Search Results for: japan

AutoCAD Makes a Triumphant Return to Mac

18 years ago, a little application by the name of AutoCAD, also known as Photoshop for engineers, vanished from the Mac platform into the oblivion of Windows PC exclusivity. After almost two decades of avoidance, AutoCAD has finally made its way back onto the Mac OS. The transition to Mac appears to have been a smooth one. The GUIs are ...

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Paging, Dr. Asimov!: Punching Robots Programmed to Inflict Unbearable Pain

Isaac Asimov’s laws of robotics states that “a robot may not injure a human being.” But it’s hard for robots to comply to such stringent laws when the threshold of pain and injury varies so much from person-to-person. Borut Pov�e from the University of Ljubljana is conducting a research experiment which could help robots better understand their limits. Pov�e persuaded ...

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Ice Ball Mold Lets You Make Your Own Perfect Meltable Spheres

I don’t know what the hell you could use an ice sphere for other than a clever drink coolant and possibly an elegant projectile, but I’m not sure you really need a reason to make perfect ice spheres. They’re just really neat to look at. Maybe you can hang it from the ceiling of your freezer like some sort of ...

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Lexus Unveils the World’s Most Advanced Driving Simulator

Lexus wants to keep you safe. And to keep you safe, Lexus researchers have built the world’s most advanced driving simulator in history, where unsuspecting employees will be subjected to the horrors of the road. Which is good, because I want to feel safe when my autonomous car drives me around. Located in Higashifuji, Japan, the domed simulator is about ...

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And the Oscar Goes To… Geminoid F, the Fembot Actress

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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DoCoMo’s AR Walker Prototype Brings Augmented Reality to the Streets

As of today, the only widespread use of augmented reality lies through the lens of a smartphone camera. But even that barrier between the phone and yourself reduces the realism of what’s supposed to feel like reality. NTT DoCoMo put their AR Walker prototype to the test at Ceatec, where some spectators waited up to an hour to try out ...

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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, ...

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Author Writes 300,000 Books in Less Than 5 Years

I’ve always loved to write but I have never been a long-form writer. I never had the patience, nor the creativity to write anything longer than a page or two. In a way, I’ve always been the blogger I am today, despite my best efforts to one-day be a best-selling novelist. While I’m fairly certain that there’s no chance of ...

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Camera-Wielding Inflatable Giant Invades Tokyo

In a culture that’s been terrified by monsters like Godzilla and Mothra for decades, I’m not sure an inflatable giant was the best choice of advertising mediums for the people of Tokyo, Japan. Panasonic used a gigantic inflatable model of their celebrity spokeswoman, Ayase Haruka, wielding a Lumix FX700 larger than two humans, to convince/terrorize the people of Tokyo to ...

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