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Computers

Japanese Dental Students Use a Robot Patient

No one likes going to the dentist, so imagine the discomfort of being a patient for a dentist-in-training. So, in order to avoid pain, damage, and deep dental trauma, BBC reports that a professor at the Nippon Dental University Hospital in Tokyo has developed an interesting solution.

A sensor-laden, blinking and gurgling robot named Simroid acts as feedback, documenting and alerting the trainee when he or she has dug too deep or accidentally touched the robot inappropriately. The entire session is recorded to be later reviewed by professors or students.

Just like a real patient, the bot blinks, grunts, and shows responses to discomfort and fear. The robot's creator, Dr. Naotake Shibui, says it's essential, and helpful, to treat the simulator as a real person -- just subtract the blood, drool, and constant whining. [From: BBC.co.uk]

Computers

Professor Gives Ethics to Robots on the Battlefield

The groundwork for robotic morality was laid by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, who created the 'Three Laws of Robotics.' Taking these ideas to war, Georgia Institute of Technology professor Ron Arkin has tried to establish ethical mores for bots on the battlefield.

Arkin, who used an advanced simulation system called MissionLab to create scenarios based on real-life, tested artificial intelligence's ethics on deciding who, and how, to attack during war-time. His qualifiers are much more detailed than Asimov's, including international law and conservative action. Using the argument that robots do not have an inherent need for self-preservation and don't feel fear (or hysteria), Arkin argues that robots -- when used ethically -- could save lives.

The conscientious droids are supposed to take the entire atmosphere into consideration, determining ways to avoid collateral damage and ascertain appropriate attack locations (it's against international law to engage soldiers in, say, a graveyard). Yet, even Arkin says more research needs to be done, and robots would be best when there is no ethical gray area. Ultimately, he contends, metal and silicon need to be held to the same standards as flesh and bone. [From: CNET]

Homemade Transformer-Themed Toy Is Expensive... and Sharp

With Michael Bay's ode to robots hitting the big screen this week, the world and the Web are abuzz about giant hunks of shape-shifting metal that blow stuff up. According to the old TV theme song, Transformers are 'more than meets the eye,' and, while it only slightly resembles Optimus Prime or Megatron, you could say the same for this toy posted by Lubbock, Texas Etsy user 'reaver.'

Dubbed 'Homage,' the toy stands 17-inches tall and, at $2,000, costs as much as a used car. It transforms from its humanoid robot form into a sleek jet whose wings look like they could slice an apple in half. According to the designer, the original piece is on display at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock. Working by commission, 'reaver' promises to build the toys upon order -- a process that takes close to a month. He plans to create a consecutively numbered series of the unique toy, which is constructed of aluminum, brass, steel, and plexiglass.

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Computers

Duo Build Flame Throwing Bot for Science Fair

Duo Build Flame Throwing Bot for Science Fair
It's no secret. We here at Switched are a bunch of major nerds. If you knew any of us in grammar school, you probably beat us up for our lunch money. For a few short hours, though, every year, we were kings (and queens) when it came time for the science fair. But, even we couldn't have come up with a science fair project as cool as this flame-throwing robot constructed by a couple of aspiring engineers.

Few details are known about the project, but a reader of TechEBlog submitted a video of the bad-ass bot in action, torching a cardboard house (head to TechEBlog to see the video). It's based on a VEX Robotics kit, and uses a can of WD-40 to fuel its flame thrower.

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Computers

The Most Terrifying Robotic Animals

If we've learned anything from Governor Schwarzenegger, it's that preventing the inevitable rise of the machines is futile. Since we can't stop the revolt from happening, we can at least warn the public about the world's most frightening robots, destined to lead the fight against humanity. To inform future human freedom fighters, Atom.com has identified the most dangerous and terrifying robot animals that we'll have to battle for earthly supremacy.

The list includes twin, giant robot spiders (developed by the French though, so we're guessing they'll be the first robots to surrender), Sheva the mechanical tiger, and a 40-foot-tall mechanical elephant (look out, Pyrenees). As helpful as this list is, Atom does omit some dangerous and animalistic robotic warriors. Boston Dynamics, a.k.a. Skynet, has developed a six-legged robot that is capable of climbing almost any structure with its freakish claws. And, perhaps most terrifying, for $2,000, Japanese company Little Island will make a tiny you-bot. What's creepier and more horrifying than being smothered to death by a cute, little 'Chucky' version of yourself? [From: Atom.com]

Visionaries

Intelligent, Unmanned Boat to Attempt Trans-Atlantic Journey


Once again, a team of well-meaning scientists is giving an intelligent, autonomous robotic vessel everything it needs to take over the world. Sigh...

