Good lord I am happy to be a Geek today and thank you JVC for making something the we all dreaded for : a compact 4K Camcorder supporting DSLR lenses! Featuring Nikon’s famous F-Mount the JY-HMQ30 is not your average camcorder and will shot 60fps AVC/H.264 4K Video on four separate SDHX/SDXC (each SD will shoot a 1920×1080 portion of the 4K video) at 144Mbps or if HD is still your thing, 1080/60p Videos at 28Mbps. Of course the JY-HMQ30 comes with Apple’s ProRes422 Codec via JVC’s 4K Clip manager as well as featuring 4K Time Lapse recording, Focus assist XLR and even nice 3.5″ touchscreen!
Available this month in Japan, the JY-HMQ30 is far from being the most affordable 4K Camcorder on the market and it will cost you at least 1.7Million Yen without lenses
We went to the International Tokyo Toy Show at Tokyo Big Sight yesterday and had so much fun seeing all the cool characters, new releases and classic stuff. And playing with stuff!
Dominating the show were large Japanese toy makers Bandai and Takara Tomy, each of which had whole floors to themselves with huge displays, and endless stuff to look at. Other companies, including foreign companies, were there as well so there was a lot of cool stuff to see.
Please take a look at the pictures attached to this article to see some of the things that were there.
We’ll also follow-up with some posts about a few of the things that we say that were pretty interesting…
It’s common for Twitter regulars to get a stream of new followers, but it’s not always clear why they should follow back — how do you summarize a person’s post history in a few seconds? Twitter wants to solve this by launching its #FollowMe tool. The service uses Vizify to build a short, HTML5-based highlight clip from a person’s followers, photos, tweets and Vine videos. Most of the legwork is automatic; users only have to edit the clip if they want to fine-tune the results, and any tweet with the relevant link will show the animation in-line. The #FollowMe rollout won’t guarantee any additional popularity in the Twittersphere, but it should at least make for a stronger sales pitch.
Nikon Corporation has announced that the cumulative number of NIKKOR interchangeable lenses manufactured by the company has reached 80 million.
Nikon (then Nippon Kogaku), launched its single-lens reflex camera “Nikon F” in 1959, and at the same time released the “Nikon F” “NIKKOR-S Auto 5cm f / 2″, the first “NIKKOR” lens. Since the launch of this lens, the line-up has been expanded while leading the optics market in Japan and around the world.
This includes the start, in October 2011, of the “Nikon 1″ which increased the pace of sales on NIKKOR lenses. The company reached the milestone of 75 million lenses in early November 2012, and now has already hit the 80 million mark.
Many different lenses have been introduced as part of the company’s new lineups. For example, since the beginning of 2013, as an interchangeable lens for Nikon single-lens reflex cameras, 3 lenses were released including FX format compliant 5x telephoto zoom lens “AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR”.
Regarding the “1 NIKKOR” lens for interchangeable lens advanced camera “Nikon 1″, after 2013, 3 lenses were released including 10X zoom lens “1 NIKKOR VR 10-100mm f/4-5.6″.
Nikon is also celebrating the 80th anniversary of the NIKKOR brand which is considered the benchmark by many in the optics and camera industries.
The video below is really interesting and was made to commemorate the brand’s 80th anniversary.
One could reasonably assume Japan’s impressive array of supertech humanoid robots would swarm the inspired-by-Fukushima DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC), but Tokyo University spin-off SCHAFT Robotics is it. DARPA’s militariness and Japan’s Peace Constitution complicate. Oh, and way-overblown gee-whiz coverage of the DRC isn’t helping.
It wasn’t until weeks after the initial disaster that American firm iRobot’s PackBot and Warriorrobots were sent in to assess; it took months to get a homegrown Japanese robot in there. And that really stings, because we now know a great deal of the damage & pollution was avoidable – if only we could have closed or opened some valves, reconnected a hose, turned some knobs, etc.
