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These VR gloves will let you control Oculus and more for $350 (updated)
With the sale of Oculus Rift to Facebook for $2 billion, virtual reality has officially become very interesting for developers. One of the companies trying to ride that wave is Control VR, which is ready to launch its gesture control gloves on Kickstarter. Though VR gloves have been around for a long time, so far they've been prototypes, DIY projects or very pricey devices used for surgery, robotics and other specialized fields. Control VR is aiming wider, however, with an early backer price of $350. It believes it can hit that number using DARPA-designed microsensors which detect small inertial changes in order to finely track your arms, hands and fingers. That'll let you control virtual objects like game characters and 3D animations, or even physical devices like robots or military hardware.
Honda's ASIMO robot sheds a few pounds, gets all autonomous on us (video)
We've already seen it dance, sing and read minds, but Honda's ASIMO humanoid has now taken that one great leap into decidedly more dystopian territory. The revamped bot, pictured above (and apparently doing its best Herman Cain impression), was unveiled today in Japan, sporting a streamlined physique and scarily adept mind. In fact, Honda claims that its bot is now less "automated" than it is "autonomous" -- all thanks to new behavior control technology that allows it to move and make decisions on its own, independent of human operators. Its external recognition capability and set of onboard visual and auditory sensors enable it to rapidly process information about its environment, which the ASIMO then uses to plot its next move. Combining long- and short-term sensor data, the droid can predict human movements and automatically recognize voices or gestures. Because of this, Honda says, the ASIMO could be more easily integrated within social environments, and peacefully coexist with its human prey counterparts. Physically, meanwhile, the robot's looking svelter than ever, having shed a full six kilograms. It can now run at a maximum speed of 9 kilometers per hour, jump up and down for as long as it wants, and even hop on one leg, should it ever need to. Plus, its hands are now more dexterous than ever, thanks to new independent finger control functions that allow it to handle the most delicate of tasks -- like pouring you a stiff one after work, or before your inevitable demise. Check out more images in the gallery below, or hop past the break for a video and accompanying press release. %Gallery-138746%
