Robotic arms take home top award

Robotic arms take home top award

The overall winner was the robot arm developed by FanucA robotic firefighter and a walking android have been trumped by an industrial mechanical arm to win a Japanese government-run competition.
The advanced assembly-line robotic arms, made by industry specialist Fanuc, won Robot of the Year.
The arms have been built for accurately sorting items on conveyor belts use in the food and drug industries.
The awards, set up in 2006 to promote robotics, have previously honoured a furry seal for use by the elderly.
Paro, as the robot mammal was known, was fitted with sensors beneath its fur and whiskers that allow it to respond to petting and was developed for use in nursing homes.
Pain-killer
The awards were set up by the government to capitalise on Japan's expertise in robotics research. This year's prize was announced at a ceremony in Tokyo.

Mindstorms was designed as a toy but is often used by researchers
Entries included both industrial and academic research tools. Amongst the 80 finalists was the educational Mindstorms software and robot parts made by Danish toy-maker Lego.
The kits, which allow children to build robots, were co-developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and are often used as a research tool.
Anther academic collaboration selected for the competition was a robot called Eve, designed by researchers at Nagoya University.
The machine consists of a transparent body packed with intertwining rubber tubing and is designed to help doctors hone their skills for surgery on blood vessels.
If users are too enthusiastic when using catheter in the simulated blood vessels the robot yelps: "That doesn't feel good."
Hand to mouth
Other finalists included a 60 centimetre (24 inch) tall humanoid walking and dancing robot developed by Fujitsu and used by researchers at Nasa amongst others to aid research into artificial intelligence.
Machinery-maker Komatsu also showed off its fire-extinguishing robot tank that can be remotely controlled. The machine can spray 5,000 litres (1,300 gallons) of water up to 100 meters (110 yards) and can also be used as a bomb disposal unit.
But the overall winner was a range of three robotic arms developed by Fanuc robots, selected for its practicality.
The articulated limbs use a camera to analyse objects moving on a conveyor belt and a suction cup to pick them up.
They have been designed for us in the food and pharmaceutical industry where precision and cleanliness are paramount.
"The trend these days is to try to avoid having human workers at all," Ryo Nihei of the firm told Associated Press. "People can get dirty and introduce unwanted objects."

Touch cube points to future toys

Touch cube points to future toys

Cube's designer Thousands of people will be unwrapping their shiny new gadgets at Christmas but one British artist and engineer is hoping his creation will find its way under trees in time for the next festive period.
Andrew Fentem has worked on innovative human computer interfaces for some time, after beginning his career in military research and development, specifically missiles.
His work today is part-art, part hobby, part business venture.
His latest creation, the Fentix Cube, is generating a lot of interest from toy manufacturers and buzz on the internet, based on a few clips he put on YouTube.
"Because of absurd level of interest generated by YouTube everyone wants the device," he says. "I'm being bombarded by toy firms from Korea."
A small plastic cube with playful lights, it could be mistaken for a mass market throwaway toy manufactured by the million in the Far East.

Playing the cube
But the colourful exterior masks a combination of innovative technologies that have propelled Apple's iPhone and Nintendo's Wii to huge success this year.
The cube contains a large battery, an array of LEDs and crucially three accelerometers which can detect the pitch and yaw of the device, and sensors on the inside surface for touch control.
Mr Fentem says: "You instinctively know how to use it. The way you understand the world as a young child is through physical and spatial awareness, up or down. It's how you learn and communicate."
The accelerometers are essentially chips which can sense the direction of gravity; once you know that, you can work out which way is up and down.
"It took about a month to build; I thought it would be nice to do a cube computer after I had seen an electronic Rubik's cube, which was very poor."