Sure, iRobot’s machines were very helpful, and other vehicle-form robots could do a lot of good. Ultimately, however, emergency response experts reached consensus around the notion that, as the majority of humans don’t get around on tank tracks or wheels, when disaster strikes an environment designed for bipedal mammals what we really, really need to safely get in there and get things done is a capable, robotic facsimile.
Of course disaster breeds alarm, and Fukushima put humanoid robotics efforts into competitive overdrive; the silver lining reached all the way across the Pacific.
Hello, I’m the DARPA Robotics Challenge Okay, DARPA should either be commended or made fun of for sparing almost every expense on graphic design. You be the judge.
Getting to business, know that descriptions of the DRC tend to be either: dry detailed (boring), dorkily detailed (obtuse to laypeople), overly simple (missing the big deal), or the worst – sensationalistically fantastical (the sky is falling oh god oh god killer robots are coming to eat your babies). Hopefully some straightforward sanity to follow – here’s what’s needed to get reasonably hip:
• First Thing About the DRC – Motivator: Prior to the Tohoku Disaster, certainly Japan, notably the U.S., Korea, and Germany, and many other public and private robotics initiatives around the world were seriously considering the needs and feasibilities, but they were rather casually and quite slowly developing humanoid rescue & recovery robots (ex., prior to the DRC, the U.S. Navy had already begun work on the humanoid Shipboard Autonomous Fire-Fighting Robot (SAFFiR), but, you know, not in a big hurry). There was no specific focus among a broad range of creators, no essential motivation, and no potential for the big, public reward of success.
• Second Thing: A Basic, Bare-Bones DRC Description: The DRC is an unprecedented two-year contest with cash prizes (though the prestige is arguably worth a lot more) for teams who can make a humanoid robot capable of semi-autonomous disaster recon, rescue, recovery, and repair. If you don’t have your own robot but do have software than can represent, DARPA might give you a robot to prove it.
Ready, GO!
• Third Thing About the DRC – How to Win: What must be done to win those (relatively few) millions in cash, garner invaluable prestige, and quite likely secure years of lucrative and prestigious robotics contracts around the world? Quoting, the DARPA Robotics challenge aims to:
…invigorate efforts toward developing robots that can operate in rough terrain and austere conditions, using aids (vehicles and hand tools) commonly available in populated areas. Specifically, we want to prove that the following capabilities can be accomplished [by the robot]:
1. Compatibility with environments engineered for humans (even if they are degraded) 2. Ability to use a diverse assortment of tools engineered for humans (from screwdrivers to vehicles) 3. Ability to be supervised by humans who have had little to no robotics training.
…get humanoid robots to successfully demonstrate the following capabilities: 1. Drive a utility vehicle at the site. 2. Travel dismounted across rubble. 3. Remove debris blocking an entryway. 4. Open a door and enter a building. 5. Climb an industrial ladder and traverse an industrial walkway. 6. Use a tool to break through a concrete panel. 7. Locate and close a valve near a leaking pipe. 8. Replace a component such as a cooling pump.
…apply the DARPA Challenge model in order to: 1. Increase the speed of advancements in robotics 2. Grow international cooperation in the field of robotics 3. Attract new innovators to the field
…proceed along a very ambitious timeline: 1. June 2013: Virtual Robotics Challenge (software is running now!) 2. December 2013: DRC Challenge Trials (physical machines) 3. December 2014: DRC Challenge Finals (best of the best, software & machines)
Unquoting.
Among those of us with executive-level robo-dorky proclivities, the DRC is basically one of the most exciting events possible. But the idea of a supertech capitalist competition captures global curiosity and wonder even for those with only a passing interest in robotics.
So it’s underway, and a very international field, including a number of American teams, teams from Spain, Poland, the U.K., Korea, Israel, etc., are now locked in at full-speed. But, oddly, there’s only one team from Japan.* They’re in Track A, which means they’ve got their very own advanced robot and software. But just one team – a small one at that – seems a little… well, it’s Japan, not like it would require reinvention of the wheel: there’s the well-developed ASIMO** and the various HRP robots, as examples, and per the parameters outlined by DARPA, they’re already kinda more than halfway there.
