »15-Year-Old Boy Receives First Permanent Robotic Artificial Heart
An unnamed teenage boy sat in his hospital bed, awaiting death as his muscles slowly degenerated into oblivion. He was perhaps days away from death when doctors decided on a radical procedure. The 15-year-old in question suffered from Duchenne syndrome, a disease which causes rapid muscle degeneration but does not provide eligibility for a heart transplant. That’s just the way ...
Read More »Female Daleks Exist, They’re Just Embarassed To Go Outdoors
…and I don’t blame them. If I was designed to look like a robotic, extermination Hello Kitty, I wouldn’t want to show my face (wait, do Daleks have faces) outdoors either. Designer Joseph Senior created this Hello Kitty Dalek rendering using an artistic eye, good design software and plenty of rainbows and sugar plum fairies. Luckily for them, female Daleks ...
Read More »The Guitar Tornado Plays Tunes via Robotic Fingers
Thankfully not starring Bill Paxton or Helen Hunt, this tornado of rock barrels through anything in its path – especially disco. German artist Trimpin created the Guitar Tornado for the Experience Music Project in Seattle. But this tornado has more than form. It has function. Intermingled within the tornado is guitars connected to robotic musicians which play the guitar on ...
Read More »An Exoskeleton for Kids
Every exoskeleton concept we’ve seen has been made for adults. What about the children? What about their fragile bones and muscles? Hell, if we had exokeletons for kids we could get them into the workforce by the age of 6. The 5.25 foot tall Kid’s Walker is a snack-sized bipedal robot suit for kiddos. At first glance it might seem ...
Read More »R2-D2 Vacuum Cleaner Sucks Up Qui-Gon’s Ashes
When you need to tidy up after the incineration of a Jedi’s corpse, there’s only one vacuum cleaner powerful enough to withstand the midichlorian count of such a powerful master is the R2VAC2, rendered by DeviantArt user Agent-Spiff. You don’t even want to know where C-3PO’s nozzle hose is located. Link [via]
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