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Robots Could Have Stretch and Glow Skin

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"stretch glow skin"

New stretch and glow artificial “skin” has been developed

STATES CHRONICLE – Artificial Intelligence is being developed to be as similar to humans as possible. Many researchers build robots that resemble people at least a bit, in the way that they have arms, legs or eyes. So why wouldn’t they have skin as well?

Scientists have developed a special kind of artificial skin particularly made for robots. What makes it so special is the fact that although it is an electronic piece, it is extremely flexible and stretches under pressure.

Being under pressure also makes the skin glow brighter. The artificial skin was developed by a team of researchers from Cornell University. They say the skin could be compared more to rubber band or a balloon rather than human skin.

There are others who believe the new artificial skin resembles octopus skin. An octopus beak can move and stretch. The team wanted to create a balloon that could bend under pressure, instead of pop. They used unyielding carbon fiber on the bottom, letting the top free so that the skin could respond to pressure.

They made a three-chamber robot out of the material and put the new artificial skin layers on top. The chambers expand, and the robot moves with a wiggle. Although similar “skins” have been developed before, they only worked by touching a computer and responding to electro-stimuli. This skin, however, has embedded electronics, which is a first, considering that the devices usually break when they are stretched or molded.

What makes stretching electronics possible is the HLEC, a hyperelastic light-emitting capacitor. The system can both sense pressure and react to it, as well as emit light. This is why you could say that it is similar to octopus skin.

The glow results from the electric field embedded in the skin, and it can be “personalized” with different colors, depending on what metal powders the researchers are using in creating it. As the robot moves, its skin glows more brightly.

Researchers believe that being able to personalize a robot by changing its skin color could have a positive impact on the human-robot interaction.

They are also thinking of using the new “skin” in replacing car touch-screen interfaces that require the driver to pay attention somewhere else than on the road, with light-emitting “buttons”. Besides, it could also revolutionize tech-wear, and we could have smartwatches attached to our skin, barely visible.

Image source: techtimes.com

Humans Prefer Robots to be in Charge at Work

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The Industrial Revolution changed how work was organized. Mechanization brought along a dramatic increase in labor efficiency. But while such a remarkable change helped to increase production, people were less relaxed when it came to what the future will bring. Marry Shelley’s Frankenstein is one of the first major artistic piece that transposed these anxieties into modern literary forms. Space Odyssey 2001 and The Terminator are more recent artistic productions conveying the same human fear of artificial intelligence. So would humans prefer robots as bosses instead of other humans?

A study comes to contradict these ingrained popular feelings of anxeity. In real life situations, it seems that people not only that do not have problems in collaborating with robots, but they actually prefer taking orders from them, instead of their bosses.

MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) hosted a series of experiments looking at how humans collaborate with robots in a project lead by Matthew Gombolay, a PhD student at CSAIL.

“In our research we were seeking to find that sweet spot for ensuring that the human workforce is both satisfied and productive,” says Gombolay. “We discovered that the answer is to actually give machines more autonomy, if it helps people to work together more fluently with robot teammates.”

Another report released by Pew Research Center Internet Project included opinions of experts on the matter of robots taking over jobs soon and the conclusions are not sunny.

Humans prefer robots as bosses because it’s more efficient

Researchers organized three working situations involving two humans and one robot. According to the criteria ‘who is in charge’, in the first group, categorized as ‘manual’ a human assigned the task. In the semi-autonomous group one human assigned his/her tasks, while the robot allocated the task for the other human. In the ‘fully autonomous’ situation, the robot allocated the tasks of both humans.

humans prefer robots as bosses.

When the robot was in charge, the tasks were performed the most effectively. Moreover, the humans were more content with the arrangement, as the robot “better understood them” and “improved the efficiency of the team,” MIT declares. So humans prefer robots as bosses as it makes the labor process less complicated.

Gombolay naively claims that because the algorithms are produced by humans, cyborgs will not take over the show. The aim of this research is to create improved algorithms that will increase the efficiency of work in various situations and environments.

Technological unemployment is one of the greatest fears for workers in many sectors. One solution to counter the negative social effects would be the introduction of a universal basic income. Now it’s the time to start debating the solutions.

Robots Overtaking Jobs by 2025, Experts Split on Consequences

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The future of humanity lies in how we decide to produce, engage with and manage robots. By robots, we can understand a large range of technological entities with artificial intelligence. Since the eve of the first industrial revolution, humans struggled with how to introduce technological improvements in production without hurting employees? Well, most capitalists thought that technological innovations will increase profit, but recently we started posing publicly the question of technological unemployment more often than ever if that will happen, how should we deal with it? The robots overtaking jobs are our friends or enemies?

Pew Research Center Internet Project asked many researchers about precisely this topic. The exact question was: “Self-driving cars, intelligent digital agents that can act for you, and robots are advancing rapidly. Will networked, automated, artificial intelligence (AI) applications and robotic devices have displaced more jobs than they have created by 2025?”

Pew Research Center undertakes some interesting projects. About a month ago Pew released a report concerned on what threatens the Internet.