According to CNN, eight third-year engineering students from the university ETH Zurich in Switzerland have created a four-meter-long, carbon-fiber yacht potentially capable of piloting itself across the Atlantic Ocean. Avalon, as its creators like to call it, will use a complex array of sensors and power sources to complete its journey. If successful, the Avalon will not only be one step closer to rendering humans inconsequential, it will also set a new world record for a vessel of its type.

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Computers

A Code of Ethics for Robot Soldiers?

A Code of Ethics for Robot Soldiers?
Currently all battlefield robots have humans at the controls -- be they 100 yards away, or across the globe. But military machines are becoming more advanced and soon could be making decisions on when to fire and where to bomb, without human input.

In anticipation of that day, Professor Ronald Arkin, a professor of computer science at Georgia Tech, is developing software to govern the behavior of military robots as they become more advanced and autonomous. But we say, skip the exercise and leave battlefield decisions to the soft, fleshy kind of soldiers.

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Web

How and When Will Humans Become Obsolete?

How and When Will People Become Obsolete?
It's going to happen. Eventually, me, you, and all the rest of the people on this planet are going to become relics of a bygone era. We'll be obsolete in a world overrun with technology that would have spun the head of someone trying to comprehend it a century prior. So how do we deal with a world in which we are no longer the dominant life form? By making fun of it and using filthy language, of course!

Cracked has collected five of the most likely ways the human race is bound to be rendered obsolete, and, of course, all of them involve our reliance on technology. Will we be destroyed by a renegade army of self-aware robots? Or will we simply become so reliant upon technology that our human personalities will be eclipsed by our digital ones? We might even be in the midst of our own extinction right now.

Some experts have predicted that we may be reaching the end of an era of technological advancement, which may result in famine, job shortages, and an economic downturn of epic proportions (umm...). They predict that the end result will be civilization's collapse and humanity's extinction. Fun, right?

Check out the rest of the list at Cracked to have a good laugh at the eventual demise of the human race. [From: Cracked]

Editor's Picks

The Daily Engadget: Game Boy Turns 20, Robot Theater, Jawbone Prime

Our friends over at Engadget obsessively cover everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics, which is why we've decided to compile a daily roundup of their top stuff (or, at least, what we think is tops). For more details on any of these stories, click on the Engadget links.


Meet Probo, the Huggable, Trauma(tic) Robot
Probo (pictured above) is a huggable Belgian robot designed to comfort children who have been through traumatic experiences. Unfortunately, this android (backed by Bill Gates and developed at the University of Brussels) might end up doing the opposite, especially when he's missing his skin. What's more, we can't decide if Probo looks drunk or deeply depressed when he's turned on. Neither seem to be of much use for cheering up kids. Check out the creepily awesome video here.


AT&T Hanging Up on CallVantage Phone Service
Sorry, AT&T CallVantage users, it looks like you're going to have to find another VoiP (Voice Over Internet) provider to convert those pretty voices to zeroes and ones (maybe Skype?). Yesterday, AT&T announced that it will discontinue its Internet phone service, and subscribers will have until the end of the year to switch to another AT&T service or find a new provider.

Nintendo Game Boy Turns 20
Boy, does it make us feel old to announce that Nintendo's Game Boy handheld game system just celebrated its 20th birthday. It seems like just yesterday we were jamming AA batteries into it and struggling through level after level of 'Tetris' on family road trips. In celebration of 20 great years of Nintendo handheld tradition (all the way up to last week's launch of the Nintendo DSi), Engadget dug up this great commercial for the original.




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Green Tech, Visionaries

MIT Robot Gardeners Can Grow Tomatoes, But Can't Pick Them


Undergraduate students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are currently developing a team of robots that they hope will be able to streamline agricultural labor, USA Today reports.

A year ago, Professor Daniela Rus, who heads MIT's Distributed Robotics Lab, challenged her students to build a "distributed robotic garden" during this most recent Fall semester, the second half of their two-semester-long course. By Christmas break, the students were watching with satisfaction as a crew of shin-high, roving robots brought a small garden of cherry tomato plants to life.

Informed by sensors embedded in the plants' soil, the robots are able to automatically deliver fertilizer and water to the tomato plants when necessary. The robots are also equipped with cameras, with which they document each plant's yield, and with software that informs them of how long it typically takes the tomatoes to ripen. Ideally, this technology would enable the robots to nurture and harvest the plants, potentially reducing the need for farm labor and lessening the environmental impact of indiscriminate fertilization. But, as is often the case, the results of the project have not been ideal.

