Tag: ‘Smart-Tech’

Mind-controlled wheelchair

11 Aug 2006

Brain waves A University of Electro-Communications team of researchers led by professor Kazuo Tanaka has developed a prototype of an electric wheelchair that the user can steer simply by thinking of which direction he or she would like to go.

The wheelchair interprets the user's intended direction by means of a skull cap outfitted with a system of sensors. The sensors read the brain waves, enabling the user to control the wheelchair's direction simply by thinking "move left" or "move right." Tests have shown that the wheelchair has an 80% degree of accuracy in interpreting the user's intentions and moving in the desired direction.

The field of mind-controlled technology has seen a number of significant developments recently, and the promise of wheelchairs, televisions and other devices that can be controlled by people with physical disabilities looms on the horizon.

The developers of the wheelchair also envision applications in computer games and in the field of entertainment.

The idea of using a brain interface in entertainment reminds me of this video excerpt from the "Music for Solo Performer," a sound piece composed by Alvin Lucier in 1964. In this performance, EEG electrodes attached to the performer's scalp pick up brain waves, which are used to control a variety of percussion instruments. The resulting music has a nice, mind-altering effect.

[Source: Nikkei Net]

Fingerprint sensor in your wallet

28 Jul 2006

Fingerprint sensor by Seiko EpsonSeiko Epson has developed a paper-thin fingerprint sensor measuring 0.2 millimeter in thickness, which may help bring an extra level of security to a range of items in the future. When touched, the sensor reads fingerprint patterns based on the faint electric current emanating from the user's fingertip.

The fingerprint sensor's ultrathin profile means it can easily be incorporated into a variety of commonly used items. Among the applications that Seiko Epson is targeting are self-authenticating credit cards, in which a tiny on-card processor is used to compare the captured fingerprint data with the user's fingerprint data stored in an embedded memory. A non-matching fingerprint would render the card unusable, preventing abuse in the case of loss or theft.

The company aims to commercialize the sensor by 2010.

[Source: Nikkei Net]

PaPeRo robot gets avatar, resides in your devices

10 May 2006

On May 9, NEC announced the development of new technology that enables its PaPeRo household robot to connect with a variety of personal devices. The technology provides PaPeRo with a digital avatar that "follows" you to the device of your choice, where it appears on the screen and interacts with you.

PaPeRo

Details of conversations with the robot and its avatar are exchanged between the devices so that PaPeRo can provide services and information tailored to your needs when you change devices. The avatar, a virtual representation of NEC?s PaPeRo, is designed to work on computers as well as other personal devices such as PDAs and car navigation systems.

When a WiFi connection is established between the robot and the devices, saved data -- including data about your interests and tastes -- can be shared between the robot and its avatars. For example, after telling the real PaPeRo at home that you would like to eat Chinese food, PaPeRo?s avatar appears on your car navigation screen when you get in your car. There, the avatar searches for the route from your home to the restaurant of choice and provides directions. The search results can also be easily transferred to your PDA.

The user-friendly conversation-based control is designed to eliminate the cumbersome task of learning how to operate the avatar on multiple devices with different interfaces. Originally developed by NEC in January 1997, PaPeRo has received upgrades in speech and face recognition skills, gaining the ability to provide information to users through conversation and manage schedule information.

NEC has not announced when this new technology will be made commercially available, but has expressed the intent to continue with technological developments aimed at helping inexperienced children and the elderly to operate a variety of devices.

(Watch VIDEO of PaPeRo in action (QuickTime, 1.24 MB). Here, the demonstrator asks PaPeRo for shopping recommendations and instructs it to move to the car navigation system and the PDA.)

[Source: Nihon Keizai Shimbun]

China’s body odor databank sniffs out crime

22 Mar 2006

Smell databaseForget about fingerprints and DNA -- the way you smell has been added to the list of biometric data that can be used as personal identification. Police in China are now using body odor data to identify suspects in criminal cases.

A laboratory official at the Nanjing Police Canine Research Center has created a "body odor databank" designed to assist in criminal investigations by matching crime scene odors with the smells of individual criminals. With the cooperation of police, the laboratory is now collecting the odors of people with criminal records. So far, 500 different samples have been collected and registered in the database.

According to the official, clues obtained from smells have played a key role in solving a number of cases. This is because even the craftiest criminals are unable to remove all traces of their odor from a crime scene.

[Source: Nikkei BP]

Pirkus-R, the Bluetooth bot with facial recognition skills

17 Mar 2006

KDDI R&D Laboratories and I Bee, K.K. have upgraded their Bluetooth-enabled bipedal walking robot, named Pirkus-R Type-01, with facial recognition capabilities. Equipped with a built-in CCD camera, the 29-cm (1-foot) tall personal (build-it-yourself) robot can spot faces that it would like to inspect at closer range. Pirkus-R is able to self-correct its direction as it makes its approach, and once it captures a facial image, it can determine whether or not the person is registered in its file.

Pirkus-R Type-01

I Bee was responsible for developing the robot, which can be controlled from an au Bluetooth-enabled handset (W21T/W31T/W41T) using a BREW application. As I Bee continues to develop Pirkus-R?s control and facial recognition technology and the 8-bit CPU that links the robot with the handset, the price (250,000 yen for the deluxe model) may start to come down.