The cube could have a commercial spin off
The cube has been programmed to play a handful of games, such as a PacMan-inspired maze game. But the combination of touch, light and three dimensions opens up a range of possibilities - from music games, to puzzles and even a lifestyle device.
Mr Fentem said he was inspired to build the cube because he was dismayed by the quality of many of today's electronic toys.
"This was originally an artistic intervention into the gadget market. If you really want to make something unusual, you really have to understand the physics of how things work.
"Because most people don't know much about engineering, the ideas tend to be poor."
Up until the age of 22 Mr Fentem worked at Thorn EMI on highly classified projects, and had to sit in a Faraday cage, a shielded space which prevents any sort of transmission in or out.
Disillusioned by the industry he moved to London and fell into the art and electronics scene.
Much of his work is displayed at the Kinetica gallery, the UK's only space dedicated to electronic art.
His previous designs include multi-touch screen interfaces for musical applications, which won him an innovation award from the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts.
He has also worked on touchscreen surface technology, for creating musical scores, playing games, interactive floors and artistic purposes.
He says the cube is designed partly as a calling card for investors and companies.
"I'd like the cube to go mass market. I'd like to see it in people's homes. But if it only serves as an introduction to my work, I'll be happy."

Music industry betting on mobiles

The music business has been in decline for the last seven years. CDs are not selling in the numbers they used to, which is a worry for the record industry as well as retailers.

The slump in CD sales has hit record industry profits
The online revolution took the record industry by surprise and it has been playing catch-up ever since.
"I think the music industry has to accept its fair share of the blame for not acting quickly enough to digital music," said Adam Benzine from Music Week magazine.
"There was a feeling in the music industry around 1998 when Napster first came out, well, there was simply a feeling of bewilderment and confusion.
"What is this thing, how do we deal with it and, more importantly, how do we turn it off? How do we stop people putting music on the internet, rather than how can we monetise this and how can we embrace this?"
Mobile potential
The recording industry is finally hitting back and mobile phones are leading the charge.
CD sales might be tumbling but digital music sales are steadily increasing. Unfortunately digital growth only accounts for a tenth of overall music sales, so they are still not making up for the shortfall generated by CDs.

Downloading music on mobiles has taken off in Japan
There is one territory which is bucking this trend though. Digital music sales in Japan are sufficient to offset the loss made by CDs. In fact, Japan saw a 1% rise in music sales last year. Industry observers attribute this rise to mobile music downloads.
"When you look at advanced markets like Japan, most digital music is already being consumed via mobile phones," said Rob Wells, senior vice president of digital music at Universal.
"Fixed-line services are not as successful as over-the-air-delivered music services to mobile phones."
Downloading via mobile offers the user the ability to browse a store's back catalogue, purchase and download music all via a mobile phone while on the move, cutting out the need to download songs using a computer.
Adam Benzine said: "Pretty much everybody in this country over the age of 12 has got a mobile phone with them, not everybody has got a music device with them, but everybody has got a mobile phone so you've got an immediate captive audience."
Mobile stores
Globally, various mobile music stores have launched; the UK has seen three launch in recent weeks.
Generating more hype than the average Hollywood blockbuster, Apple's iPhone downloads songs using wi-fi from its already successful iTunes store.
Muscling in on the download action, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer Nokia has launched its own store.
Both of these are download-to-own options, which means music is purchased and downloaded to a mobile - that music then belongs to the phone's user.
Prices for individual tracks are much the same around 79p or 99 cents. However, iTunes will only work with an iPhone or iPod Touch and so far Nokia's store will work with a handful of its phones.
Mobile music company Omnifone has teamed with networks in the UK, Sweden and Hong Kong to provide a subscription-based service.
Called Music Station it offers unlimited downloads for a subscription fee of £1.99 ($1) a month. But downloaded music will only be accessible as long as the subscription is maintained.
The biggest hurdle that mobile music companies currently face is that it's just not easy enough to buy music on the mobile phone
Adam Benzine, Music Week
Unlike the other two offerings here, Music Station will work on a variety of handsets from different manufacturers. And unlike the iPhone it downloads via 2.5 or 3G connections, meaning it can download from any location.
Possibly throwing a spanner in Music Station's works, Nokia is also planning a subscription service which allows users to keep the music they have purchased after the subscription has expired.
So far they only have a confirmed content deal with Universal Music but say they are in discussions with the other major record labels.
Compatibility issues
Rob Lewis, CEO at Omnifone, said: "Clearly at the moment there are lots of different parties looking to secure a position in the music game.
"Most of the manufacturer solutions, iPhone is an example, you buy the music to the device and you can only transfer it from one device to another if you stay with the same manufacturer."
Users are also restricted with what they can do with their music by DRM, Digital Rights Management software. This software is an anti-piracy measure and restricts what the user does with downloaded music after purchase, limiting or complicating transferring music from a phone to any other device.
"The biggest hurdle that mobile music companies currently face is that it's just not easy enough to buy music on the mobile phone," said Mr Benzine.
"It's a long-winded and quite difficult process even for early adopters that it's stopping the wider mass market from embracing mobile music at the moment."
The potential for mobile music stores to generate serious revenues is certainly there, but until issues such as DRM and subscription versus ownership models are resolved, mobile stores still have some work to do before the charts are filled with tunes downloaded using phones.

