The Pengheng Space Capsules Hotel in Shenzhen, China.
Would you like to travel to space but the cost of a Virgin Galactic flight falls outside of your budget? You might want to consider a trip to China instead.
Continue reading… “Chinese space-themed hotel run by robots”
Curved displays by Sony at CES 2014.
Venture Beat tried to cover all of the 2 million square feet of exhibit space at the 2014 International CES. They saw only a portion of the tens of thousands products on display at the huge tech trade show. They saw fads like 3D glasses for TVs fade away. And it was interesting to see how “phablets,” or phones with huge, tablet-like screens, have caught on in places like Asia even though we’ve ridiculed them in the past.
Continue reading… “Top 10 trends at CES: Venture Beat”
Novel energy storage materials flow from the white containers into a fuel-cell like device in the foreground, where they generate electricity.
It would be great if utilities would be able to store the power that wind farms generate at night when no one wants and then be able to use it when the demand is high during the day. But conventional battery technology is so expensive that it only makes economic sense to store a few minutes of electricity, enough to smooth out a few fluctuations from gusts of wind.
The claim that robotics is capital intensive is a myth.
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote a much-discussed piece, a little over a year ago, on the discrepancy between corporate profits and labor compensation. Krugman’s column sparked a huge debate, and on the Times website alone readers left more than 1,300 comments. In his article he referred to robotics as a capital-intensive technology. The problem is, it isn’t true.
Continue reading… “Biggest myth about the robotics industry”
Drones will be everywhere.
2013 looked like the dystopian future we’ve been warned about. We learned the NSA can spy on our every word, right as Google shared a breakthrough product that could put a camera and microphone on everyone’s face. Amazon wanted to replace UPS with autonomous drones. But, what will 2014 look like? This is the year of technological kickback, according to Frog design, when privacy goes mainstream and we take the reins on our own quantified self, when artists tame 3-D printers and we learn to unplug. And yes…when drones, driverless cars, and the digital dragon that is China rise to change our economy, and our lives, forever.
Technological unemployment
Futurist Thomas Frey has predicted more than two billion jobs will disappear by 2030 as a result of automation. Statements such as these strike fear into an already turbulent job market, but there are many who believe we should take solace in history. In their book, Race Against the Machine, Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee explain how the recent panic brought on by ‘technological unemployment’ – a term originally coined by John Maynard Keynes – is nothing new.
Continue reading… “The rise of ‘technological unemployment’”
The technology is known as Contour Crafting.
Professor Behrokh Khoshnevis, at The University of Southern California, has built a colossal 3D printer that can build a house in 24 hours. Khoshnevis’s robot comes equipped with a nozzle that spews out concrete and can build a home based on a set computer pattern. (Video)
Continue reading… “A 3D printer that can build a house in 24 hours”
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology researchers published a paper in Nature Communications describing an ultra-thin thin circuit that is small and flexible enough to wrap around a human hair or lay on top of a contact lens, opening up some interesting applications.
Watson rose to prominence when the super computer ‘won’ US quiz show Jeopardy.
IBM is planning to invest more than $1 billion into Watson, its super computing platform. The company announced that the investment program will see a new business unit created for the technology, alongside a $100 million VC fund that will be used to encourage developers to create apps on the platform.
Zamzee at CES 2014
The Zamzee, created by HopeLab, is a small device that works by monitoring movement and physical activity in kids. That exercise information is then loaded onto a corresponding game website, where kids can go on to see how much they moved and earn points and rewards.
Continue reading… “Zamzee: Activity monitor and interactive gaming site gets kids moving”
Withings Aura
Withings showcased a new “smart sleep” system called Aura at CES 2014 this week. The sleep system takes self-monitored sleep sensors to the next level. The device features a padded sensor that slips under your mattress to record your body movement, heart rate, and breathing cycle — the sensor is smart enough to record the data for two people sleeping in the same bed. (Pics)
Continue reading… “Withings Aura smart sleep tracking system aims to help you sleep and wake better”
Topy Industries Crawler Robot at CES 2014
Crawler Robots from Topy Industries, Ltd is one of the most noteworthy robots at CES 2014 this year. The Crawler Robot is a small Unmanned Ground Vehicle that makes exploration possible in disaster areas and narrow spaces. (Pics)
Continue reading… “Topy Industries Crawler Robot makes exploration possible in small areas”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.