Skip to Content

Win a free GPS from Gadling!
AOL Tech

Posts with tag learning

Robot Listens To You, Controls Your Home Theater

Toshiba's ApriPoko

We fear a robot takeover.

That said, this new robot from Toshiba, named ApriPoko, is so darned cute, how could we not want one in our very own home theater?

Its special purpose is the ability to memorize infrared signals from your remote control and assign each command to a certain action – like turning on your television or changing the channel – based on what you SAY to the little guy.

For example, if you use your remote control to turn on the TV, ApriPoko will sense the IR signal and then ask you, "What did you just do?" Your response, "I turned on the TV," is recognized and the command is assigned within ApriPoko's memory. The next time you want to turn on the TV, just say to the robot, "Turn on the TV," and it will be done. It works the same way with other devices and even more specific commands like changing channels, raising and lowering volume, and so on.

At least that's what's been promised by Toshiba, which at this stage is only demonstrating a prototype. ApriPoko is 8 by 11 inches and weighs about five pounds.

From Engadget via Pink Tentacle via Asahi News (crudely translated version of the article can be found here.)

Related links:

$50 PC Will Teach Chicago School Kids



Here's another entry in the expanding line of low-cost computer technology that's geared towards the classroom: Innovations for Learning, a Chicago-based nonprofit, recently debuted its $50 Teachermate handheld, which now joins the OLPC XO and Intel Classmate in the quest to teach kids how to compute on the cheap. The bare-bones PC comes with 512MB of RAM, an SD slot (for external memory), a tiny 2.5-inch display, and a microphone and speaker. It lacks Wi-Fi (wireless connectivity) or Ethernet, however, so the Teachermate won't be able to go online. Because the handheld device also lacks a keyboard, it forces the user to maneuver around the onscreen interface with just a four-way directional pad and three buttons.

Innovations for Learning will be launching the new computers in over 500 Chicago public elementary schools during the next two years. While both the OLPC and Intel Classmate are built on freely-available open-source software -- which makes them more versatile and upgradeable -- the Teachermate currently only runs a small proprietary set of classroom management tools and reading and math educational software.

The Teachermate will be available soon on Amazon, for those who are interested in trying it out on their own.

From Engadget



Related Links:

'Guitar Wizard' -- Like 'Guitar Hero' With a Real Guitar

'Guitar Wizard' -- Like 'Guitar Hero' with a Real Guitar

'Guitar Hero' may be fun and cool, but one thing it certainly can't do is teach you how to actually play guitar. In fact, the connection between playing 'Guitar Hero' and actually playing guitar is tenuous at best. Just ask Slash.

That's where Music Wizard is hoping to one up the gaming phenomena by taking the basic concepts of 'Guitar Hero' and applying them to an actual guitar. 'Guitar Wizard' should drop in August with a suggested retail price of $149.95 when packaged with the Sound Tech Interface that gets mounted on a guitar or $299.95 with student quality electric guitar.

Different colors and shapes are used to represent the different frets on the strings. Slowly the game evolves, from what is essentially an extremely complex 'Guitar Hero, until you're no longer playing a game, but instead reading music. Sadly, Music Wizard's creators dont have the deep pockets that Activision has, so don't expect to jam along to original performances of 'Godzilla' or 'Welcome to the Jungle.' Instead you'll have to make do with MIDI versions of the tracks. Upside, less red tape involved so you can download thousands of tracks from WizardTunes.com. Down side, it's like jamming along to a Super Nintendo.

Related Links:

"Force Feedback" Suit Teaches You to Box

MIT Developing Force Feedback Suit
We're all familiar with force feedback at this point, a technology usually associated with video games that allows you to feel every bump, jerk, and hit in a video game through the vibrating joy stick or even vest. Now researchers at MIT are adopting the technology to help us learn and perfect motions based on a teacher's instruction.

In an example explored by Wired, a boxing student could be learning to throw the perfect jab. The student's elbow keeps popping out as opposed to staying tucked in as it should. So the instructor dons a motion-capture suit and records himself throwing that desired punch. The teacher's correct movements are then "played back" on the force-feedback suit that the student then dons. Tiny vibrations on his arm indicate the correct movement for the punch and guides his elbow back in.

One of the perks of this according to researchers is that the force feedback effects our motor functions unconsciously, so that replicating the jab requires no effort or thought once learned.

The suit increased learning rates by 23 percent and reduced errors by 27 percent among its student subjects, but it still seems to have a long way to go before it becomes a practical teaching tool.

From Wired

Related Links:

Geek Gifts for Bush's Birthday

Smithsonian Amazing Talking Globe

Smithsonian Amazing Talking Globe

Another thing we learned early on is that Bush Jr. is not real knowledgeable 'bout them other places. Sure he's gotten better, but there's always room for improvement.

This talking globe will help him learn what countries are where and teach him a bit about different cultures, so he can avoid the early boondoggles of his administration's reign when Daddy had to call and smooth some things out for him.

After he's explored the globe, he can play with a built-in in trivia game that features over 10,000 questions, which should help him locate the next country we send troops to on the map.



    AOL Tech Network



    Latest Reviews from CNET.com

    CNET provides the latest tech news, unbiased reviews, videos, podcasts, software, and downloads, making tech products easy to find, understand and use.

    Top Product Reviews

    AOL News

    Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in: