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ICYMI: Pinterest's photo recognition and light exosuits
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Pinterest wants users to shop for items by taking pictures, then uploading to the site to find similar items. Carnegie Mellon University invented an exoskeleton component that would lighten suits and make them far easier to walk around in, minus the bulky metal frames. NASA tested a rocket booster this week that may one day go to Mars. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Electrostatic sheets promise super-light exoskeletons
Of all the reasons exoskeletons aren't widespread, weight is one of the biggest. Even the slickest designs still tend to need bulky machinery. Not at Carnegie Mellon University, however -- its researchers have developed an exoskeleton clutch mechanism that barely weighs anything. Their Electroadhesive Clutch, as the name suggests, relies on electrostatic adhesion between specially coated electrode sheets to control spring movement. At 0.05 ounces per pair, it's 30 times lighter than existing clutches, and uses up to 750 times less power. Even if you had hundreds of clutches, the robotic assistance would take a huge strain off your body. And did we mention that there's three times as much torque density?
System helps spot bias in algorithms
There's no question that algorithms can be biased, producing results that reflect the creator's preconceived opinions. But how do you reliably detect signs of that bias? Carnegie Mellon researchers can help. They've developed a system that tests algorithms to see how much influence a given variable has over the outcome, giving you a sense of where bias exists. It could reveal when a credit score system is giving any weight to racial discrimination, or catch simple mistakes that put too much emphasis on a particular factor.
Disney Research uses RFID tags for low-cost interactive games
Disney Research and Carnegie Mellon University have developed a way to use RFID tags to make interactive games and controllers so cheap, they're "essentially disposable." Their system called "RapID" can sense if you're moving or touching objects attached with cheap, battery-less RFID tags in near real time. RFID readers typically take up to two seconds to read tags on luggage or other items, but RapID can recognize movements in as little as 200 milliseconds.
ICYMI: RoboDoc beats humans, touchpad skin and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-682998{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-682998, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-682998{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-682998").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: The Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot performed surgery on its own (with a human standing by) and turns out, makes such fine, consistent stitches that it actually beats those done by real counterparts. Carnegie Mellon created a wristwatch display and ring system that makes the skin of your forearm a touch pad to interact with the screen. And McDonald's made something called the McTrax placemat in the Netherland's and music folk everywhere want one, asap. We also rounded up the week's big headlines in TL;DR and hope your weekend conversations touch on whether the UAE should build an artificial mountain to get more rain. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Navigate your smartwatch by touching your skin
Smartwatches walk a fine line between functionality and fashion, but new SkinTrack technology from Carnegie Mellon University's Future Interfaces Group makes the size of the screen a moot point. The SkinTrack system consists of a ring that emits a continuous high-frequency AC signal and a sensing wristband that goes under the watch. The wristband tracks the finger wearing the ring and senses whether the digit is hovering or actually making contact with your arm or hand, turning your skin into an extension of the touchscreen.
Carnegie Mellon says it didn't help the FBI hack Tor for money
The Tor network volunteers recently accused Carnegie Mellon University of helping feds uncover the identities of some shady website operators and users, including drug distributors and child pornographers, in exchange for $1 million. In a statement released today, however, the university doesn't only deny getting money from the FBI, but also heavily implies that it was served with a subpoena that requested the details of its Tor research. "The university abides by the rule of law," it said, "complies with lawfully issued subpoenas and receives no funding for its compliance."
3D printing hair is as easy as using a hot glue gun
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have devised an ingenious method for creating lifelike hair fibers the only requires a common, inexpensive fused deposition modeling (FDM) printer. The technique is surprisingly simple: the printer squeezes out a small dollop of molten plastic and then pulls away, stretching the material into a long strand -- much like the sticky strings that hot glue guns leave behind.
Scientists stretch metal to make it stronger
You'd think that stretching metal would make it weaker, but just the opposite is true... on a very small scale. Researchers have developed a technique that pulls nanoscopic metal crystals to eliminate defects. By gently and repeatedly stretching the crystal, scientists move "dislocations" (rows of atom-level defects) to free surfaces, where they're ultimately forced out. The result is a metal that is considerably less likely to crack or otherwise fail over time.
ICYMI: Draw-an-instrument, levitating light and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-93419{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-93419, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-93419{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-93419").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A conductive-ink pen and matching sensor from Japan allows you to draw an instrument on any piece of paper. Carnegie Mellon scientists invented the Ballbot: A robot that moves and balances on a single spherical wheel. And we also wanted you to see the levitating lightbulb that floats above its base with magnetic levitation.
Drones may get better cell service thanks to an old ambulance
Aerial internet connections will likely be crucial for courier drones and other robotic aircraft, but modern-day cell towers are usually designed to serve people on the ground, not machines in the skies. What to do? Carnegie Mellon researchers might have an answer. They've converted an old ambulance into a full cellular network, and they're using it to test connections to quadcopter drones carrying phones on their stomachs. As it turns out, in-air wireless links aren't that reliable using current technology -- you need to point the antennas upward, and the signals propagate differently above a cell site than they do below.