What gives, Japan? Because, as is, this competition could accurately be named or subtitled something like “The What We Really Needed at Fukushima DARPA Robotics Challenge.” More on that in a minute, but first – about that one team:
Team SCHAFT, Tokyo: Three months ago, the rendering below was pretty much the only publicly available image of the DRC contestant from Tokyo University’s JSK robotics lab spin-off, SCHAFT Robotics:
Even DARPA is still using that image at the DRC homepage, and it doesn’t exactly inspire – there are plenty of teenagers who could render that in an afternoon.
But researchers formerly of a place like Tokyo University are not to be underestimated. Tokyo University is like having the academic disciplines of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and MIT rolled into a brain trust institution comprised of the highest-level human intelligence Japan has to offer. Not surprisingly, led by CEO Yuto Nakanishi, the small firm of young and ambitious roboticists have really, really brought SCHAFT to life:
There isn’t a whole lot of public info on SCHAFT, but what we do know is that it’s influenced by some 30 years of Tokyo University’s robotics experience, i.e., SCHAFT has a both a serious mechanical pedigree and some very fine-tuned software. Perhaps the the most widely reported feature of this robot is that, within a certain range of motion, it’s limbs can apply more force than a comparably sized human being (Sorry, there are no superstrong-in-general humanoid robotics out there. Yet.). One can get deeper historical details on the SCHAFT team and their university lab’s background, but the world definitely needs more contemporary information on this robot and the motivations of its creators. (Note to Author: You live in Japan, right? Umm, get thee to Tokyo?)
Here’s SCHAFT turning a valve a human can’t handle:
SCHAFT’s considerable advantage in physical strength is possible through a unique cooling system that prevents overheating in its nearly maxed-out electric motors (hence the strength). Another advantage, illustrated below in the image’s translated quote, is the team’s observably high levels of pure, enthusiastic robogeekery – this is a very good thing.
Team member inserting SCHAFT’s coolant; being robo-geeky on TV:
For SCHAFT in motion, the video below includes a brief feature from an NHK documentary on advancing robotics projects around the world. There are some good shots, but the doc is sprinkled with a lot of supposition, and some pretty glaring inaccuracies and generalizations are used to set up unfortunate leaps of logic and just, you know, misstatements. It’s either poorly researched, or very poorly translated, so consider it a nice visual presentation, but when it comes to facts & figures and specific details, definitely not verified or reliable reference material:
(for SCHAFT, jump to 25:25):
So, SCHAFT is cool, highly regarded among other contestants, and well on its way to a good showing at the December 2013 DRC trials. But it’s a curious thing that, with cash prizes and the invaluable prestige of doing well in a wholly unprecedented global robotics challenge, SCHAFT is the only Japanese name in the game. So again, what gives, Japan?
Well, the “D” in DARPA of course stands for Defense. As in United States Department of Defense. As in, humanity’s most massive and far reaching military force like… ever. By far. This doesn’t exactly sit well, and it butts up against a pervasive anti-war sentiment enshrined in modern Japan’s peaceful-by-law society (yep, by law).
The 1947 Postwar “Peace” Constitution: Not So Comfortable With Military-Funded Robots? Article 9 of Japan’s postwar national constitution is regarded as an explicit prohibition against state-sponsored/perpetrated offensive military activity. So, with a Japan not allowed to build offensive war machines, that has even run into trouble providing tertiary supply line support to allied forces abroad, building robots with cash from the U.S. military is… sticky.
While a point of debate and political grandstanding in Japan, the Peace Constitution has never been amended and it’s unlikely to be anytime soon. And so Japan can defend, but cannot offend, as it were. Obviously this doesn’t prevent private industry from developing machines that might one day make their way into military support roles, though that’s not exactly… approved of.
Japan isn’t the only country to question DARPA’s motivations and express concerns about the DRC leading to some seriously scary Terimator-like murderdeathkill-bots. Last fall, at a conference in Osaka, DARPA’s Gill Pratt responded:
“The DRC is about developing robots that I believe wholeheartedly are completely impractical for military purposes, for offensive military purposes. Will the technology that we come up with find its way into military systems, probably yes. But I guarantee you that if you work on a robot for healthcare, there’s a chance that technology will also find its way into military systems.”
