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Adorable robots help travellers at Tokyo's Haneda airport
Getting lost in an international airport is never fun -- but if you're lost in Japan's Haneda this month, you'll at least be able get help from an adorable talking robot. From now until the 14th, Hitachi is testing its EMIEW3 humanoid robot in the airport's passenger terminal. Over the course of two weeks, EMIEW3 will direct visitors to an information display and answer questions in both English and Japanese.
Hitachi's answer to Pepper the robot is swifter and sturdier
Look out, Pepper: you have some fresh competition. Hitachi has unveiled EMIEW3, its first humanoid assistant robot built for full-fledged commercial service. Like its SoftBank-made counterpart, it's designed to help you find your way around stores and public facilities. It's particularly focused on tourists, as it can switch languages on the fly. However, its edge may simply be its ability to cope with real-world situations. It's much faster than Pepper (3.7MPH versus 1.2MPH), so it's more likely to keep up with humans; it can also get back up if it falls down, and listen to you in noisy street environments.
The Daily Grind: Do you see more saints or jerks in-game?
Well, this will certainly be an extremely subjective topic today, but I say we embrace it! We've all heard and experienced horror stories with players who are extreme jerks in MMOs, from the mouthy trolls in general chat to the scammers out to fleece your hard-earned goods. But are there equal or perhaps greater numbers of generous, kind players whose good deeds don't make the headlines or leave us steaming for hours? Personally, it's really hard to say. The jerks can be really vocal and noticeable, which may make them seem proportionally larger than they really are. The saints can't be doing all sorts of nice things on a one-on-one basis that go virtually unnoticed by others. I see a lot of jerks in PUGs and a lot of saints while leveling in PvE, and I'd like to believe that there are more of the latter than the former. What do you think? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Livescribe 'helper' adds USB Evernote sync, removes some of the point
What? Yes, it's almost as puzzling as it sounds, but Livescribe is demonstrating its pragmatic approach to problem solving. In our review of the WiFi Smartpen, we maligned the sometimes flakey Evernote synchronisation process. Now you can sidestep the convenient (when it worked) wireless sync, and instead plug your WiFi pen into a nearby PC, download some software, and manually upload those hard earned audio snippets and doodles. While this method scribbles out one of the more useful features of a wireless pen, it does mean you'll never lose your notes. Like the important memo about the product rebranding.
Drag and drop your windows into tidiness with Cinch
I'd never heard of Cinch, just mentioned over at Cult of Mac, but it's such a great idea I thought I'd check into it. Basically, Cinch does what all great Mac software does: it works in the background and lets you do what you want to do, skipping completely all the usual nonsense you usually have to do in between. Basically, it's a window helper -- all you have to do is drag any window on your desktop to a side of the screen, and it'll put the window maximized in that space. Drag it to the top, and it'll maximize it across the screen. When you're done, drag the window away, and it returns to its original size. There's a great screencast on the Irradiated Software website that shows some of the possibilities. One idea that really appeals to me is dragging two Finder windows quickly to either side of the screen to both browse two folders at the same time, and then pass files back and forth between them. Cinch reminds me of this old chat by Quicksilver creator Nicholas Jitkoff, where he talked about software that didn't worry about what you wanted to do and just let you do. Cinch serves its purpose in that same way. It's available over on the website for US$7.
InterRobot's tissue-dispensing robot smiles while you sneeze
Let's face it, not everyone has the technical abilities to convert their Xbox 360 into a tissue dispenser, and moreover, it's not the most portable method of carrying around sniffle rags. Never fear, however, as the nation so well known for kicking out robotic servants is at it yet again, and this time around InterRobot Inc. is offering up a mechanical being to serve up handy tissue packs to the ill public that it runs into. The Mospeng-kun robot sports a human-esque design, the ability to wheel around and meet sickly individuals, and a continually smiling face that greets folks before personally handing them a pack of nose napkins. No word on what else the company plans on dispensing care of robotic employees, but considering they'll run you (or your business) around $835 for a five day rental, we'd probably reserve this option solely for the flu season.[Via CNET]
NCTU's Vision One domesticated servant bot knows your face, follows enemies
Hopefully sooner rather than later, all these domesticated, master-serving robots will be able to handle even the most mundane of tasks for us without botching our reputations, like holding down the 9-5 for us while we tee it up. Until then, however, we'll have to be satisfied with a household bot that not only recognizes our face, understands hand gestures, and follows us around to see if we need help, but chases foes away too. A team of researchers at Hsinchu-based National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) has developed just the companion, and this motorized fellow (or dame, whichever you prefer) sports a unique "digital vision system" that gives it the ability to "not only to remember the master, but also recognize his or her gestures and offer services accordingly." Moreover, it can reportedly judge the person's current health condition by analyzing facial expressions, and can then proceed to fetch medicine, a telephone, or another person in the home to provide aid. Clearly designed to assist the elderly, which could have difficultly caring entirely for themselves, the NCTU Vision One can reportedly distinguish between intruders and family members, and it can even be set to chase away the baddies while taking pictures of him / her for future prosecution purposes. While we've no idea if this classroom invention will ever hit the production line, this thing is a kitchen sink away from being the whole enchilada, and the whole "chasing function" simply makes this a must-have if it eventually comes to market.[Via RobotGossip]
