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Apple will spend $400 million on affordable housing this year
Apple will spend more than $400 million on affordable housing projects and first-time homebuyer assistance programs in California this year.
This hip-hugging exosuit uses AI to make walking and running easier
Robotic devices have been used to help people walk or run in rehabilitation settings, but until now, they've been tethered and limited to a single action, like walking or running. In a paper published in Science today, a team of researchers explain how they're going to change that. The researchers -- from Harvard University and the University of Nebraska Omaha -- have developed a portable exosuit that uses AI to assist users with both walking and running.
Comcast expands its low-cost internet to another three million households
Since 2011, Comcast's Internet Essentials program has connected more than eight million low-income individuals from two million households to the internet. Today, the company announced that it's bringing low-cost internet to an additional three million low-income households. In addition to high-speed internet at $9.95 per month, plus tax, users will be eligible for free digital literacy training and the option to purchase a computer for less than $150.
Apple's Support app expands to 20 more countries
The latest update for the Apple Support app -- the company's free, standalone tool designed to help users solve a range of service issues -- is now available, delivering a range of hotfixes and more. The most notable feature is the extension of support to over 20 new countries and regions. It also improves the app's overall accessibility with the addition of language assistance for Czech, Danish Finnish, Hungarian, Indonesian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese and Russian.
Microsoft app helps blind people ‘see’ the world with AI
Microsoft has launched an iPhone app designed to help blind and partially-sighted people better navigate the world. The app, Seeing AI, uses 'computer vision' to narrate the user's surroundings, read text, describe scenes and even identify friends' facial cues. The project has been in the works since September 2016; in March this year, Microsoft demonstrated a prototype of the app for the first time. It uses neural networks, similar to the technology found in self-driving cars, to identify its environment and speak its observations out loud.
Blindsquare uses Foursquare data to guide the visually impaired
Blindsquare is giving guidance systems for the visually disabled a new twist with user-generated Foursquare data, text-to-speech, GPS and some OpenStreetMap mojo. While users are out and about, the app narrates their trip via headphones with information about nearby places, intersections or guidance to their destination. One shake of the iPhone or iPad gives users their current location and a second shake checks them in on Foursquare. The app can also be controlled via a Bluetooth remote while the device sits in a pocket or backpack. After going from concept to completion in six months, it's now out of beta and available on the App Store for $14.99. Sonar gauntlets won't let you check-in to your haunts? Hit the source link to step up that location-based social networking.
RealVNC teams up with Sony to bring Android apps to the dashboard
Sony and RealVNC have announced a partnership that aims to liberate your smartphone's applications and content, bringing the wares to your car's dashboard. Once a VNC-enabled vehicle and Android handset are paired, users can access and manipulate the device's applications, music library and stream web content directly to the car's infotainment system. In order to preserve public safety, and meet "regulatory requirements," the system can detect vehicle velocity and will revoke the proverbial keys to your mobile kingdom while you're in motion. The RealVNC code will be bundled with "all new 2012 Xperia handsets" and the accompanying VNC Automotive software has -- according to the press release, anyway -- "been widely adopted by the automotive industry." What's more, the VNC goodies will allow Sony support specialists to troubleshoot your Xperia handset remotely, should you request such assistance. Mosey on past the break for a look at the full announcement.
Utechzone Spring eye-tracking system hands-on (video)
In the midst of fiddling with tablets and laptops at Computex, we haven't been thinking much of eye-tracking technologies until we saw Utechzone's booth. What we have here is the Spring, a TW$240,000 (US$8,380) eye-tracking rig that was launched in March 2010 and is aimed at users with limited mobility. The package consists of an LCD monitor, a computer, and an external sensor that utilizes infrared to track our pupils. Also included is an eye-friendly software suite that lets users play games, browse the web and media files, send emails, communicate with caretakers, and read PDF or TXT files. We had a go on the Spring and quickly learned how to control it with our eyes: much like the Xbox Kinect, in order to make a click we had to hover the cursor over (or fix our eyes on) a desired button until the former completes a spin. The tracking was surprisingly accurate, except we had to take off our glasses for it to work; that said, the other glasses didn't exhibit the same issue, so the culprit could be just some coating on our lenses. Another problem we found was that it only took a quick jiggle with our eyes to cancel the spinning countdown, so full concentration is required to use the Spring. This shouldn't be a problem outside a noisy event like Computex, anyway, and if you need more convincing, we were told that a disabled Taiwanese professor managed to hit 100,000 Chinese characters within three months using phonetic input on the the same rig -- he's planning on releasing a new book soon. Have a look at our eyes-on video after the break for a better idea on how the Spring works. %Gallery-125350%
New Zealand paralympian buys first Rex Bionics exoskeleton, takes robot walking legs for a spin
Surely we weren't the only ones to wonder aloud who would be the first come up with $150,000 for a Rex Bionics robotic exoskeleton when the Auckland-based company introduced it last summer. Of course, no price seems too high for the ability to walk again, but that's still a lot scratch to get together -- and the space has been getting a lot more competitive as of late. The honor went to fellow Kiwi Dave MacCalman, a multiple medal-winning paralympian, who lost the use of his legs after sustaining a spinal cord injury while diving into a river. The 6-foot, 4-inch athlete took his first steps in over 30 years with the use of his newly-purchased robot legs -- and from the look on his face, he definitely got his New Zealand dollar's worth. If you need a quick refresher on exactly what this thing can do, check out the video after the break.
