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ICYMI: Trusting robots too much, automated garbage and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-528017{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-528017, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-528017{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-528017").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: The Georgia Tech Research Institute studied how people would react to a robot with clearly labeled 'emergency guide' signage, during a fire drill. Researchers thought humans would ignore the robots and go straight for nearby exits, but instead, they followed the robots deeper into the building, where there was no way out.
US soldiers to wear blast sensors in Afghanistan, collect shock data
Starting next month, around one thousand frontline personnel in Afghanistan will begin testing the Soldier Body Unit, a sensor kit for recording the effects of explosions on the human body. While that's not the most pleasant of subjects, the blast sensors have been rushed out to collect as much data as possible before soldiers head home in 2014. The US Army's Rapid Equipping Force and the Georgia Tech Research Institute, which developed the sensors, hope to gather info on concussions and traumatic brain injuries to improve aftercare. This will also be used at source to stop super-soldiers heading back out after a concussion and increasing the probability of an even worse injury. Further sensors will be carried on military vehicles, to help measure the effects of IED blasts on passengers. Adding two pounds in extra equipment probably won't make the Soldier Body Unit too popular, but it's thought the kit could weigh in at half a pound once it's been refined.
Military-grade "Guard Dog" hard drive degausser
When even a $13,000 hard drive degausser leaves you a little worried that someone, somehow might still be able to pick out a few bits of top secret data, you might want to turn to these guys at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, who developed a fool-proof drive destroyer dubbed the "Guard Dog" that works without electricity. Like most drive wiping devices, the Guard Dog employs massively powerful magnets that not only render hard drives useless, but VHS tapes, DAT tapes, ZIP drives, and any other magnetic media to boot. Of course, they didn't just use any old off the shelf magnet, instead designing custom neodymium iron-boron models that produce just the right magnetic field necessary to make that hard drive completely useless. The Guard Dog also speeds things up by letting you crank drives through a mechanism that'll wipe them as they pass through, even if they're enclosed in metal cases. The system was developed in conjunction with defense contractor L-3 Communications Corp who foresees producing hundreds or thousands of the devices for both government agencies and private companies, but probably not for individual use -- if you know how much 125 pounds of neodymium magnets cost, you'll know why.[Via Digital World Tokyo]