Robots overtaking jobs, friends or enemies?

Almost 1.900 experts answered the open-ended question. Initially, Pew sent the question to more than 12.000 experts from all over the world. Three expert categories were formed. The first contained experts who previously participated in other Pew researches. The second was formed out of members of professional associations studying internet trends, among others. The third category represents regular the Pew Internet Project newsletter subscribers. Bear in mind that this is not a representative study, so the results cannot be generalized. Moreover, about 84 percent of the respondents said they live in North America.

Robots Overtaking Jobs, what are the consequences?

The answers to the tricky question can easily be split in two opposing ideas. One is that robots will be a bad influence to the future employees, while the other opposes it. The first 48 percent of respondents think that the integration of robots and digital agents in the work field will increase income inequality. More than half, 52 percent, think that even if robots will take over some jobs prone to automatisation, humans will be able to find new ways of providing jobs and producing wellbeing, as we do have enough experience in the process so far.

One of the most recurring theme is that of education. Most respondents are concerned that the education system does not prepare students adequately for this fast-changing environment. There is a Henry Ford education in a Mark Zuckerberg world. We need to adapt to the new condition, the respondents warn so the robots overtaking jobs will help us, not threaten us.

 

A New Japanese Cute Robot Finds Its Way Into the World

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pepper robot Japan is full of cute, humanoid – like robots that are considered true family members and companions. Last month we were super excited to tell you about Hitachi’s funny android, a smaller version of a 3CPO able to tell jokes (more or less) and to understand human emotions and non – verbal communication.

If you walked around Tokyo today you probably didn’t stop by the SoftBank Mobile shop to see the latest new Japanese cute robot that speaks and deciphers emotions. But don’t worry, we have the whole subject covered!

Pepper is the name of this yet another android companion and was showcased yesterday by its parent, Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son who owns the carrier Softbank. According to the journalists covering the news,

The robot was developed by French robot maker Aldebaran Robotics and would be manufactured by Taiwan’s Foxconn, a major supplier to Apple.

What can Pepper do and other similar robots can’t? Well, not much, as they are all in their early stages of development, but to be honest, this little critter is no less impressive than its competitors: it is said to be able to recognize about 70 to 80 percent of spontaneous conversations, it can sing, gesture, recognize human expression and voice tones and can learn in time a lot of things about the hosting family.

During the presentation, Pepper sang that he wanted to be loved and actually made a few hands – gestures simulating dancing, but it still has a lot to learn. The spontaneous conversation is not that spontaneous and the overall feeling people had about it was a combination between frustration and admiration.

Japan is a country that has a major crush on cute robots, and the previous androids are a good testimony that the market is open and willing to embrace the new family members. None of Pepper’s predecessors had an outstanding sales share, although the Japanese were very fond of the Aibo pet-dog robot delivered by Sony and put to rest in 2006.

Pepper, however, does not represent just another little semi – useless new Japanese cute robot, but a concept that has yet to be developed. In the words of its creator,

Pepper could become a very good friend and a powerful tutor for a child, for example. He could learn about a family over several years… and actually become a member of the family.

Pepper might become more than a family member, but a full – time worker. In Japan,

Robotic technology is already used to check on the elderly and robots might also play a role in reducing feelings of loneliness and isolation.

Unfortunately, if you are outside Japan, you won’t be able to buy Pepper soon, although there are some undecided plans to make the robot available worldwide. So far, the company will start selling Pepper to Japanese customers sometimes February next year for a price of approximately $2,000.

Hitachi’s Funny Robot Can Become Your Next Favorite Pet

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hitachi's funny robot Robots are not a thing of the future anymore, but a thing of our immediate present. This was proven many times before, as the science of robotics made incredible progress, not to mention that it keeps us guessing every day.

No matter if it’s about prototypes and models of future androids, or machines able to improve peoples’ health, robots start to become a constant part of our lives and this doesn’t even seem unusual anymore. This is why we weren’t surprised by Hitachi’s funny robot, recently unveiled in Tokyo two days ago.

Meet The Excellent Mobility And Interactive Existence As A Workmate Robot (EMIEW2 for short) android! The little bot is incredibly cute, although it can’t crack jokes like George Carlin.

But what is this all about? The EMIEW2 is a clever invention, we will give “him” that. According to the specialists interacting with the droid and describing its abilities,

He’s programmed to recognize key words to recognize questions he’s being asked and detect movements such as shoulder shrugs to detect comprehension or the lack of it on the part of the listener.

But EMIEW2 doesn’t only recognize shoulder shrugs, but nods too. It can answer questions and it can mock you for a little while. He was designed with a sense of humor and is meant to become a family’s favorite pet or a personal assistant. How does the humor work, you wonder?

During the demonstration organized in Tokyo on Tuesday, the device answered a reporter’s question on the number of people working at  Hitachi. The droid said “We have two swans.” Of course, this puzzled deeply the interviewer, but EMIEW2 “understood” the person’s confusion and replied the interlocutor with “You got it? I’m kidding. We have about 800 people working here”. This means that the Hitachi engineers did their job right. The robot can pick up a series of human gestures and reactions and it can turn them into a funny conversation.