Okay, Japan’s uneasy, but there appears to be a bit of cherry picking with this. After all, Mitsubishi long ago purchased the recipe for American F-15 fighter jets and manufactured them for the Jieitai, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces. Or more subtly, the last two Sony PlayStation consoles probably have the graphics processing capability to guide cruise missiles.
So, maybe, perhaps, probably: it’s the visibility of a military-funded humanoid robotics project vis-à-vis palpable anti-war sentiment that permeates a massively parallel-thinking, group-oriented monoculture. In the form of Honda, robotics pioneers at Kawada Industries, the JSK lab at Tokyo University, AIST, METI, and other public and private robotics developers, Japan has to be aware of how its peaceful-by-law reputation might suffer if it helps build what could be construed as an offensive-capable humanoid warbot.
The final DRC contestants, and especially the winner, are going to be everywhere in the news, and, as is already happening, non tech-focused reporting outlets (and unscrupulous blowhardy loudmouths in general) are going to frantically excrete large quantities of disingenuous, irresponsible, SEO-bating headlines like:
“Formerly Aggressive Japan has a Killer Robot Soldier – Should We be Afraid?”
So, it’s complicated. And that’s where the story ends. There’s no red bow with which to tie this one off – it’s just complicated, man. Perhaps one will venture to Tokyo, nail down some more SCHAFT details, and discover the identity and motives behind the mysterious Japanese software-only “Team K.”
• • •
Addendum on Weak Robotics Coverage, Media Hype, and Misinformation There are excellent sources of responsible robotics news out there on the intertubes: IEEE, Gizmag, The Verge, Robohub.org, The Robot Report, Anthrobotic.com, and the URL where you’re currently located. However, outside of Al-Jazeera English and occasionally the BBC, mainline robotics coverage, in the truest sense of the words, produces what is usually half-researched, half-suppositioned, half-assed sensationalism.
They’re far from being alone, but since they published this poster child for unfortunate journalism just a few days ago, today The Guardian gets the blaster: “Darpa Robotics Challenge: the search for the perfect robot soldier.” Karl, this is not good. Karl, is it only about pageviews for you? Karl, do you even want to share any meaningful info? Karl, how long have you been interning over there at the Guardian?
Maybe it can be dismissed as playful journalism, but there’s a huge glaring gigantic wall between playful and irresponsible. Smartassery and pointed, perhaps ironic hyperbole in tech coverage is very, very cool – if, IF it’s qualified and not allowed to fall in love with itself and become a self-sustaining fusion reaction of assclownery for its own sake.
Or, in Karl’s case, hyperbolic scare-mongering to get more views. It doesn’t inform. It doesn’t help. It retards progress and understanding and retards the possibility of developing an informed, nuanced point of view.
As the DARPA Robotics Challenge proceeds, shall we all stop that? KTHX.
• • •
*According to the DRC website, there’s another Japanese Team in Track B (software only), but there is next to zero public information about the group known as “Team K,” and it’s unclear whether or not they’re like, you know, doing anything. (Note to author again: You live in Japan, right?)
**It should be noted that, while unwilling to toss a beefed-up ASIMO into the DRC, Honda is working on their answer to what the DRC will produce. We’ll follow up with some inside info on that later this summer. (Another note to author: Because you live in Japan, right?)
• • •
Reno J. Tibke is the founder and operator of Anthrobotic.com and a contributor at the non-profit Robohub.org.
On June 8, 2013, the “AKB48 General Election” took place in Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, Japan. This was the 5th year of the election and was broadcast live for 4 hours on national TV. For the top 16 ranked girls, there is a spot to be part of the group’s upcoming 32nd single.