The future is bright for LEDs

They wink at us every day from computer screens and stereos. But the humble LED is heading for a brighter future.


New generation Light Emitting Diodes will purify water, make lights that mimic the colour of sunshine, and keep private data immune from hackers.
Dr Rachel Oliver, an LED researcher from the University of Cambridge, thinks that they could easily succeed tungsten bulbs as the main way to light our homes.
"LEDs have enormous benefits over standard light bulbs because they're a great deal more efficient, come in a range of different colours and have a very long lifetime. They are also good at saving energy too," she told BBC Radio 4's The Material World programme.
"We could also light up out of the way places where normal bulbs are unsuitable," she added. "Because they last such a long time, architects could cover the side of a building with exciting lighting effects without worrying about constantly replacing the bulbs."
The white light they give off is a cold light because it contains lots of blue
Professor Jan Evans-Freeman
LEDs are made from two halves of a special material called a semiconductor. One half is filled with negatively-charged electrons and the other with positively-charged areas called holes.
Where the two halves meet, the positive and negative charges join together - causing the electrons to emit energy as photons of light.
'Holy grail'
The colour of this light, and thus the LED, depends on the material that is used. Gallium arsenide gives off red light, while gallium nitride produced blue.
"Blue LEDs were the holy grail for a long time," said Professor Jan Evans-Freeman, head of the Centre for Electronic Devices and Materials at Sheffield Hallam University.
"But now blue LEDs are used everywhere, including the backlighting on mobile phones. Gallium nitride has proved to be a very effective material."
Researchers are now using gallium nitride to move beyond blue and into the ultraviolet. The hope is to convert this into white lighting suitable for our homes.
White light is produced in an LED when UV light reacts with a phosphor coating on the inside of the bulb.
As LEDs are around 40% efficient, this makes them an attractive alternative to the 5% efficiency of tungsten bulbs. The problem is the type of white light they produce.
'Cold light'
"The white light they give off is a cold light because it contains lots of blue," said Prof Evans-Freeman. "It's hard to know whether people will accept this kind of light in their living room."
But active research into phosphor chemistry could provide a solution.

The colour of the light, and thus the LED, depends on the material that is used
Dr Oliver said: "We're aiming for white light that looks like sunshine, and there are scientists trying to mix phosphors in just the right proportions. If we can achieve this, the white will not only look warmer, but could also be useful for people with Seasonal Affective Disorder."
Ultraviolet LEDs also have the potential to revolutionise water quality in the developing world.
A high-energy form of ultraviolet light known as deep-UV kills bacteria and viruses without the need for chemicals. For this reason, deep-UV is commonly used for sterilising water.
But conventional UV lamps are bulky and need replacing regularly. LEDs are significantly smaller, cheaper and have lower energy requirements.
"It's especially exciting from a third world perspective because LEDs could run off solar power or even by some sort of clockwork mechanism. This would bring water purification to people in remote areas," said Dr Oliver.
"But making deep-UV LEDs is a big technological challenge," she said. "Deep-UV can't be made from the combination of materials we're used to, although I certainly think it's possible."
LEDs are currently expanding into the realms of computer security through a method known as quantum cryptography.
People could be using it for financial transactions over the internet in the next 10 or 20 years
Dr Rachel Oliver
It involves sending out a stream of individual photons from one computer to another.
Information can be encoded onto each photon. But the laws of quantum mechanics mean that once someone reads the information, the data on the photon changes.
If one of the photons in the stream is intercepted by a hacker, the information is altered and the message corrupted.
"This will immediately alert the sender and recipient that someone is trying to read the secret message," said Oliver. "The sender can then recode the message and send it again."
Quantum cryptography is not yet sufficiently advanced to be used as a standard technology, but shows promise for ultra-secure internet banking and online data protection in the future.
"People could be using it for financial transactions over the internet in the next 10 or 20 years," she said.

