Shadow’s Dexterous Hand
It’s not easy to build a robot that can compete with that astounding piece of machinery called the human hand. But the UK company Shadow has a solid contender. And while its robotic hands imitate nature, why keep nature’s limitations? Shadow’s Dexterous Hand “sees” the shape of the object approaching it to help it determine how to hold it. (Video)
Continue reading… “Shadow’s robotic hand uses AI to grip any object”
“Digital Ethereal”
Artist and researcher Luis Hernan from the University of Newcastle in the UK In a project he is calling “Digital Ethereal”, artist and researcher Luis Hernan at the University of Newcastle in the UK has rendered the invisible visible — revealing in red, yellow, green and blue the Wi-Fi signal strength in the world around him.
Continue reading… “‘Digital Ethereal’ – Invisible Wi-Fi revealed through light graffiti”
Plasticsmiths
Gangjian Cui’s “The Rise of the Plasticsmith” speculates China’s post-industrial future. Cui envisions the rise of a new breed of workers who will use plastic crafts to tell the history of the industrial age. (Photos and videos)
Continue reading… “The Rise of the Plasticsmith in China”
BAAM 3D printer
3D printers are slow. They are so slow that in the time it would take to print a screwdriver, you could just drive to the store and pick one up with a half hour to spare. And that’s a problem when a manufacturing job calls for creating units as quickly as possible. (Video)
Continue reading… “Reinventing the 3D printer to make it faster”
Vessyl
There are a lot of fitness and health trackers on the market today: Fitbits. Nike+ Fuelbands. Jawbone Ups. They’re all pretty good at measuring the calories we’ve burned and the hours we’ve slept, but they miss a huge chunk of the health equation: what we’ve ingested. (Video)
Continue reading… “Vessyl: A smart cup that tracks everything you drink”
Here is a video for those who have ever wanted to explain exponential technology to someone but just didn’t know where to start. Watch Peter Diamandis and DrawShop discuss six key technologies at the heart of today’s exponential boom. (Video)
Continue reading… “6 key exponential technologies explained in a 5 minute video”
The Holoroom
Brick-and-mortar retail has changed little since the Internet exploded into our lives in the mid-1990’s. We now go into a store to figure out what we want to buy only to go home and buy it online from whoever offered the lowest price and free returns. But a number of retailers are looking for ways to leverage technology to get shoppers excited about buying in-store again. (Photos and video)
Continue reading… “The Holoroom – Lowe’s launches holographic virtual reality showroom”
How do you envision the future of architecture?
The great architect, Frank Lloyd Wright said, “every great architect is — necessarily — a great poet. He must be a great original interpreter of his time, his day, his age.” His visions of harmonious design and innovating urban planning amounted to his own brand of organic architecture. We’d argue that Wright wasn’t just an interpreter of his time — he was able to foresee the needs and desires of ages ahead of him. The architect is — necessarily — a visionary capable of seeing into the future. (Pics and videos)
Continue reading… “Top 14 architectural trends for the future”
Jimmy is a $16,000 research robot powered by a Core i7 chip.
Last week, Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich showed off a pair of robots claiming that one of them, powered by its embedded Edison processor, would be available for sale by the end of the year. (Videos)
Continue reading… “Intel’s robot you can customize with a 3D printer”
Google Glass-equipped smart rifle.
Trackingpoint is the company behind the U.S. Army’s new smart rifle. They are already famous for developing a gun that does all the hard work of aiming for you. Armed with one of their precision guided firearms, you simply tag your targets as if you were piloting an Air Force jet and then aim your weapon where it tells you to. You’re almost guaranteed to hit your target every time. (Video)
Continue reading… “Smart rifle uses Google Glass to let you shoot around corners”
Printable robotic components that, when baked, automatically fold into prescribed three-dimensional configurations.
MIT researchers have developed some printable robotic components that fold into a specific 3D shape when they are ‘baked’ under heat. The team, led by Professor Daniela Rus, has introduced the “bakeable robots” in the hope that they lead to a variety of self-assembling designs that function on their own and fold together like origami.
Continue reading… “Robots that self-assemble when heated up”
SporoBot would increase the speed of production 20 – 30 times over.
What if you had developed a vaccine for malaria that, in early trials, was 100% effective. But you couldn’t get the funding you needed to produce enough of the vaccine to market it because of political wrangling over the budget. What would you do? (Video)
Continue reading… “Sanaria will use robots to mass produce a promising new malaria vaccine”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.