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Computers

KTF's Remote Control Vacuum Cleaner Can Be Controlled via Your Phone


South Korean telecom firm KTF has just announced a cleaning robot which can be controlled by a 3G cellphone. The robot -- called the CW100 -- was built in collaboration with Microbot, and is a "smart" vacuum (much like a Roomba). The CW100 uses an onboard video camera to send live images of what it's "seeing" to the mobile phone, and the user can then remotely control it using the keypad. The bot will be sold for KRW 500,000 (about $370) in conjunction with a data plan that runs KRW 5,000 (about $3.70) per month. Sounds pretty affordable and awesome to us -- as long as it doesn't run over the family cat. Check out another photo after the break.

[Via Unwired View]

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Computers

World's First 3-D HDTV Remote Surgery System Allows Fantastic Precision


Oh boy, from the looks of that picture, the only perquisites for using the updated da Vinci Si surgical system are video game skills, a preference for interacting with the physical world on a high-def display, and an abnormal interest in robots. Sound like anyone you know? Intuitive Surgical's latest robotic system features two separate HD optical channels that the manufacturer claims will give "highly accurate depth perception" when merged. The surgeon console features touchpad control of the video, audio, and system settings while providing "precise, dexterous control" over an extensive array of surgical tools held by the robotic flanges. Perfect for all your minimally invasive, WebMD-inspired home surgery needs, when not performing transplants at County. Check the video after the break; 'amazing' is an understatement.

[Via MedGadget]

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Computers

Japanese "Child Robot" Is Back and Creepier Than Ever


All caught up on your sleep? Good. 'Cause our old friend the "Child-robot with Biomimetic Body," or CB2, has now returned to haunt your nightmares. As you might expect, the bot hasn't simply spent its past two years of existence terrifying the staff at Osaka University, it's actually been learning, and it's now apparently able to make use of its 51 air-powered motors to move itself through a room "quite smoothly" -- with a helping hand, of course. What's more, the researchers behind CB2 are now also starting to talk about some of their future projects, including a new "robo species" that they say will have learning abilities "somewhere between those of a human and other primate species such as the chimpanzee." Yeah, we can't wait to see what that looks like either.

Computers

Japan Sending Biped Robots to Conquer Moon by 2020


Remember back in 2006 when we told you about Japan's goal to colonize the moon with robots? Some dreams don't seem to die, and the country's Strategic Headquarters for Space Development said recently that they expect a two-legged droid traversing the satellite's surface by 2020. Should that prove successful, it'll be followed later by a joint mission with humans -- that is, if the robots don't find a way to take over before then and deny the spacemen their planetary visas.

Computers

Researchers Create Problem-Solving Science Robot


Researchers at Aberystwyth University in Wales have developed a robot that is being heralded as the first machine to have discovered new scientific knowledge independently of a human operator. Named Adam, the device has already identified the role of several genes in yeast cells, and has the ability to plan further experiments to test its own hypotheses. Ross King, from the university's computer science department, remarked that the robot is meant to take care of the tedious aspects of the scientific method, freeing up human scientists for "more advanced experiments." Across the pond at Cornell, researchers have developed a computer that can find established laws in the natural world -- without any prior scientific knowledge. According to PhysOrg, they've tested the AI on "simple mechanical systems" and plan on applying it to more complex problems in areas such as biology to cosmology where there are mountains of data to be poured through. It sure is nice to hear about robots doing something helpful for a change.

[Thanks, bo3of]

Read: Robo-scientist's first findings
Read: Being Isaac Newton: Computer derives natural laws from raw data

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Weirdest Techie Heists and Scams

    Elderly Amish Man Caught on Film With Prostitute, Blackmailed
    When a 75-year-old Amish widower slept with a prostitute, he -- we feel certain -- felt pretty bad about it the next morning. As if that guilt weren't enough for the old man, the prostitute and her boyfriend demanded $67,000 from him, claiming that they had filmed the scene with wall-mounted cameras and would upload the recording to the Internet. The pair was later arrested and, we can only imagine, the Amish man abhorred technology more than ever.

     

    Bank Robber Gets Away With the Help of Craiglist
    In October, a bank robber -- wearing a safety vest, blue shirt, face mask and goggles -- eluded police with the help of Craiglist. Just outside the bank, while the robbery was in progress, stood a group of men who were responding to a Craiglist day labor opportunity. As the advertisement required, they were all wearing safety vests, blue shirts, face masks and goggles.

