IsaacAsimov
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Apple moves forward with TV adaptation of Asimov's ‘Foundation’
In April, reports surfaced that Apple was looking into an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series for its lineup, and now the company has announced that it is moving forward with the show. Apple has gone ahead and ordered the adaptation, which will be produced by David S. Goyer (Blade, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) and Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Avatar 2), who will also serve as showrunners.
Apple snags TV adaptation of Asimov’s ‘Foundation’ sci-fi series
Apple has added yet another TV series to its ever growing lineup. The latest addition, Deadline reports, is an ambitious project headed by David S. Goyer (Blade, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) and Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Avatar 2) that will adapt Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. While adaptations of Foundation have been attempted for both TV and the big screen, they've been abandoned due to the complexity of the novels' storylines. Fox, Warner Bros, Sony and HBO all have scrapped Foundation projects to their name.
Robots learning our pain threshold by punching humans and seeing if they cry
The first rule of robotics is you do not talk about robotics that a robot should not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. But how does a robot know when its acts or omissions are causing nearby fleshies discomfort? The obvious way is to scan for the same signals of distress that we humans do -- facial, physical, and aural -- but another, more fun, way is to just hit people over and over again and ask them how much each blow hurt. That's what professor Borut Povse over in Slovenia is doing, in a research project he describes as "impact emulation," where six test subjects are punched by a robotic arm until they can't take it anymore. It's funny, yes, but it's also novel and a somewhat ingenious way to collect data and produce more intelligent machines. Of course, whether we actually want more intelligent machines is another matter altogether. [Thanks, Anthony]
Japanese prof thinks robots need emotional sensibilities
Aside from providing the world with great gadgets, entertainment devices and robots -- the Japanese have now answered the question that every robot enthusiast since Isaac Asimov has been trying to answer: how do we improve robot-humanoid interaction? Professor Shuji Hashimoto, director of the humanoid robotics centre at Waseda University in Tokyo, has a theory: robots need a solid dose of those Japanese manners (don't we all?) encompassed in the Japanese word kansei, which includes feelings, mood, intuitiveness and sensibility. Hashimoto spoke to a conference on "socially intelligent robots" at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield, UK last week, saying that "Robots are going to need similar emotional capabilities if they are to cooperate smoothly and flexibly with humans in our residential environments." How would that translate from the theoretical academic ivory tower to the living room lab of a domesticated robot? According to NewScientist, who covered Hashimoto's UK talk, "if a robot's owner is sweating and has a racing pulse, say, the robot will sense this and decide that now might not be the time to offer them the TV guide or tonight's dinner menu." Still, we're sure that Hashimoto wasn't talking smack about our new favorite polite robot, the EMIEW -- otherwise we might have to sic a legion of BEAR robots on him.[Thanks, Matt]
