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GlowBots develop relationships, express emotions via LEDs
Although we can't deny that having a household humanoid that chases away intruders would be a welcome member to most families, a team of individuals more focused on actual "complex relationships" have developed a series of bots that can learn and express emotions via lights. GlowBots are wee wheeled creatures that "develop attractive patterns that are affected both by user interaction and communication between the robots," meaning that the days of expensive animal training in order to have a pet around are nearly through. The technology within is based on an open experimental robot platform, dubbed e-Puck, and the actual robots utilize "eight IR proximity sensors, a camera, a trio of microphones, three-axis accelerometer, a speaker, two stepper motors, Bluetooth interface, a number of LEDs, a PIC micro controller, and a 12-step-mode selector" to confess their love. The creators will apparently be showing off their heartwarming invention at this year's SIGGRAPH conference, but until these suckas come sheathed in some sort of faux fur and fully equipped with bad breath, we're afraid Fido will retain control of the dog house for now.[Via PastaAndVinegar]
Nintendo's Wii: a marriage saver?
It's fairly obvious that using the Wii to keep yourself slim and trim is bound to put a smile on your SO's face, but a curious banner at a presumed church used Nintendo's console (and its token font, too) to hint at answers to a successful marriage. Of course, a couple interested in spending countless hours of quality time gaming away with each other are indeed more likely to find common ground, but for the uber-competitive type, gaming together could lead to more quibbles than friendly laughs. Nevertheless, it shouldn't be surprising that a religious institution would tap into mainstream culture in order to garner attention to its offerings, and hey, if you've got to go to counseling for only taking "Mii" into consideration, you may as well get your game on while you're at it.[Via NintendoWiiFanboy]
Emotive's Push Ringer overrides ringtones, pranksters overjoyed
Forget personalized ringtones and ringbacks, the next tween obsession has arrived in the form of Push Ringer, which "enables a caller to push an outgoing ringtone to the receiving phone -- allowing the caller, not the called person -- to set the tone." We're assuming you're either elated or sighing mightily after reading that, but there's 7.7 million reasons why you wish you would've implemented it first. A group of deep-pocketed investors have sunk $7.7 million into Emotive Communications' flagship idea, which temporarily overrides the phone's preset ringer, and moreover, allows the recipient of the surprise sound-byte to "instantly buy a copy" if they so desire. Notably, this very service has already taken the VoIP world over, as Skype users are probably more familiar with the RingJacker concept. Now, who's down for inventing the Push Ringer Reverser to send a "you got punk'd" clip back at the egotistical sender?[Via The Raw Feed]
Researchers unveil emotive, interactive robot: "Quasi"
We've already got robotic eyedrops that can facilitate conversation and react accordingly to their surroundings, and there's even an R2-D2 clone to get your feet shuffling once you've recovered, but researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed an emotive robot, complete with his own interactive booth, that can express its feelings through body language. Quasi, a member of the Interbots Platform, resides in a booth full of gizmos that allow him to see, hear, and feel the outside world; sporting a touchscreen LCD, long-range IR sensors, motion detector, webcam, microphones, and even a candy dispenser, humans have a myriad of choices when it comes to breaking the ice with the "animatronic figure." To get his reactions in gear, 27 Hitec servo motors are used to control the motions of his eyelids and telescoping antenna, while a bevy of LED lighting fixtures illuminate to convey his swinging moods and personality without so much as a clang from his aluminum lips. The team is planning on adding speech capability and a more mechanical armature in the near future, after which he'll probably be the self-nominated leader of the soon-to-be-uncontrollable Swarmanoid clan.[Via Slashdot]
