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Muon the humanoid robot is our ideal best friend
We don't speak German, and machine translation continues to be an intermittent and annoying bundle of failure, so bear with us on this one as we try to cobble together what exactly is going on here. This is Muon, the humanoid robot who is apparently being developed in Berlin by Frackenpohl Poulheim at the ALEAR Laboratory of Neuro Robotics at the Humboldt University in Berlin. Like other humanoid bots, Muon is about the size of an eight year old child so as not to creep out his human companions by being too threatening, and his design, while reminiscent of previous robots we've seen, is pretty original. It's actually hard to tell what stage of development Muon is in -- certainly many of the photos we have spied were concepts -- but we're going to keep our eyes peeled for him moving into the future. If you hit up the source link, you can check out a video of Muon's development. There's one more amazing shot after the break.
Suspended animation shocker: lack of oxygen could be the key to surviving a deep freeze
Researchers in Seattle are coming closer to discovering the secrets of suspended animation. Experimenting with yeast and worms, Dr. Mark Roth has been able to determine that a significant decrease in oxygen before the deep freeze of an organism makes surviving the thaw much, much easier, and may account for several cases where people have appeared to be frozen to death but were later revived. Dr. Roth's aim, he says, is not to be able to freeze people for long periods (such as is the case in the classic film Encino Man), but to help medical professionals "buy time" and advance their understanding of the effects of freezing on the human body. Sure, but if it means we might get to meet up with Pauly Shore in like, a thousand years, why don't we just shoot for the stars on this one? Video is below.
Printable prescription drugs heading to a pharmacy near you?
If researchers at the University of Leeds, Durham University, and GlaxoSmithKline have their way, some drugs will be custom printed for you at the pharmacy in the near future. Prescription drugs are usually about 99.9 percent filler and 0.1 percent actual medication, so the new method they're working on would involve printing the active drug onto the surface of a pill in the pharmacy -- meaning that drugs could be customized for each person, and multiple drugs could potentially be included in one pill. The process currently only works with about one percent of prescriptions on the market, but they're moving toward expansion in the near future.
Seen@GDC: The spherical future of video game interactivity
We don't just go to GDC in search of hot scoops. We're also constantly scanning our periphery for the next big movement in video game technology. This year, it came in the form of the VirtuSphere – a device we've heard about since 2006 but haven't seen in person until today. No, it's not a magical orb which infuses its user with moral excellence; it's a virtual reality peripheral controlled by its enveloped user's strut. The technology was demoed on the show floor at GDC with a rudimentary first-person shooter. The player wears a visor (which changes the camera's view as the player looks around in real time) and holds a light gun peripheral. They can walk around the rolling sphere, which moves the player's in-game avatar around the level. Sounds too awesome to be true, doesn't it? Hey, we'd never lie to you. Check out a video demonstration of the device after the jump. What? Did we try it out? No, unfortunately, we've got a thing about dizzy-puking in public.
PopCap thinks iPad will change gaming, but not for years
Are you ready for the upcoming revolution (in approximately three years), when Apple's iPad begins to deliver on the "magical" capabilities that Steve Jobs promised not so long ago? We're not exactly on board yet either, but PopCap's co-founder John Vechey believes that we should be prepared for such a possibility. In speaking with Eurogamer, he says, "The iPad's important, but I think it's going to be more important in three years ... it's probably going to take the second generation to make it really, like, 'Wow!'" Before addressing gaming, he admits, "This is my opinion ... it's not like it has a magical set of features, just a great package." His perception is that the device will be perfect for both children and ... his mom? "Because she can't screw it up, she can't download a bunch of stuff ... that's the perfect mum computer, right?" (We're inclined to agree with Vechey's claim, for the record.) It's also a question of accessibility though, he says. "Here's this new device that gets to more people with a really great e-commerce model attached to it ... it's really easy to buy on the iPhone -- that's part of what makes it successful." And yes, like PopCap's Andrew Stein told us earlier this year, Vechey reaffirms the developer's interest in games being re-developed for the iPad. "I don't know if this is a PopCap position or my word, but we're certainly going to support it -- I want to play Plants vs. Zombies on that." In the meantime, we'll be playing PvZ on our iPhone while waiting for that (and the revolution).
Ekokook concept kitchen's mantra: waste not, want not
If, like us, you've spent a fair amount of time in a kitchen cooking up a storm, then you're probably aware of one of the major drawbacks of major home-cooking... it generates a ton of waste. That's right -- up to 85 or 90 percent of a family's trash can be generated within the vicinity of the kitchen. Faltazi's concept kitchen should be interesting for just that reason -- Ekokook is designed to generate essentially zero waste. The solid waste -- things like glass -- are ground down using a hand-activated steel ball, and there's also a manual paper shredder which compacts the leftovers into small bricks. Water is stored, filtered, and reused, with waste water being used to water plants. Oh, and there's also an eco-friendly earthworm compactor in a drawer! Does it get any better? Well, there's a video after the break to check out.
Moore talks digital distribution; disc-based business model 'a burning platform'
EA Sports head honcho Peter Moore is all about digital distribution. During a panel on monetization at the PLAY Berkley Digital Media Conference this past weekend (as reported by IGN), Moore extolled the many virtues of a digitally distributed future, when discs are a long-forgotten remnant of an old business model. "I'd say the core business model of video games is a burning platform ... absolutely," Moore said.Thankfully for all of us disc-owning fools, Moore doesn't believe we'll be seeing a digital distribution–exclusive business model next week. "As an industry, I still think we may be as many as a decade away from saying goodbye to physical discs," he said, positing that Microsoft would likely be the first to release a download-only console (surely, not to be confused with a digital-format portable system or pc-based device). In the meantime, EA continues to ship 125-130 million discs each year while moving toward Moore's envisioned future.
