Just wait until you see it slipping on a banana peel! :) SpotMini is a new smaller version of the Spot robot that weighs 55 lbs dripping wet (65 lbs if you include its arm.) SpotMini is all-electric (no hydraulics) and runs for about 90 minutes on a charge, depending on what it is doing. […]
The US government has given a thumbs up to commercial drones but with some potentially crippling restrictions for would-be delivery firms including an effective ban on flying over urban areas. The new rules follow a lengthy consultation process by the Federal Aviation Administration into what it formally calls “small unmanned aircraft systems.” The FAA first […]
A crowd-sourced navigation app will soon help drivers avoid left-turns and difficult intersections. Waze is also getting a test feature to avoid high-crime areas. The Google-owned app combines traditional mapping and live traffic data with user reports of crashes, temporary road closures and other factors that may affect the optimum route at a specific time. […]
Think of some recent tech trends and you might name self-driving cars, 3D printing and artificial intelligence. All three have now been combined in an electric vehicle. Olli is a 12-seater self-driving minibus that’s partially operated by IBM Watson, the artificial intelligence system that famously beat two Jeopardy! champions and has since been used for […]
Cable operators say they are willing to compromise in the dispute over third-party cable boxes, but are holding out on letting customers make recordings on such boxes. The proposal comes after a meeting with the Federal Communications Commission, which recently threatened to introduce tighter regulation. The FCC says in principle cable companies should let customers […]
A robot that can “decide” to harm humans is the latest attempt to provoke debate about artificial intelligence. But it’s debatable whether there’s any intelligence involved. The “First Law” robot is the work of Alexander Reben, a designer at University of Berkely, California who “designs robots and novel interfaces to explore our evolving relationship with technology.” […]
Designs for prosthetic arms based on Deus Ex are to be released royalty-free for use on 3D printers. It follows a man receiving an arm based on Metal Gear Solid. While the MGS arm was a high-tech one-off sponsored by Konami and designed by an artist, the Deus Ex arms will be manufactured by the […]
The built in navigation systems in many Lexus vehicles have been hit by a “purple screen of death.” Despite some initial excitement, the problem appears to be a failed software update rather than hacking. While reports from owners are mixed, it appears the problem may affect all Lexi (to give the correct plural) from 2014 […]
South Korean train passengers no longer need risk the embarrassment of mistakenly implying a woman is pregnant. A pilot program uses wireless sensors to trigger a light when a pregnant woman approaches a seat. The ‘Pink Light’ program in Busan involves the women carrying a small beacon that runs for six months on a single […]
A Google artificial intelligence project has written a mediocre piano melody. It’s definitely a case of the process being more interesting than the product. The project, Magenta, is part of Google Brain which is the company’s machine learning department. Magenta is an attempt to advance machine learning beyond understanding content to creating art and music. […]