For those who do not know what “AKB48″ and the “AKB48 General Election” are, let me explain a bit about them…
AKB48 is currently the most popular girl idol group in Japan. It’s named after Akihabara, famous for a subculture of techie stuff, manga, idols, anime and gaming – the center of Otaku Japan. AKB48 have their own theater and even after they started to appear on media a lot, popular members still perform in the small theater. For this reason, people call them “idols you can meet”. AKB48 consists of nearly 100 girls and they also have sister groups in other cities in Japan and even outside of Japan. Below are the current sister groups of AKB48:
SKE48 – Sakae, Aichi prefecture NMB48 – Namba, Osaka prefecture HKT48 – Hakata, Fukuoka prefecture JKT48 – Jakarta, Indonesia SNH48 – Shanghai, China TPE48 – Taipei, Taiwan
So, this weekend’s “AKB48 General Election” was for their fans to decide the top 16 girls who will make up the ensemble that will sing the group’s 32nd single. The name of the single has yet to be announced (and probably is still being written) – the reason for this is that the single will be made and tailored to fit the singing and dancing skills (or lack of skills…) of the group of 16 girls.
So who was voting this weekend? AKB48 fans could acquire the right to vote by buying the latest AKB48 single or registering/buying related services. Once they have the right to vote, each AKB48 otaku can support their “Oshimen” (the girl who you give your support to).
Getting the most votes and securing a top ranking is extremely important for AKB48 members and their fans, because the higher a girl’s ranking, the more media exposure she will receive. The girls in the top 16 will get by far the most TV time and the #1 ranked girl will always be at the center of the group.
So it is so important for fans that their “oshimen” get a high ranking – because they will be able to see more of her cute smile on TV and promotional events for the next year – and a lot of attention is given each year to see which girls will be most popular and who will get the #1 spot.
And so, the pundits discussed the chances of each of the girls, the favorites were analyzed, fond memories from past singles and past AKB events were discussed, and the results were revealed.
When the results of the election came in, the winner was a surprise! It was Rino Sashihara, 20, who got 150,570 votes, winning first place over many other popular girls including perennial favorite, Yuko Oshima, 24, the previous #1, who has had unshakable popularity and who had competed for the top of the group with former #1, Atsuko Maeda, 21, who left the group last year.
Rino Sashihara had been ranked #9 last year, but her ascendency to #1 was a big surprise because she had been transferred to sister group, HKT48, during a scandal last year amid revelations that she had an ex-boyfriend. AKB48 members are prohibited to have boyfriends, but because this was something that happened in the past, she was able to remain popular with her fans.
Another surprise happened that night, when one of the original AKB members, Mariko Shinoda, 27, who finished with a #5 ranking, revealed that she will leave AKB48 for good after receiving her ranking.
Something else that the election showed was that AKB48 is currently in a transition of popularity to the next generation of younger members.
AKB48 sells a considerable number of CDs and goods in an age when CDs don’t sell so some say that their popularity affects the economy of Japan…
The announcement of the #1 ranking for Rino Sashihara on live national TV…
We know there are many fans of Ghibli movies out there who have had a long, patient wait for a new movie from Director Hayao Miyazaki. His new movie, “Kaze Tachinu”, will be released on July 20 in Japan.
It’s an animation movie about the life of Jiro Horikoshi. He had dreamed of becoming a designer of airplanes and finally made his dream come true. However, the time was around World War II and what he created was a famous fighter aircraft A6M “Zero” to kill people. The movie will show his life and inner conflict.
Studio Ghibli already announced that Hideaki Anno, who is best known as film director of the Evangelion series, will play the leading voice part of Jiro. Other famous and popular actors/actresses have also joined the cast as voice actors.
Honda’s Walking Assist with Stride Management: Coming to a Hospital Near You! If, that is, you’re connected to one of 50 Japanese medical institutions now testing and evaluating a pair of the semi-robotic exoskeletal assistive devices. Honda breaks down the what’s-it-do-and-how as follows:
“The [Walking Assist Device’s] control computer activates motors based on information obtained from hip angle sensors while walking to improve the symmetry of the timing of each leg lifting from the ground and extending forward, and to promote a longer stride for an easier walk.”
Honda’s worked closely with several medical institutions throughout development of the Walking Assist Device, but last week’s announcement of the 100-unit roll-out signals what is effectively their flagship field testing effort; a medical trial to collect feedback and evaluations from professionals and patients, and data from the devices themselves, of course. But it’s much sexier than your average medical trial. Because robots. Obviously.