Uber poached Carnegie Mellon's robotics lab to make self-driving cars (updated)
Remember how Uber forged a partnership with Carnegie Mellon University to get its ambitions for self-driving cars off the ground? It turns out this deal wasn't exactly balanced. The Verge understands that Uber poached much of the autonomous vehicle team from Carnegie Mellon's robotics lab, including top staff who'd been there for more than a decade. There's a transition period that keeps these researchers around to finish existing work, but the rash of departures is reportedly creating a vacuum at the school -- and it's not clear if those soon-to-depart people are working on academic projects or Uber technology.
Car headlights of the future won't blind other drivers
Carnegie Mellon's work on headlights has made an appearance here before, where it's near-future smart headlights would parse raindrops and 'cancel' them out, projecting light around the rain drops, substantially improving visibility. But that's just one of many tricks that the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute's smart headlights are now capable of. The newest iteration's feedback system continuously looks at what your headlights are doing, processing and thinking about how to shine better. To start, the system detects vehicles headed towards the car and disables the range of light that's directed at the oncoming driver, even on high-beam settings.
These exoskeleton heels could help stroke victims walk again
It isn't quite the soft exosuit that DARPA's working on, but scientists have developed a lightweight exoskeleton that'll take some of the work out of walking. Before you get too excited though, this is less Edge of Tomorrow and more along the lines of mechanical engineering. Researchers from Carnegie Mellon and North Carolina State University devised a way to use springs and ratchets to fashion a sort of boot that increases walking efficiency by seven percent compared to folks wearing regular shoes. The idea is to make it easier for the disabled, paralyzed or stroke victims to improve their walking ability without expensive motors and battery packs.
Create better 3D models by waving your smartphone around
Sure your smartphone makes for a passable 3D scanner, but it still can't determine the size of an item. Fortunately, Carnegie Mellon researchers are able to discover the scale of an object using a smartphone's camera and its IMU (inertial measurement unit). They just have to make sure to move the phone slow enough that that there's no motion blur during capture. If the feature gets wide adoption, you may soon be able to go shopping for furniture without lugging a measure tape around town.
Super Mario AI learns how to play by listening to your advice
As fun as Super Mario Bros. games are to play, wouldn't it be nice if you could coach from the sidelines every now and then? The University of Tubingen has developed an artificial intelligence that lets you do just that. Its Mario AI project makes Nintendo's plumber both aware of his environment and responsive to your advice on how he should behave. You can teach him that stomping on Goombas will definitely take them down, for instance. Mario even has his own systems for feelings and needs. He'll explore the world if he's sufficiently curious, and he'll chase after coins if he's "hungry."
Carnegie Mellon University scientists want to bring the moon closer with virtual reality
Google's Lunar Xprize is still up for grabs, and researchers at Carnegie Mellon University think they have a chance of bagging the $30 million prize (which requires landing a robot on the Moon, moving it 500 meters and sending video back to Earth). The team's solution plans to beam footage back from the moon via a telepresence robot. Instead of simply broadcasting shots of the moon's surface, however, the scientists told the BBC they want to go a stage further and "bring the Moon back". How? By pairing the spacefaring robot with Oculus Rift headsets here on Earth; turn your head and the robot on the moon will supposedly turn in tandem via head-tracking. There were a few issues that had to be overcome, however. Namely, the Rift needs a pair of simultaneous video feeds to achieve a convincing virtual reality experience, and, by design it can't accept two streams.
Disney rendered its new animated film on a 55,000-core supercomputer
Disney's upcoming animated film Big Hero 6, about a boy and his soft robot (and a gang of super-powered friends), is perhaps the largest big-budget mash-up you'll ever see. Every aspect of the film's production represents a virtual collision of worlds. The story, something co-director Don Hall calls "one of the more obscure titles in the Marvel universe," has been completely re-imagined for parent company Disney. Then, there's the city of San Fransokyo it's set in -- an obvious marriage of two of the most tech-centric cities in the world. And, of course, there's the real-world technology that not only takes center stage as the basis for characters in the film, but also powered the onscreen visuals. It's undoubtedly a herculean effort from Walt Disney Animation Studios, and one that's likely to go unnoticed by audiences.
Schools find ways to get more women into computer science courses
Technology giants like Apple and Google are frequently dominated by men, in part because relatively few women pursue computer science degrees; just 18 percent of American comp sci grads are female. However, at least a few schools have found ways to get more women into these programs. Carnegie Mellon University saw female enrollment jump to 40 percent after it both scrapped a programming experience requirement and created a tutoring system, giving women a support network they didn't have as a minority. Harvey Mudd College and the University of Washington, meanwhile, saw greater uptake (40 and 30 percent) after they reworked courses to portray coding as a solution to real-world problems, rather than something to study out of personal interest. Harvey Mudd's recruiters also made an effort to be more inclusive in advertising and campus tours.
Watch a dome full of cameras capture 3D motion in extreme detail
Conventional 3D motion capture is awkward; even if you don't mind people covered with dots or ping pong balls, you often get just a handful of data points that miss out on subtle movements. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University might just have a more elegant solution in store, though. They've built a geodesic dome whose 480 cameras work in concert to track a whopping 100,000 points without the need for markers. The system uses its abundance of video footage to estimate trajectories based on changes in light, motion and shape, rather than looking for arbitrary cues or interpolating image frames. As you can see in the clips below, the resulting data is both vividly detailed and natural-looking -- you can see individual confetti flakes falling to the ground, and it's easy to follow every nuance of a batter's swing.