The robot?s facial recognition technology is based on technology that KDDI developed for mobile phones. KDDI has improved upon previous facial recognition technology, which used to require you to position your face directly in front of the camera in order to be recognized. Other problems with the human-robot interaction have been addressed, including lighting-related problems that occurred when capturing images. Pirkus-R is able to automatically detect which direction you are facing, and is no longer at the mercy of variations in lighting conditions. Furthermore, because it is equipped with Bluetooth technology, you can use your BREW-enabled au handset to check Pirkus-R?s operating status and facial recognition results. Of course, you can control it from your phone, too.

Pirkus-R Type-01 is scheduled to appear at the Robo-One fights being held this weekend (March 17 to 19) at Panasonic Center Tokyo.

(See videos here)

UPDATE 31/Mar/2006: Tempusmaster at www.robots-dreams.com has posted video of Pirkus-R in action (sort of) at Robo-One. The video suggests a need for further improvements to Pirkus-R's facial recognition capabilities. (Link)

[Sources: IT Media, Robot Labs]

Housecats “tagged” to protect Tsushima leopard cat?

10 Mar 2006
Tsushima Leopard Cat

Environmental advocates have come up with a set of guidelines aimed at preserving the Tsushima leopard cat (Tsushima yamaneko), an endangered and protected species that inhabits Tsushima in Nagasaki prefecture. Measures include mandatory registration of all domestic cats to reduce the number of strays and prevent the Tsushima leopard cat from contracting infectious diseases. The guidelines were decided at the International Workshop for the Preservation of the Tsushima Leopard Cat, which was held in Tsushima in January. Organizers are pressing the relevant national and prefectural organizations to adopt the proposed measures.

The guidelines stipulate that cat owners must register their pets and have them implanted with microchips. In addition, the guidelines call on the government to construct better roads to reduce the number of traffic accidents -- a major cause of death for the Tsushima leopard cat. They also suggest breeding the wildcats in captivity at several facilities to preserve the species.

[Source: Kyodo News]

KOTOHANA communicates emotions from afar

03 Mar 2006

NEC, NEC Design and SGI Japan have teamed up to develop KOTOHANA, flower-shaped terminals that use LED light to remotely communicate human emotions.

Each KOTOHANA set consists of two flower-shaped terminals equipped with LEDs that change color according to the emotions of the person who owns the counterpart. Each flower contains a microphone that captures voice data for processing, the results of which are sent via wireless LAN to the other terminal, where it is expressed as LED light.

KOTOHANA

KOTOHANA's Sensibility Technology (ST) emotion recognition engine, which was developed by SGI Japan with the cooperation of AGI, detects joy, sorrow, calmness and excitement in speech patterns. Happiness is expressed as yellow, sadness as blue, calmness as green, and excitement as red. Changing emotions are expressed through subtle color gradations and variations in light brightness.

The product is still in the prototype stage, with the ST engine running on a separate computer connected to KOTOHANA. NEC plans to showcase KOTOHANA at CeBIT, the international trade show for information and telecommunications technology to be held from March 9 to 15 in Hannover, Germany.

[Source: Yahoo! News Japan via japan.internet.com]

RFID-based retail support system to be tested

26 Jan 2006

On January 25, Fujitsu, AEON and Dai Nippon Printing announced plans to conduct a trial run of a retail support system that uses IC tags and data display terminals. In this retail service system of the future, customers will be able access a variety of product information by electronically reading tags placed on supermarket shelves. The trial run will be conducted at Jusco supermarket (Yachiyo-midorigaoka branch) for a five-week period beginning February 6, in Yachiyo City, Chiba.

The trial run is part of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry?s 2005 "Japan Future Store Project," featuring a series of trial demonstrations of electronic tag applications aimed at realizing retail services of the future. The store will be outfitted with 25 "shopping navi-carts" equipped with tag readers and data display terminals, and IC tags will be attached to approximately 500 selected food items.

Shoppers will be able to view a variety of information, ranging from product descriptions and instructions to video commercials, by holding the tag reader near the tags. The equipment will also assist shoppers in locating specific products within the store. When carts are moved to specified locations, promotional information and other data related to the relevant product category will be delivered to the data terminals.

Customers using the system will be asked to complete surveys after they finish shopping. Technical issues and other side effects, such as whether or not customers purchased more when using the carts, will also be studied.

Each company will play a specific role in the trial run. Aeon will run the experiment in the store, review the content, and link the trial system with the existing system. Fujitsu will handle project management, provide administrative support, configure the system, and provide the navi-cart data terminals and software. Dai-Nippon Printing will create content and provide programming support.

[Source: Nikkei BP]

Toshiba develops cellphone barcode reader software for online search of product reviews

08 Jan 2006

Toshiba has developed software that allows users to easily check online reviews of a product by reading its barcode with a camera-equipped cellphone. The software will be put to trial use in February at locations such as electronics stores and bookstores, and will become commercially available sometime in 2006.

The software is designed for products that purchasers tend to read reviews for, such as electronic goods, food, books, CDs, DVDs, makeup, etc. Users will be able to access information for approximately 400,000 products.

When a barcode is read using a cellphone camera, the data is automatically sent to a dedicated server, where data from blogs that refer to that product is searched. After about 10 seconds, the number of "positive" and "negative" blog hits is displayed on the cellphone screen. In addition, blog text related to the product is displayed, as well as information about related products.

Toshiba developed an original database that arranges approximately 500,000 Japanese keywords into categories such as "travel" or "culture," and groups them according to the review ratings. The company claims this technique enables quick analysis of blog content.

[Source: Asahi Shimbun]

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