Goldsmiths
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Aikon 2 robot sketches the human face, uses its talent to meet girls
Yes, that's exactly what it looks like -- a robot that can look at a human face and make a pretty reasonable sketch of it. Featured at London's Kinetica art fair last week, the Aikon 2 project boasts an "inexpensive" robot arm and software developed by a research team at Goldsmiths University of London. As you might have guessed, building a device with rudimentary artistic ability is no mean feat -- leading the developers to try and understand and simulate the processes by which artists sketch the human face, including: visual perception of the subject and the sketch, drawing gestures, cognitive activity, reasoning, and the influence of training. The project's website emphasizes that "due to knowledge and technological limitations the implementation of each process will remain coarse and approximate." In other words, the robot "is expected to draw in its own style." Which is, quite frankly, better than we can do. We look forward to seeing these things in the cafes of the future, where robots not only fetch us drinks but chat up girls with offers to draw their portraits. Video after the break.
Future Routers pass themselves off as common household items: clocks, tables, jellyfish
We see plenty of sweet concept designs 'round here (not to mention some downright bizarre ones) so we're all pretty acquainted with wanting things that we can't have. That said, there are a couple of these Future Routers -- designed by a firm called TalkTalk in conjunction with Goldsmiths, University of London -- that inspire some serious techno-lust. Route O'Clock, for instance, not only keeps tabs on your bandwidth utilization, but it displays the info on the clock face itself -- and looks good doing it. Also quite eye-pleasing is the Hybrid, a model that passes itself off as a hardwood side table. On the slightly more bizarre end of the spectrum is the aptly name Jellyfish, which apparently takes up a lot of space and gives off a creepy blue glow (not one for those of you in one bedroom / studio apartments). Last but not least, the Energy Saver doubles as a key holder, with the dubious benefit of shutting itself off when the last key is picked up. The rationale behind this one is that when everyone leaves the flat, no one will be using the Internets -- we guess these guys have never heard of bit.torrent. Get a better look in the gallery below, and don't forget to check out the video after the break.[Via SlashGear]
Researchers create music... with their minds!
G-Tec's thought control hat has been out there making people look silly for some time now, but a group of researchers at Goldsmiths, University of London have now put it to a somewhat more unique (but equally silly-looking) use. As the BBC reports, they've effectively turned the device into a musical instrument, with the wearer only required to think about a note as they flash on a screen in order to play it. It's apparently not quite a foolproof solution just yet, with it currently only able to play the correct note about six out of eight times, but the researchers see plenty of potential applications for the system, including helping composers struck down with multiple sclerosis or other physical disabilities. Hit up the read link below to check out a video demonstration.
