Feb 05

MIT concocts wearable “sixth sense” device, Bruce Willis is like “what?”

Posted in: mit, research, Today's Chili, university

We’ve nothing but respect for the researchers, engineers and all around brainacs that call MIT home, but unless our minds are simply too feeble to grasp the connection here, we can’t figure how this “sixth sense” device actually relates to one of Bruce Willis‘ most well known films. At any rate, what we do have here is a wearable device that is comprised of a mobile projector, a webcam and a cellphone — a package that was thrown together for around $300. Once strapped on, signals from the webcam and projector are relayed to internet-connected smartphones in order to project data onto basically any backdrop. Somehow, the device can even “take photographs if a user frames a scene with his or her hands, or project a watch face with the proper time on a wrist if the user makes a circle there with a finger.” The actual hows and whys seem to be a mystery, but if we had just developed a gizmo as ripe for commercialization as this, we’d probably keep most of the secrets under wraps as well.

[Via Blorge]

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MIT concocts wearable “sixth sense” device, Bruce Willis is like “what?” originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 16

MIT concocts semi-autonomous forklift for war zone unloading

Posted in: military, mit, Today's Chili

So, envision this — a Mars rover of sorts, but on the battlefield. In a nutshell, that’s what engineers and researchers at MIT have created. The so-called semi-autonomous forklift could be loosed in war zones in order to unload cargo and move supplies for soldiers. Obviously, having humans behind unwieldy crates isn’t the most ideal scenario when bullets are flying, so enlisting a robot for such duties is clearly preferable. The bot can even be remotely controlled, and an array of inbuilt sensors help to direct it around objects that can’t be seen from in the brush. Gurus behind the project are hoping to include voice / gesture recognition in future iterations, so that simply yelling “unload the truck!” could give the machine all the direction it needs. Come to think of it, we could use one of these buggers around the office — reshuffling hefty HDTVs can take a toll on one’s back, you know.

[Via PC World, image courtesy of OneMansBlog]

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MIT concocts semi-autonomous forklift for war zone unloading originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 15

Video: TOFU robot probably tastes like chicken

Posted in: mit, robot, Today's Chili

If a Big Bird bender resulted in a bumpin’ of nasties with Keepon, well, this would be the genetic result. Meet TOFU, the “squash and stretch” robot with OLED eyes developed by the big brains over at the MIT Media Lab. Tofu applies techniques of social expression long used by 2D animators to explore the impact on robotics. If cute was the goal then we’d call this project a success — enslave us now oh furry overlords of doom. Video after the break.

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Video: TOFU robot probably tastes like chicken originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 14

MIT’s portable ‘seeing machine’ for the blind enters testing

Posted in: lumix, mit, Today's Chili
MIT develops portable 'seeing machine' for the blind

Many who are legally blind have functional retinas locked behind lenses so clouded they can’t see a thing. Doctors can detect this type of ocular defect using a scanning laser opthalmoscope (or SLO), and can even focus an image onto those hidden retinas to allow the blind to see — temporarily, since a cost of $100,000 and a rather non-portable design means SLO’s are only suited for medical offices. We reported back in 2006 on the efforts of MIT’s Elizabeth Goldring and colleagues to create a cheaper, portable version, and now a prototype is entering testing. It’s comprised of a digital camera (looks like possibly a Lumix DMC-TZ50) mounted to an LED-backlit LCD that is able to focus to a point, penetrating lenses damaged by glaucoma or macular degeneration. No word on when this sort of thing might be generally available, but testing will take place at the Beetham Eye Institute in Boston, so head on over if you want to get some eyes-on time with one of these.

[Via tgdaily]

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MIT’s portable ‘seeing machine’ for the blind enters testing originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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