Top 10 Hotel Technology of the Future

These technologies, some still in the concept stage, some existing and ready to be funded, are likely to change the way guests experience hotels in the future, from 2005 and beyond. Experts believe we will see many of these hotel technologies by the year 2030.

1. Foldable Pods The big story at this year's Future Holiday Forum was foldable, pre-fabricated pods on stilts. The fully transportable pods would be moved among exotic locations (think South Pacific, Arctic, or the desert) as consumer interest shifts. "'Active' walls and floors will show changeable images, enabling guests to set whatever mood they wish...All waste produced by the hotel will go into a unit at the base...so no blemish will be left on the environment after it has moved on."

2. Biometrics Biometrics, a security technology that identifies individuals by retina scans, fingerprints or voice prints, is already in use at government and private industry installations. The lock on your hotel room's safe may soon be triggered by a retina scan. Guests of future hotels might also forget about room keys and check in to hotels with just a glance. An airport in Amsterdam is paving the way with the first public installation of retina scans replacing passport checks at security checkpoints.

3. Robots I'm still dreaming about living in a Jetsons-style home that cleans itself, but I may see it in a hotel room first. In an interview with Travel+Leisure magazine, consultant Grace Leo-Andrieu imagines hotels of the future which offer "services that may not necessarily be performed by humans. Food and drinks could be dispensed by machines or robots, rooms could be cleaned by built-in vacuum and disinfecting systems, and a quick back-and-foot massage could be provided by a robotic apparatus."

4. Nanotechnology Seemingly taken from the pages of a Neal Stephenson novel or an episode of "Star Trek," hotel futurists envision nanotechnology enabling a hotel room to transform itself as per your needs. Want a king-sized bed with a sofa, or prefer a single bed and desk? Hotel rooms equipped with molecular nanotechnology will deliver. On the more immediate horizon, the technology promises scratch-resistant furniture, self-cleaning coated glass, upholstery that stays clean, and windows that filter UV/IR light.

5. 3-D Holographic Teleconferencing File this in the "next best thing to being there" category. Business travelers will be able to use 3-D holographic teleconferencing to include far-off members in a meeting, without the use of special glasses. Prototypes have already been developed at NYU and MIT.

6. Room Selection and Personalization You can already choose which seat you want on an airplane. Why not choose which hotel room you want? Systems that track a hotel's inventory and add information about what is in each room can be made available to guests wishing to choose just the right location and configuration. Taken a step farther, guests would be able to specify what they want in a room (i.e., a copy machine), and what they don't want (feather pillows, if the guest has allergies).

7. Undersea Resorts Sure, we already have the tiny Jules' Undersea Lodge. For the next generation of underwater hotels, developers are thinking big. In Dubai, the Hydropolis is scheduled to open at the end of 2006; this massive (250,000 square feet) underwater hotel complex will encompass three restaurants, a ballroom for indoor concerts, a Roman-inspired spa, and guest suites with "ocean-view" windows.

8. Floating Hotels On top of the water, floating hotels are being envisioned. A project by Westin Hotels & Resorts, "America World City," calls for a 250,000-ton ship with three high-rise, 21-story hotels atop it. The "floating city" could accommodate 6,200 passengers and require a crew of 2,400. On-board amenities planned include virtual reality gaming rooms, multi-story shopping centers, and ice-skating rinks.

9. Space Resorts Hospitality design firm Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo (WATG), known for designs at The Lodge at Rancho Mirage, The Venetian in Las Vegas, and the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur, envision other exotic locales for destination resorts of the future. On the horizon: a resort in outer space, and an airship hotel.

10. Smart Cards Perhaps the technology closest to becoming a part of our lives, smart cards are credit cards (or similar pieces of plastic) embedded with microchips. Smart cards can be used by hotels to personalize the guest experience, from checking you into your hotel automatically to remembering your preferences (you always want a king-sized bed, and fresh fruit in your room when you check in).