Hitachi’s officials said that

EMIEW2 has been “developed as part of Hitachi’s efforts to create a service robot with diverse communication functions that could safely coexist with humans while conducting necessary services.

The problem is that humans may not coexist in safety with the robot. Don’t get us wrong, this little fellow is adorable, but is so small, we fear some people might overlook it and harm it. EMIEW2 measures only 80 centimeters- (32 inch) in height. He is, however, easy to see, as it sports a bright combination of red and white colors and has its own motion system, provided by roller skates. So how great would it be to have Hitachi’s funny robot rolling around the house giving witty come-backs and having fun with the kids?

Creaturelike Robots to Come Next in Our World?

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robotic fishOf course everybody is thinking about the Terminator series when the concept of robots pops into the conversation, although we have talked in the past about social robots, but how far advanced is the technology of creating such developed robots that they could actually look, move, learn, evolve and behave just like humans? We may be closer than we ever thought, with some news coming from two different parts of the world, but which complement each other. A few days ago, a team of MIT researchers announced a breakthrough in soft robotics – the science and art of creating robots that don’t only have a soft exterior but are powered by a system of flexible tubes and channels to let fluids fuel the robot – a robo – fish able to move just like a real fish, same agility and speed in performing regular swimming and escaping maneuvers. This is a very big step for mankind – or at least for artificial intelligence experts – because the softer and more flexible the robots become, the greater their area of use may become and the safer their impact upon the environment would be. As environment we are talking about motion, trajectory and avoiding collisions, of course.

In another part of the world, Switzerland to be exact, recent news emphasize the projects of Japanese robot scientist Fumiya Iida to build better shaped, more athletic robots, creaturelike robots in fact, machines able to mimic some Earth’s animals key – features. He was talking about the kangaroo’s ability to perform jumps and leaps and the bees’ incredible eyesight. Or, as we said before, the fish’s agility to change direction in fractions of seconds.

Why are creaturelike robots important for our world’s future?

The advantage of soft robots and athletic ones for that matter is that they will not be bound to rigidity anymore, thus opening doors for numerous applications in biomechanics, biological engineering and even wildlife research. To top it all, the Japanese scientist in Zurich aims to design creaturelike robots able to adapt to the environment, learn and evolve, just like animals in natural habitats can do. Although this is only an early working hypothesis, the robo – fish is one of the biggest innovations in robot science, proving we have the technology to create and control outstanding machines. Maybe we won’t have a true movie – like terminator among us very soon, but we might expect our favorite National Geographic shows to present wildlife data gathered directly by creaturelike robots that can easily blend in the landscape.

Robots influence soldiers on mission: Study

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The researchers have carried a study to investigate the amount of influence of robots on the soldiers on mission.

During the study, the researchers found that as robots’ role on the battlefield continues to increase, the soldiers’ attachment to them are also increasing.

University of Washington researcher Julie Carpenter carried  the unique study to know what kind of relationships soldiers develop with the machines that so often save their lives and if such attachments ever interfered with mission outcome.

For this, Carpenter interviewed 23 explosive ordnance personnel from every branch of the military. These troops often rely on robots to detect, inspect and disarm explosives.

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Carpenter found that troops’ relationships with robots evolved with their technology, and that while soldiers denied emotion ever affected performance, they admitted feeling a range of emotions when their field robot was destroyed, including anger and sadness.

“They would say they were angry when a robot became disabled because it is an important tool, but then they would add ‘poor little guy,’ or they’d say they had a funeral for it,” Carpenter said in a statement.

 

Now snake robots on Mars mission

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Soon snake robots will be seen on a Mars mission as the European space agency (ESA) is mulling to send a detachable snake-like robot to the red planet, which could partner up with future rovers, allowing the scientists of greater access to nooks and crannies there.

According to the ESA researchers, snake-like robots may do a better job exploring Mars than the wheeled rovers humans have previously sent to the red planet.

Researchers at The Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research (SINTEF) are looking into whether snake robots could be a successful endevour. ESA wants its operations on other planets to have greater mobility and manoeuvrability.

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It is noteworthy, NASA has landed four rovers on Mars that are solar-powered with six wheels and robotic arms that can take soil samples and operate cameras. Sojourner landed in 1997, Spirit and Opportunity in 2003, while the more advanced Curiosity was landed last year.

“Manoeuvrability is a challenge. The Spirit rover was lost after it became stuck in the sand on Mars. The vehicles just cannot get to many of the places from which samples have to be taken,” said Pal Liljeback and Aksel Transeth.

The researchers hope that by combining a rover that can navigate over large distances with a snake robot that can crawl along the ground and can get into inaccessible places, so many more possibilities could be opened up.

At the moment, soil samples from Mars are analyzed on board the rover itself, and the results are communicated back to Earth. However, ESA also wants to examine options that could allow samples to be returned to Earth. Snake robots could assist with collecting such samples, since they enable access to tight spots that the rovers cannot reach.

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