PlayStation now offers customer service via Twitter, probably won't help you jailbreak your PS3
Got a question about a PlayStation product? Have a Twitter account? If you answered yes to both, then you'd be interested to know about @AskPlayStation -- the official account for all of your PS concerns. They'll assist you via tweets Monday through Friday from 9:30AM - 5:00PM PST and will answer in real-time between the hours of 2 and 5 PST. Hit up the source link to get all of your inquiries answered -- just behave yourselves, OK?
The state of household robots in Japan: looking pretty great
This crazy looking little fellow is Toshiba's ApriPoco robot, and we couldn't want to meet him more -- especially in his updated form. Designed as a home assistance bot, ApriPoco can learn to control electrical appliances using both IR and verbal commands. He's got some fine company in Japan, too, where household robots are starting to take off. As you'll see in the Japanese news report (which is embedded below), there are robots to help you do the dishes, move furniture, and even robotic wheelchairs to help you get around. Really, the only question that remains for us is... when do we move? Here's to the future.
Rex, the robotic exoskeleton, aims to make wheelchairs obsolete
New Zealand isn't exactly known for being a hotbed of tech innovation, but this set of bionic legs might just realign that perception a little bit. The product of seven years of development work, the Rex exoskeleton is capable of supporting the full weight of a person -- making it suitable for paraplegics -- and moving him or her around in a familiar bipedal fashion. It's operated using a joystick and control pad and is simple enough for handicapped users to self-transfer in and out of. The best news, perhaps, is that it's about to go on sale in its home country this year, with an international launch following in 2011. The worst news? Probably the $150,000 (US) initial asking price, but then we'd hardly say we're qualified to judge the value of being able to walk again. Video and full press release after the break. [Thanks, Kurt and Simon]
Pioneer's Navi Robo waves you in the right direction (video)
Before you dismiss this as just another crazy idea out of Japan, hear us out. The newly developed, crab-simulating Navi Robo is designed to give drivers visual navigating assistance as a supplement to their GPS device. Its primary benefit, aside from helping the hearing impaired, will be in conveying instructions without requiring the driver to focus on it, as its eyes light up for attention and its "claws" vibrate urgently when an upcoming turn is imminent. Frankly, it looks both cute and functional, and we think kudos are in order for both Pioneer and iXs Research for coming up with the idea. They'll be taking their usual good time (read: a couple of years) to refine and develop the idea, but we've got video of the robot doing its thing right now -- you know where to find it.
Robosoft Kompai takes care of your elderly so you don't have to (video)
This one has been quite a long time in coming, but Robosoft's service drone has finally made it off the drawing board, collected a catchy name, and headed off to the big world to seek its fortune as an R&D platform. Kompai is a personal assistance bot built around speech -- it understands basic instructions and requests and offers appropriate responses with its own monotonic style. It'll serve as a note and shopping list recorder, a calendar, a music player, or a video conferencing tool for when old grandpappy needs to call his doctor. If you think having a programmable hunk of mobile metal that's permanently connected to the net in your house is a good idea, look out for OEMs picking up the design during the Intercompany Long Term Care Insurance Conference taking place next week. And if you just wanna see a bug-eyed bot talk to an old dude, click past the break for the video. [Thanks, Erico]
Time Warner Cable, Cisco team up on new HD website
While we've seen companies go out of their way in the past to provide customers with HD assistance, it looks like Time Warner Cable (partly owned by Time Warner, parent company of AOL, which owns Engadget) has teamed up with Cisco to give consumers yet another venue to have their questions answered. A variety of flashy help buttons enable befuddled individuals to select the kind of HDTV most suited for their viewing habits, learn the definitions of commonly used high-definition terms, and of course, goes on to plug TWC HD services. Sure, it's simply an interactive advertisement at heart, but at least it's giving consumers a drop of knowledge whilst fishing for their business.[Via BroadcastingCable]
Siemens AySystem utilizes GPS / GRPS for emergency tracking, alerting
While Siemens HQ is probably still dusting itself from last year's invasion, that's not stopping the whole show 'round those parts, as the firm is introducing a new form of emergency communication with its AySystem. By utilizing worldwide GSM / GRPS networks (and optionally, GPS), the pocketable device can be tracked, modified, and used as a channel of communication between a caregiver and patient, parent and child, boss and subordinate, or any other useful combination of individuals. Essentially, the Ay token is given to the person who needs monitored, and the other party can adjust various "thresholds" such as motion (or the lack thereof), temperature, and sound, and if that limit is surpassed (i.e. a patient stops moving), the token will sound an alarm whilst simultaneously texting / calling a user-selected individual. Moreover, it can be remotely controlled and tweaked via a web-based interface, and users can add "SnapOns" such as GPS receivers and cameras to extend its functionality even futher. Thankfully, the platform in which the device runs on is entirely Java-based, which should please those looking to code their own programs to take full advantage of what's being offered. As of now, we're not exactly sure how much this fancy panic button will end up costing, but it is slated to be made available "via mobile carriers or through pre-paid plans" in the not too distant future.[Via Gizmag]