US Air Force says decision-making attack drones will be here by 2047
Leave it to the military to dream big. In its recently released "Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan 2009-2047" report, the US Air Force details a drone that could fly over a target and then make the decision whether or not to launch an attack, all without human intervention. The Air Force says that increasingly, humans will monitor situations, rather than be deciders or participants, and that "advances in AI will enable systems to make combat decisions and act within legal and policy constraints without necessarily requiring human input." Programming of the drone will be based on "human intent," with real actual humans monitoring the execution, while retaining the authority and ability to override the system. It's all still extremely vague, with literally no details on exactly how this drone will come into existence, but we do know this: the Air Force plans to have these dudes operational by 2047. We're just holding out to see what those "classified" pages are all about. [Warning: read link is a PDF] [Via PC World] Read -Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan 2009-2047
Natal, PS3 motion wand inspire new wave of plastic props
Do you get the sense that Project Natal is ... missing something? Accessory peddler dreamGear does. The maker of such essentials as the 3-In-1 Player's Sports Kit for Wii, the 7-In-1 Player's Kit for Wii, the 10-In-1 Player's Kit for Wii, and the 15-In-1 Player's Kit for Wii is already hard at work trying to adapt its enhancements for Microsoft's upcoming motion technology release. "One of the biggest challenges for peripherals firms is keeping up with changing technology, particularly the trend toward interactive gaming started by Nintendo and now embraced by Microsoft's Project Natal," dreamGEAR COO Richard Weston explains to MCV. Molding a plastic steering wheel that fits in everyone's hands is a true challenge, you see."From all the recent revelations at E3 for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii, motion sensing devices and add-on accessories for these devices will be the main focus in the future," Logic3's sales manager Paul Croucher frighteningly foretells. So then, the snooker cue attachment for the PS3 wand confirmed? Please, make it STOP.
Microsoft optimistic as Xbox 360 has record Euro month; Sony claims overall lead
Speaking at the Reuters Media Summit in New York this week, Shane Kim confessed that Microsoft's Magic 8-Ball is as broken as everyone else's magic crystals, bird baths, mirrors and good old wild guesses have been during these volatile times. The VP was optimistic about the games industry in general, though, suggesting that consumers are "still looking for entertainment," specifically, of the stay-at-home variety. Despite walloping Black Friday sales in the U.S. and a record month in Europe, Kim remained concerned about 2009's outlook. "Who knows, maybe flat performance will be considered a remarkable achievement," Kim prayed aloud. Amen?Meanwhile, Sony shucked word of Microsoft's dominant November and took a thunderous lead in the back-and-forth shouting match for the European crown. "I am confident that in PAL territories our installed base is 300,000 units ahead of Xbox 360," SCEE president David Reeves insisted to MCV, adding, "No we are not going to go down in price; neither are we going to go down in price on PS3 in spring time either." So there.Source - Microsoft cautiously optimistic about Xbox sales [Reuters]Source - Xbox 360 enjoys highest sales month ever in Europe [GI.biz]Source - Sony: We're ahead of Xbox [MCV]
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: What comes next
The Care and Feeding of Warriors spent some time looking back at 2007 not so long ago, and finds itself looking forward to 2008 and beyond this week. Matthew Rossi wants you to imagine a big swirly tube and either the Stargate or Dr. Who music playing, whichever you prefer. I'm more of a Dr. Who man myself, but as the omnipresent third person narrative device I don't think my opinion is much consulted. It's a hard life being a narrative device. No one ever asks you out for coffee.As the somewhat emo italic text stated, this week we're going to look forward at where the Warrior class is going, a discussion I quite frankly think will be more interesting in the comments you leave than in my own ramblings. My goal here is mainly to serve as a firestarter, hoping to initiate a few sparks of brilliance from you. As a result, I'm going to just throw my musings and opinions at the wall here and see what sticks with you guys, what you accept and what you reject. After all, in the end it's the players who will ultimately determine what warriors will become, as they're the ones who'll chose what they do with their characters. My first thought is, looking over the past few years, the trend is that warrior successes in PvP tend to be followed by large nerfs. So PvP warriors are almost certainly going to be nerfed in a rather large way if they remain dominant in PvP. I expect mace spec to see the lion's share of this nerfing, perhaps changed into an entirely unrecognizable form removing stuns entirely, but mortal strike is also up for a few changes. It will probably be safe for the next few months, as they just gave a similar effect to hunters and to change MS now would mean having to change that, too, but it will most likely come in whatever patch lays the preparations for Wrath of the Lich King. If not these, then some change to a fundamental warrior DPS/PvP mechanic, similar to the way weapon speed and rage generation were normalized.Warriors with better gear still, despite nerfs like rage normalization, perform at a much higher rate than before they achieved it. My tauren warrior does much, much better in PvP now, even against opponents who substantially outgear him. In my biased experience, right around the time I start winning in PvP is when the nerfs start coming.
Netflix CEO joins Microsoft board
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, the man who changed the way America rents movies, has joined the board of directors at Microsoft. There's no further announcement beyond this simple, but possibly monumental, change to the Microsoft board.Microsoft has been getting into video downloads with Xbox Live, but now combine that concept with the brand power and ethos of simplicity behind Netflix, and you've got yourself, well, we don't know ... but it brings us one step closer to an all-in-one box for our television.If Netflix service were incorporated into the Xbox 360, it would change the way we rent movies once again, and be a Halo-level killer app. for the console. As long as the Xbox 360 continues growing its potential, but doesn't lose sight of its gaming core, we'll be fine. We cross our fingers for a Netflix related announcement before 2008. Consumers rejoice, this could lead to good things.