     

    Nude New Zealander Arrested After Responding to Fake Sexy Text Message
    Late in 2007, a Wellington, New Zealand man received a racy text message from two anonymous "ladies," giving him only an address and a request that he show up naked. Well, he indeed showed up naked... at the home of one appalled, unsuspecting New Zealander. Both the nude Romeo and the sadistic texter were arrested, though neither were prosecuted.

     

    Fake Craiglist Ad Costs Man Most of What He Owns
    Last Spring, a post appeared on an Oregon Craigslist board stating that the owner of a specific house was leaving all of his worldly possessions (still in said house) to whoever wanted them. When homeowner Robert Salisbury rushed home -- on a tip from a woman suspicious about the offer of a free horse -- he found his house being ransacked by 30 strangers. We suggest he take that horse and collect some vengeance Clint Eastwood-style.

     

    17-Year-Old Jailed for Stealing Virtual 'Furniture'
    When a 17-year-old Dutch boy hacked into several accounts on the Second Life-style site 'Habbo' in 2007, the the law got involved. The boy was discovered to have stolen $5,800 worth of virtual furniture and knick-knacks. Apparently, crime -- whether actual or virtual -- does not pay.

     

    Phishers Going After Your Phones in New 'Vishing' Trend
    Over the past year, sneaky spammers have begun to forsake the worn-out territory of e-mail in favor of cell phones' fertile frontier. The result? "Vishing." Get it? Voice mail phishing. It might be more ominous if it didn't sound like a James Bond villain saying, "Wishing."

     

    Burglars Break Into Restaurant, Steal HDTV, Leave Money / Food Behind
    Around Halloween of last year, a truckload of thieves drove into -- that's right, into -- a Pennsylvania Mexican restaurant, where they -- apparently uninterested in the cash register -- stole a mid-grade 47-inch HDTV and fled the scene. We've all heard about how this generation is lacking in ambition, but this generation's thieves, too?

     

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

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    Incredibly well-featured 7.1-channel receiver; excellent sound quality; three HDMI inputs; converts analog video to HDMI output; upconverts analog video to 720p/1080i HD resolution; iPod and USB MP3 player connectivity; Internet radio and MP3/WMA streaming audio via built-in Ethernet port; XM Satellite Radio compatible; touch-screen remote; multizone, multisource operation; browser-based control via home network; accurate autocalibration routine. Full Review

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    KEF KHT3005 (black)
    The KEF KHT-3005 is one compact, beautifully designed speaker package with solid aluminum satellites that feature unique driver technology to produce incredible clarity. Meanwhile, the equally astounding dual 10-inch, 250-watt powered subwoofer delivers ultradeep bass. Full Review

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    KEF KHT3005 (silver)
    The KEF KHT-3005 is one compact, beautifully designed speaker package with solid aluminum satellites that feature unique driver technology to produce incredible clarity. Meanwhile, the equally astounding dual 10-inch, 250-watt powered subwoofer delivers ultradeep bass. Full Review

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    The Wi-Ex zBoost YX510-PCS-CEL significantly boosts your cell phone reception and is easy to operate. Also, it uses a wireless connection to your phone. Full Review

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    Turbo Charge Tc2 portable cell phone charger
    The Turbo Charge Tc2 portable cell phone charger successfully delivers emergency power to your cell phone. It's easy to use and comes with a couple of surprising features. Full Review

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    Compact and stylish; impressive battery life; solid audio quality; sharp color screen; built-in camera; USB ready; affordable. Full Review

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    Extremely fast, 10-megapixel continuous shooting; very low noise; highly customizable; well-designed body with weather sealing; 3-inch LCD; abundant optional accessories. Full Review

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    Full-frame sensor; well designed, pro-level weather-sealed body; very low noise, even at extremely high ISOs; fast. Full Review

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    Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III
    Very low noise, high quality images; 21.1 megapixels; live view shooting; pro-level build-quality and performance. Full Review

  • Desktop Reviews

    8.5 out of 10

    Apple iMac (24-inch, 2.8GHz)
    A minor specification update results in some significant performance gains; graphics upgrade an option on this 24-inch model; sleek, polished design didn't receive an update, but we won't start clamoring for a new design until the current one is at least 12 months old. Full Review

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    Velocity Raptor Signature Edition Gaming PC
    One of the fastest PCs we've tested; a PCI Express RAID card helps media encoding performance; typically immaculate Velocity Micro assembly; strong, three-year warranty. Full Review

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    Dell Studio Desktop Computer (Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200, 750GB HDD, 6GB)
    Best performance in its class; dedicated graphics card; large hard drive. Full Review

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