Author Archives: cfo5046

Spoiler Alert: Artificial Intelligence Can Predict How Scenes Will Play Out

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already helping scientists form testable hypotheses that enable experts to run real experiments, and the technology may soon be poised to help businesses make decisions, one scientist says.

However, that doesn’t mean the machines will be taking over from humans entirely. Instead, humans and machines have complementary skill sets, so AI could help researchers with the work they already do, Laura Haas, a computer scientist and director of the IBM Research Accelerated Discovery Lab in San Jose, California, said here Wednesday (Dec. 7) at the Future Technologies Conference.

“The machine will come to be a strong partner to humans,” akin to the android Data on the TV series “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Haas said.

Though many people fear a future where our robot overlords surpass humans in almost every capacity, in reality, machines have long outpaced mere mortals at many tasks, such as doing incredibly fast mathematical computations. But this dominance is nowhere clearer than in the realm of Big Data.

“Global scientific output doubles every nine years; 90 percent of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone; 2.5 exabytes of data are created every day,” Haas said.

In the competition between man and machine, computers are the undisputed winners at processing and assimilating all this information, Haas said.

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http://www.livescience.com/57134-artificial-intelligence-could-be-scientists-lab-assistant.html

HTC Launches ‘Vive Studios’ for First-party VR Game Development and Publishing

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HTC announced that they’ve spun up an internal development and publishing group called Vive Studios.
Mirroring Oculus’ own ‘Oculus Studios’ effort, HTC has formed an internal VR game studio and publishing group called Vive Studios. Like other first-party studios, Vive Studios plans to both create content internally and work with external studios on publishing, marketing, and funding support.

“We’re excited to formally unveil Vive Studios as a new pillar in HTC’s initiative to drive persistent growth for VR,” said Joel Breton, VP of content at HTC Vive. “Vive Studios’ aim is to nurture and discover development talent and help create content that will continually push the boundaries of the kinds of experiences VR can deliver. […] The VR ecosystem needs a persistent flow of exciting experiences and AAA content that can help grow our audience.”

While HTC’s VR partner, Valve, has formerly taken a lead on evangelizing VR content development for SteamVR, the company hasn’t publicly made the sort of major VR content investments that we’ve seen from Oculus and its parent company Facebook. Oculus has a smaller library of VR content on its platform, but most agree what what’s there has greater depth than what’s available on SteamVR (and by extension, the Vive).

Now it seems that HTC wants to change that. The company has supported VR content developers across several other initiatives, but its formal efforts—like the Vive X accelerator—seem focused more on startup & venture style investing than content publishing. Vive Studios is likely to function in a more familiar structure for established game and app developers looking to create top-notch VR content.

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HTC Launches ‘Vive Studios’ for First-party VR Game Development and Publishing

This Robot Crosses Rough Ground Like a Human Does

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Robots have a track record of falling over. But a new technique allows a humanoid robot to feel its way over rough ground better than ever.

In a video found by TechCrunch, researchers from the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition Robotics Lab in Pensacola, Florida, show off a new set of control algorithms that allow the Boston Dynamics robot known as Atlas to cross an uneven path of cinder blocks. It looks eerily human-like as it moves its foot to explore the ground in front of it, strides, then corrects itself by swinging its torso and arms.

In fact, that’s exactly what it’s been programmed to do. In a paper describing how the technique works, the researchers explain that “the robot explores the new contact surface by attempting to shift the center of pressure around the foot.” Then, an “available foothold is inferred by the way in which the foot rotates about contact edges … during exploration.”

The robot uses that information to work out how it should hold its foot as it takes a step, then it moves and uses upper body angular momentum—including arm waving—to maintain and regain balance. In testing, it’s able to walk over rough surfaces that feature edges or even corners of cinder blocks.

The researchers say that their work is “an important step in the effort of making legged robots useful in real-world scenarios.” Of course, like humans, it won’t always get it right. But researchers have already started working out how to ensure that robots fall safely—so when they do take a tumble, it’s shouldn’t fracture their circuit boards.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603027/this-robot-crosses-rough-ground-like-a-human-does/?utm_campaign=internal&utm_medium=readnext&utm_source=item_1&set=603017

Body Heat Powers This Smart Watch

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Menlo Park startup has created a smart watch that runs on body heat. While basic, it could usher in a new generation of wearable devices that never need to be charged.

During a demo, Matrix engineering lead Anne Ruminski held the watch to her wrist, causing its black and white screen to boot up within a few moments. Despite being the same size and shape as a Garmin Forerunner smart watch, its abilities—step tracking, calorie counting, and sleep monitoring—are more akin to a FitBit.

The watch powers itself with what’s known as a thermoelectric generator. The temperature gradient causes electrons in the watch to flow, creating an electric current. Ruminski says Matrix’s breakthrough was discovering how to dissipate the resulting heat, which would otherwise ruin the temperature gradient.

The company also benefited from a trend toward less energy-hungry devices. The PowerWatch only gets a tiny amount of power to work with, but it does a relatively large amount of tasks with it. A small backup battery in the watch allows it to store data and the time when it’s not on your wrist.

Matrix is not the first group to build a wearable that runs on body heat. North Carolina State University researchers recently revealed a thermoelectric generator that they believe could be incorporated into shirts and other items of clothing. Other teams are looking into making use of waste heat from sources other than the human body. But there hasn’t been a high-profile thermoelectric wearable to actually make it to market.

Matrix opened $99 pre-orders for the watch Tuesday and plans to ship it in July 2017. Its full retail price will be $160. The company has not yet developed the software for the watch, though Ruminski says the hardware is already complete—as a result, I couldn’t see the watch’s functions beyond simply turning on.

Matrix also plans to apply its thermoelectric approach to other devices. Medical devices, hearing aids, and wearable sensors could also run on body heat. They may be better use cases, too. Smart watch enthusiasts will quickly notice the PowerWatch’s simplicity compared to examples like the Apple Watch. But sensors are a newer category that don’t require a highly interactive screen.

University of Pennsylvania assistant professor of health care management Mitesh Patel notes that about half of people who purchase a wearable device stop wearing it within a few months. Every time you take off a smart watch is an opportunity to stop using it.

“Wearable devices are more likely to help individuals for longer periods if their technology is designed to reduce barriers to engagement such as the need for regular charging,” Patel says.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602874/body-heat-powers-this-smart-watch/