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This tiny robotic beetle travels for two hours without a battery
This tiny, autonomous robotic beetle runs on liquid methanol.
Alt-week 10.6.12: supercomputers on the moon, hear the Earth sing and the future of sports commentary
Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days. Normally we try to encourage you to join us around the warm alt-week campfire by teasing you about what diverse and exotic internet nuggets we have for you inside. Sadly, this week that's not the case. There's nothing for you here we're afraid. Not unless you like totally mind-blowing space videos, singing planets and AI / sports commentary-flavored cocktails, that is. Oh, you do? Well what do you know! Come on in... this is alt-week.
USC develops printable liquid solar cells for flexible, low-cost panels
Solar cells are becoming more viable sources of energy -- and as they become more efficient, they're only getting smaller and cheaper to produce. Liquid nanocrystal cells are traditionally inefficient at converting sunlight into electricity, but by adding a synthetic ligand to help transmit currents, researchers at USC have improved their effectiveness. The advantage of these liquid solar cells? They're cheaper than single-crystal silicon wafer solutions, and they're also a shockingly minuscule four nanometers in size, meaning more than 250 billion could fit on the head of a pin. Moreover, they can be printed onto surfaces -- even plastic -- without melting. Ultimately, the goal of this research is to pave the way for ultra-flexible solar panels. However, the scientists are still experimenting with materials for constructing the nanocrystals, since the semiconductor cadmium selenide they've used thus far is too toxic for commercial use.
Flawed diamonds are perfect ingredients for quantum computing, just add time travel
Ready to suspend your brain cells in a superposition of disbelief? Good, because the latest news published in Nature is that diamonds are a quantum computer's best friend -- particularly if they're flawed. An international team of scientists sought out sub-atomic impurities in a 1mm-thick fragment of over-priced carbon and used these as qubits to perform successful calculations. A "rogue" nitrogen nucleus provided one qubit, while a free electron became a second. Unlike previous attempts at solid-state quantum computing, this new effort used an extra technique to protect the system from decoherence errors: microwave pulses were fired at the electron qubit to "time-reverse" inconsistencies in its spinning motion. Don't fully get it? Us neither. In any case, it probably won't stop jewellers tut-tutting to themselves.
Hideo Kojima talks life, influences at USC presentation
Legendary game developer Hideo Kojima took the stage at the University of Southern California last night to talk about his life as a game developer, and give a few thoughts on the current state of gaming and game development. During an interview moderated by Geoff Keighley, the creator of Metal Gear Solid spoke honestly about his past as the son of two pharmaceutical executives, his current work/life balance, and what he thinks the future of gaming looks like. Kojima told a few cute stories from his past -- he said that he started writing as a young man, and early on wrote a long story called "Survival Battle" that had everyone in its world fight at the age of 14, earning extra time in their lifespan for each victory. He said that in college, he was an economics major, and thus the "only oddball in my class that wanted to make movies or novels." His economics thesis even included a short story "to surprise my professor, and he was very surprised," said Kojima through a translator, "but it didn't help my grade much." Kojima also talked about his gaming influences, starting with the original Famicom, and mentioned titles like Super Mario Brothers, Xevious, and the Japanese text adventure Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken as early influences on his work. "I felt great potential in the medium," Kojima said about discovering video games, adding that the interactivity was what really drew him in early on.
USC computer scientist makes geo-immersion maps, leaves other maps feeling inferior
Google's Maps and Earth services provide us with 3D maps, the means to track St. Nick, and even tools to help us train to wear the maillot jaune. Real-time views of the world are not among Street View's many powers, however. That's why the director of USC's Integrated Media Systems Center, Cyrus Shahabi, has one-upped El Goog by rendering the real world virtually using the concept of geo-immersion -- which integrates real-time information and videos with digital maps. In one application, users can see the energy usage and floor plans of university buildings along with the current location of campus transit buses. Another uses live video feeds from security cameras and facial recognition technology to track ne'er-do-wells in a three dimensional model of a city. Itching to see what happens when real and virtual worlds collide? Check out the cutting-edge cartography in action after the break.
Scientists restore memory of drugged rats, hope to do the same with people
Is there anything we can't learn from drugged up rats? Researchers at Wake Forest University and the University of Southern California used a group of medicated rodents to demonstrate a method by which memory can be restored with the flick of a switch. The rats were outfitted with tiny, rat-sized electrodes and exposed to pharmacological substances, which caused them to forget the connection between pushing a lever and getting water. By turning the electronic switch on, the scientists restored the rats' memory of the task -- turning it off made them forget again. The next step in the process is testing the experiment out on primates and perhaps some day utilizing the research to benefit victims of strokes, Alzheimer's, or injury-induced memory loss.
Gmail Motion April Fools' gag inevitably turned into reality using Kinect (video)
It had to happen. When Google showed off a new and revolutionary Gmail Motion control scheme yesterday, it failed to fool most people, but it didn't fail to catch the attention of some motion control geeks with Kinect cameras on hand. Yep, the FAAST crew that's already brought us a Kinect keyboard emulator for World of Warcraft has taken Google to task and actually cooked up the software to make Gmail Motion work. All your favorite gestures are here: opening an email as if it were an envelope, replying by throwing a thumb back and, of course, "licking the stamp" to send your response on its way. Marvelous stuff! Jump past the break to see it working, for real this time.
