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Researcher gives AIBO rat-like abilities
While the AIBO is certainly no slouch as it is, a researcher at the ITAM technical institute in Mexico City seems to think it still has plenty more to learn, particularly from rats. To that end, the institute's Alfredo Weitzenfeld recently gave the AIBO a brain transplant of sorts, ditching its quasi-canine instincts in favor of some "rat-inspired" control software he developed. The result, it seems, was quite effective, with the AIBO able to navigate a maze in a manner "remarkably similar" to real rats, including the ability to recognize places it had already visited and distinguish between locations that look alike. As NewScientist reports, the goal of the research is to increase robots' proficiency in simultaneous localization and mapping (or "SLAM"), which allows them to create maps of their surroundings while working out their location at the same time. In the meantime, it looks like a few poor robots will be suffering from a rather severe identity crisis.
Ratatoille (rat???a???too???ee) Gameplay Footage
The first gameplay video of the film to game adaption of Ratatouille is available over at GameTrailers. Unfortunately, the aspect ratio is a little wonky on the embedded video above, but the SD and HD versions at GameTrailers are correct. Still, we can get a good look at how the game feels and some of the misadventures you'll partake in as Rémy. Fortunately, the game seems to retain the atmosphere that Pixar puts forth in the film. So, after having played Cars on Xbox 360, how do you think this game will fare as a kids game. More importantly (to some), do you think the achievement difficulty will fall somewhere between Cars and Open Season?