Special Reports 10 Emerging Technologies

This year, as every year, we present our list of the 10 technologies we find most exciting—and most likely to alter industries, fields of research, and even the way we live. The list comprises projects in a broad range of fields.

1: Peering into Video's Future
The Internet is about to drown in digital video. Hui Zhang thinks peer-to-peer networks could come to the rescue.
Ted Stevens, the 83-year-old senior senator from Alaska, described the Internet as "a series of tubes." Yet clumsy as his metaphor may have been, Stevens was struggling to make a reasonable point: the tubes can get clogged. Read More

2: Nanocharging Solar
Arthur Nozik believes quantum-dot solar power could boost output in cheap photovoltaics.

3: Invisible Revolution
Artificially structured metamaterials could transform telecommunications, data storage, and even solar energy, says David R. Smith.

4: Personalized Medical Monitors
John Guttag says using computers to automate some diagnostics could make medicine more personal.

5: Single-Cell Analysis
Norman Dovichi believes that detecting minute differences between individual cells could improve medical tests and treatments.

6: A New Focus for Light
Kenneth Crozier and Federico Capasso have created light-focusing optical antennas that could lead to DVDs that hold hundreds of movies.

7: Neuron Control
Karl Deisseroth's genetically engineered "light switch," which lets scientists turn selected parts of the brain on and off, may help improve treatments for depression and other disorders.

8: Nanohealing
Tiny fibers will save lives by stopping bleeding and aiding recovery from brain injury, says Rutledge Ellis-Behnke.

9: Digital Imaging, Reimagined
Richard Baraniuk and Kevin Kelly believe compressive sensing could help devices such as cameras and medical scanners capture images more efficiently.

10: Augmented Reality
Markus Kähäri wants to superimpose digital information on the real world.

Special Reports Your Next Cell Phone

It seems that every day, there are new announcements purporting to redefine how we will use our cell phones: from the latest GPS-enabled gadget for social computing, to software to make your PC a phone. But what is the real future of telephony?

Soul of a New Mobile Machine
From conception to buzz, from three-way spring to soft-touch paint: inside the design of a multimedia communications gadget.
The streets are packed with teens and 20-somethings--whose business is coveted by the mobile-communications startup, Helio. The company aspires to hook them on the ultimate multimedia device: something perfect for talking and messaging, gaming and Web searching, social networking and finding buddies via GPS. Read More

Jott: Calling It In
Ever had a great idea while you're stuck in traffic? No problem. Pick up your phone and Jott yourself an e-mail.

The Evolution of Wireless
New radio technologies could allow wireless handhelds to do more, and make updating cellular base stations quick and easy.

TR10: Invisible Revolution
Artificially structured metamaterials could transform telecommunications, data storage, and even solar energy, says David R. Smith.

Encryption Software May Halt Wire Tapping
The creator of the most popular e-mail encryption program has a new application for Voice-over-Internet-Protocol phone calls.

A Sentinel to Screen Phone Calls
New software could block voice spam.

Return of the Porta-People
In a new take on teleconferencing technologies, a rotating display holds forth at the weekly meeting.

Motorola's Dumb Phone
A new mobile phone that's rather simple bucks the trend toward more complicated, power-hungry devices.

Q Is for Quixotic
Because they wanted their new Q phone to feel familiar, Motorola engineers decided it should run Windows. Big mistake.

Better Touch Screens for Mobile Phones
Keypads on smooth touch screens are prone to errors, but new ways of providing tactile feedback could make them more accurate.

Mobile Web Searches Using Pictures
A new Microsoft application lets people search the Internet on their cell phones using a camera instead of a keypad.

The Promise of Personal Supercomputers
What will it take to put thousands of microprocessors in cell phones and laptops?

A New Platform for Social Computing: Cell Phones
Cellular carriers are allowing their customers to share software, services, and content from independent companies. Finally.

The Future of Cell Phones
Nokia's head of R&D discusses technology that could shape the look, feel, and function of mobile devices in the next few years.

Blogging on the Go
Cell-phone blogging gets another boost.

Golden Gate Lark
Should San Franciscans trust Google and their mayor to improvise the city's Wi-Fi network?

Phone a Friend over Wi-Fi
A new Wi-Fi phone from Vonage is fun -- but it doesn’t make sense as a replacement for the cell phone.