You are the navigator: China developing motion-sensing MMO
MMO players are always looking for games that provide deeper, more immersive experiences to draw us into the game world and keep us there. China, one of the world's largest MMORPG markets, is attempting to forge ahead with the next evolution of immersive gameplay by combining online games with motion-sensing controls. Jin Gang Network is developing Land of Lords Online, an MMO that promises to allow players to explore the world and control their characters via a Kinect-like device. Without touching a physical controller or keyboard, a person can instruct his avatar to move, kill and cast spells in the game. Although details on the project are scant at this point, the company says that it will be releasing a video next month to show how the game's technology works. Whether motion-sensing controls are the next true gaming interface or just an odd fad, China isn't the only place where a marriage between MMOs and such devices is being explored. Students from the University of Southern California hacked a Kinect to interface with World of Warcraft while South Korea's GamePrix is bringing the Kinect-compatible Divine Souls to Xbox.
Audi commissions four US universities to research urban mobility issues
We've seen what other companies have in store for our automotive future, and now Audi's given us a glimpse of what we can expect from its car of tomorrow. The company's Silicon Valley research lab has teamed up with four universities here in the US to develop technologies that will give city drivers the full KITT treatment -- vehicles that recognize the driver (and his or her preferences) and can detect and avoid dangers and traffic delays. Called the Audi Urban Intelligence Assist initiative, each participating university has a specific area of urban mobility research ranging from urban crash analysis to aggregating historical and real-time traffic, parking, and pedestrian data in cities. The schools will also study how best to deliver relevant information to drivers and get them from point A to point B as easily and efficiently as possible. Looks like the groundwork is being laid for a German counterpart to GM's EN-V we test drove in Vegas, and we look forward to the fruits of their labor. Ich bin ein Ingolstädter!
Move around in your favorite MMO with Kinect
Isn't the Xbox Kinect only for crazy dancing games? No one would ever use that to play a real game like World of Warcraft, right? Well, the researchers at the Institute for Creative Technologies at USC have put an end to that notion. The university engineers have created a Flexible Action and Articulated Skeleton Toolkit or FAAST that associates keyboard events with body movements. This gives the Kinect device a new, wider range of possibilities because it can now be utilized on a standard PC. As Skip Rizzo of the Institute explains in a video presentation, "This opens up the doorway for building rehabilitation exercises after a stroke or traumatic brain injury and in a area that's getting a lot of attention: the area of childhood obesity and diabetes. This is a major area that people in the United States need to develop new ways to get kids up and moving around." Now instead of sitting around for six hours fighting the Horde, you can get up out of your seat and punch an orc in the face. Although the technology is just in its infancy, it is still very possible to play your favorite MMO games with your body movements. Check out the video after the break to see all the (literal) action, then head to ICT's site to see more.
GM shows off sensor-laden windshield, new heads-up display prototype
Heads-up displays are undoubtedly novel, and downright useful in the right circumstances. Trouble is, few of these prototypes ever make it beyond the lab, and we're stuck using these same two eyeballs to experience the world around us. General Motors is evidently tired of the almosts, and it's now working in concert with Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Southern California in order to concoct one of the most advanced HUD systems that we've seen -- particularly in the automotive world. Setting out to create "enhanced vision systems," GM's R&D team has created a windshield packed with visible and Infrared cameras along with internal optics that keep a close eye on the driver's retinas. In the images and video below (hit the 'Read More' link for the real action), you'll see a solution that utilizes lasers in order to highlight road edges, speed limit signs and all sorts of other vital bits of data during a fog-filled commute. Best of all? We're told that some of these technologies "could end up in GM vehicles in the near-term future." Granted, the Volt was supposed to set sail already, but we suppose we'll give 'em the benefit of the doubt. %Gallery-88465%
Study says word of mouth most important factor in games purchase intent
Word of Mouf isn't just your favorite Ludacris album, it's also apparently crucial in deciding whether or not consumers will pick up a game. A new study from (deep breath) Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern California, and Harris Interactive concluded that word of mouth was three times as likely to affect a purchasing decision as opposed to traditional forms of advertising. The study quizzed 507 gamers from July 6 to July 27 of this year. These gamers consisted of US adults who owned at least one gaming system, bought a video game in the six months prior to the study and admitted to playing a game for at least one hour per week. The study also said participants identified special "Influence Mutlipliers," such as veteran gamers and the gaming community at large. These "Influence Multipliers" represented 21 percent of the gamers in the study, declaring they were the go-to people for friends and families looking for opinions on games. Boy, don't we know that pain!
On the Inside, Episode 20: Eureka Dejavu and Schmilsson Nilsson
Welcome to the twentieth episode of On the Inside, the podcast that lets you take a peek at the virtual world of Second Life! This episode features Eureka Dejavu, real life name Rita J. King, investigative reporter, blogger for the Huffington Post, and founder of Dancing Ink Productions; and Schmilsson Nilsson, real life name Joshua Fouts, Director of the Center on Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California. In this episode, we discuss the Macarthur Foundation and their ongoing research into virtual worlds, the positive power of transformation, and Star Wars Galaxies. (Note: This interview was conducted on October 30th.)As always, I welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics/interviewees. Drop me a line!To hear all eighteen previous episodes, click here to access the Second Life Insider podcast archives.[Mp3] Download the MP3 directly
Living Game Worlds III: The Game Mechanics of Reality
Is the games industry burdened by its reliance on game mechanics? Speaking at the Living Games World Conference at Georgia Tech in Atlanta last week, Tracy Fullerton, a game design theorist and assistant professor at the University of Southern California Interactive Media Division, plead her case that the commonly used game mechanics are in a way impeding our ability to expand into new content themes.Fullerton began by defining the root terminology. "We've talked a lot about serious games ... but I thought I might be nice to back up and bit and really kind of question what is that a game is," she said. "One of the things that I like to do is break things down and build them up again."