Each rehabilitation and/or physical therapy-focused recipient medical facility gets one medium- and one large-sized device. Details on the cost and duration of the leases haven’t been disclosed, but we do have the following specs:
If successful, the devices will very likely see wider domestic trials, possibly moving beyond rehabilitation and making their way into the homes of Japan’s rapidly aging population. In addition to recovery, the Walking Assist Device could provide just the boost needed for walking to the grocery store, visiting a friend or family member, a healthy stroll around the shopping center, or, for Japan’s endangered farming population, 50% of whom are within 5-10 years of retirement, another trip out to the field.
Given sufficient demand, and should they be cheap enough to produce, the Walking Assist Devices could perhaps be enlarged for populations a bit more… uhhh, let’s be nice and say “a bit more robust.” Among other developed nations, the U.S. also has a growing population of retirees who’d definitely appreciate the extra spring in their step. But Honda, remember, you’re going to need some bigger springs. Sorry about that. It’s a problem. Sorry.
Honda’s Ongoing Assistive Robotics Commitment – Respect Due: While Honda began specific work on walking-assist devices in 1999, the devices weren’t widely public until 2009. Differences between the current and early iterations are visible in the main image above: on the right and left are the earlier, bulkier, more metallic devices – the middle image, included in last week’s press release, shows the sleeker, current model (the middle image has actually been out in the wild for at least a year, so one assumes the 50 medium and 50 large devices now shipping are the same, possibly with some under-the-hood upgrades and/or modifications).
Unless you’re of a certain level of robo-dorkiness, you might not know that Honda’s actually been pounding away on bipedal humanoid robotics tech since the mid-1980s. You might be unaware of their proactive efforts toward addressing Japan’s aging population crisis through assistive robotics (Akihabara News coverage). And, you could have missed news that Honda’s pursuing a robotics-in-the-home partnership with Sekisui House (even more Akihabara News coverage!).*
Cars, ATVs, a lawnmower perhaps, maybe a sprinkling of ASIMO – that’s the standard mental image of Honda.
Consider upgrading?
*If you read Akihabara News you’ll know about ALL THAT STUFF! ….just sayin.
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Reno J. Tibke is the founder and operator of Anthrobotic.com and a contributor at the non-profit Robohub.org.
Fujitsu is going to release Windows 8 Ultrabook “LIFEBOOK UH90/L” on June 28.
“LIFEBOOK UH90/L” is a notebook PC with a 14 inch LCD touch panel. The thickest part is only 15.5 mm thick making it the thinnest Ultrabook. It was designed under the basic concept of “Katana” (Japanese sword), striving to make it both elegant and tough. It is manufactured in Japan through all steps of the manufacturing process.
The CPU is an Intel Core i5-4200U processor. It has a large capacity 500GB HDD and 2 USB3.0 ports with fast data transfer rates built-in.
Because of its 3200x1800dot IGZO LCD touch panel, the display is 2.7 times more fine than full HD and the pixel density is 262ppi. Fujitsu’s special touch panel surface treatment, called “Super glide coating” was given to the screen for smoother operational touch.
Price: open price Release date: June 28 Colors: red, black Memory: 4GB Storage: 500GB Hybrid HDD Wireless connection: Bluetooth v4.0＋HS, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n, Intel WiDi Size: 329.9 × 229.9 × 9.2〜15.5mm Weight: 1.39kg
Welcome to Touchable TV! In addition to showcasing their 8K, 7680×4320, Ultra-High-Def (Ridiculous-Def?) TV broadcasting kit last weekend, Japan’s NHK also demoed a haptic feedback device that simulates virtual 3D objects in real time. And the thing is, it’s really just a robot that, when you touch it, kinda touches you back.
NHK (Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai/Japan Broadcasting Corporation) is a public media organization somewhat analogous to the American PBS. However, entirely not at all like its American counterpart, the J-broadcaster’s got this: NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories. Which is nice, because in cooperation with various corporate partners, NHK seriously delivers the tech.
Okay fine… so where’s the robot?
Haptic Virtual Reality that’s Actually Virtual – Just Put Your Finger in This Robotic Thingy! In the image above, a brave test pilot is placing his index finger into the locus of a five-point artificial haptic feedback environment. Based on the analysis & modeling of a virtual 3D object that in turn informs the movements and relative resistances among five robotic arms controlling the five feedback points, a focused area of stimuli/response is generated. Sounds complicated to explain “robotic, artificial sense of touch” that way, but conceptually the idea is quite simple:
#1. Put your finger in here and strap on the velcro:
#2. It’ll feel like you’re touching something that doesn’t physically exist, like Domo-kun (Dōmo-koon) here:
Each of those shiny round points is the terminus of a robotic arm that either gives way or holds steady based on the relative position of the finger to the contours of the object being simulated. Each point’s position-resistance refreshes every 1/1000th of a second. Not bad.
For practical, full-immersion VR to exist (in a physical sense; that is, before VR becomes a direct neural interface a la The Matrix), for now and for a while our low-to-medium-resolution interactive haptic feedback interfaces will be intrinsically robotic. And for virtualizing entirely digital, non-real artifacts, NHK’s device is a step in that direction.
Of course five points of interactivity might not sound like much, but mindful of the generally leapfroggy nature of technological advancement, effectively replicating and surpassing the haptic resolution we now experience via the estimated 2,500 nerve receptors/cm² in the human hand doesn’t seem too tall an order.
If that does seem too tall, if that does sound too far out and overly optimistic, if it seems impossible that we’d ever be able to cram 2,500 sensory & feedback robots into a square centimeter – well, then your robo-dorkery score is low and you need to pay more attention. Because dude, we’re already building nanorobots atom-by-atom. Not an “if” question, this one.
Neat… But Anything Really New Here? Of course, a wide variety of teleoperated force-feedback systems are either already in use or in-development (the da Vinci Surgical System; NASA’s Robonaut 2; etc.), so it’s important to emphasize here that NHK’s device is novel for a very particular reason: Maybe all, or nearly all, of the force-feedback haptic systems currently in use or development are based on an ultimately analog physicality. That is to say, whether it’s repairing a heart valve from another room, or, from a NASA building in Texas, tele-pushing a big shiny button on the International Space Station – what’s being touched from afar ultimately is a physical object.
So, what we might consider contemporary practical VR is more accurately a kind of partial VR. As the sense of touch is essential to our experience as human beings, incorporating that sense is a step toward interactive, actual factual, truly virtual virtual reality. Modeling and providing haptic feedback for non-physical objects, i.e., things that don’t really exist, in concert with other virtualization technologies – that’s a big step.
So What Can/Does/Will it Do? NHK is kind of talking up the benefits for the visually impaired – which is good and noble and whatnot – but perhaps focusing on that is a bit of a PR move, because at least in theory this technology could go way, way beyond simple sensory replacement/enhancement.
An advanced version, incorporating the virtual touching of both simulated and/or real objects, could add layers of utility and interactivity to almost any form of work, entertainment, shopping… from afar we might discern how hard it is to turn a valve in an accident zone (partial VR), how bed sheets of various thread count feel against the skin (partial or full VR), the rough surface of the wall one hides behind in a videogame (proper VR), or even pettting the dog, or petting… ummm, a friend (partial and/or proper VR – chose your own adventure)!
That’s a ways off, but in the short-to-near-term, here’s how NHK envisions functionality for their touchable TV tech:
Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Full-Immersion Omni-Sensory VR System! Okay, so to get this ball rolling: NHK, meet VR upstart Oculus Rift. NHK & Oculus Rift, meet VR/AR mashup Eidos. NHK, Oculus Rift, and Eidos, meet UC Berkely’s laser-activated pseudo-robotic hydrogels.
We’re all waiting for your pre-holodeck lovechild.
• • •
Reno J. Tibke is the founder and operator of Anthrobotic.com and a contributor at the non-profit Robohub.org.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
