Sony’s fantastical Toio cubes combine robotics with papercraft

Sony’s made some endearingly offbeat electronic toys over the years — looking at you people who gave your Aibos funerals. The company’s newest addition to its crowdfunding site, First Flight, is likely to evoke the same response. Say hello to the Toio cube.

These gadgets measure about 1.25-inches along their sides and about .75-inches tall. Their undersides house a pair of wheels while the nubbly bit on top are compatible with Lego blocks, enabling you to install costumes and structures to the Toios.

They’re reminiscent of the Anki Cozmo, however unlike that desktop robot, these little guys don’t rely on an internal AI. Instead, the Toios are equipped with bluetooth receivers that enable them to talk to each other as well as receive commands from a remote console. That console issues its commands based on whatever cartridge with the preprogrammed operations you plug into it. The system also comes with a number of patterned paper designs that you cut out and attach to the Toios which both add to the visual effect and help control the robots, as you can see in the video below.

The Toios also come with a special optically-patterned mat which allows their visual sensors to navigate the play area, not unlike the Ozobot, though you can also take control of the robots’ movements directly with one of a pair of controllers that plug into the console.

The various games and functions (and papercraft requirements) vary from the most basic up to highly complex designs which means that even if your kid gets bored with it after 5 minutes, you can keep playing. The Toio set runs for 30,000 yen — that’s roughly $275 US. There’s no word yet on whether Sony will release additional cartridges or will allow users to program their own.

Via: Spectrum

Source: Sony First Flight

Uber board member resigns after making a sexist remark

Are you familiar with David Bonderman? If not, you might now remember him as the Uber board member who resigned because he made sexist remark during a meeting meant to address the company’s toxic, misogynistic culture. At the meeting, board member Ariana Huffington said that one woman on the board often leads to another, and Bonderman apparently replied that “it’s much more likely to be more talking.” He apologized after seeing his fellow board members’ horrified reactions but ultimately decided to leave as he does “not want [his] comments to create distraction.”

Bonderman has been working with Uber’s board for the past few months to give the ride-hailing firm’s work culture a much-needed overhaul. The company has been in hot water ever since it was rocked by a serious sexual harassment allegation by a former engineer, among many other issues. As a result, Uber chief Travis Kalanick has gone on a personal leave and will come back to a stripped-down role.

Ariana Huffington said she “appreciate[s] David doing the right thing for Uber at this time of critical cultural changes at the company.” As for Mr. Bonderman, he explained that he “came across in a way that was the opposite of what [he] intended, but [he] understand[s] the destructive effect it had, and [he] take[s] full responsibility for that.”

He also said in a statement:

“I do not want my comments to create distraction as Uber works to build a culture of which we can be proud. I need to hold myself to the same standards that we’re asking Uber to adopt. Therefore, I have decided to resign from Uber’s board of directors, effective tomorrow morning.”

Source: The New York Times

Intel’s wireless HTC Vive add-on is where VR is headed

Complexity is bad for VR. The lengthy wires you need to connect a VR headset to your gaming PC or PlayStation 4 might not be a huge deal to geeks, but they’re the sort of thing mainstream consumers would never live with. We know wireless is the answer. TPCast is already shipping an accessory for the HTC Vive that lets you give up on cables, and based on our demo earlier this year, it works just as advertised.

But there’s a new contender: Intel is showing off its own wireless VR add-on at CES, DisplayLink XR, which is based on WiGig technology. The company claims it delivers less than 7ms of latency, and since WiGig relies on the 802.11ad standard, it can reach gigabit speeds over the uncrowded 60GHz spectrum. Intel first revealed that it was working on the DisplayLink XR at CES, but we didn’t hear much about it until Computex, when it announced a partnership with HTC to build and market it. After testing the accessory out at CES, I’m not surprised why HTC jumped at the chance to partner with Intel.

Just like the TPCast headset, the DisplayLink XR sits on top of the Vive’s headstrap. The prototype is a bit large and cumbersome, and it also has delicate wires sticking out and into the front of the Vive (covered with some classy black tape). It didn’t really inspire much confidence when I first saw it, but my attitude changed when I slipped on the Vive and started playing Space Pirate Trainer.

It’s a game that starts out slow, but quickly gets fast-paced as you’re shooting alien ships and dodging their projectiles. But no matter how crazy the game got, Intel’s wireless add-on kept up. I never noticed any slowdowns or stuttering — the game played just as well as it does on my tethered Vive setup at home. In comparison, while I had a solid experience with TPCast’s wireless accessory, there were moments where the performance got a bit jerky. Intel’s device added a bit of weight to the headset, and I often had to be careful not to dislodge it, but those issues could be resolved as the hardware gets finalized.

We still don’t know when Intel’s DisplayLink XR will be available, or how much it will cost. But, based on what I’ve seen so far, the company is at least on track to deliver something genuinely useful. The move to wireless will be a huge boon for desktop VR, though it’ll have to contend with entirely self-contained virtual reality headsets, like Oculus’ prototype “Santa Cruz” device, as well as increasingly capable mobile VR offerings.

Follow all the latest news from E3 2017 here!

Audi teases self-parking A8 ahead of launch

Audi will launch its next generation A8, which is expected to have level 3 autonomous, on July 11th. Ahead of that unveiling, the company released a video of the new vehicle parking itself.

According to the video, with the push of a button, the car will turn itself around and back into a space. Helpful for when you need to make a quick getaway. That’s not that groundbreaking. Telsa launched its auto-parking Summon feature in early 2016.

But the demo is expected to be part of a new suite of features coming to the A8. The unveiling will be part of the automaker’s new Audi Summit where it will “showcase pioneering solutions for the urban mobility of tomorrow.” At the event it’ll be showcasing its vision of the future of driving and communication.

The company also announced today it’s the first company to get a self-driving license in the state of New York. The state recently announced it would be the next test bed for autonomous vehicles. Audi showed off an A7 with level 3 autonomy during demos.

Governor Cuomo said, “self-driving vehicles are the next frontier in transportation, with the potential to vastly improve traffic safety on New York’s roadways.” Today’s demo is part of a year-long pilot program.

Via: CNET

Source: Audi

France and the UK pressure internet companies to fight extremism

The British and French have already made separate efforts to limit extremists’ online presences, but they now believe they can accomplish more by working together. The two nations have unveiled a joint campaign to prevent extremists from using the internet as a “safe space.” They’re vowing to pressure tech firms into doing more (such as better automatic removal tools), and are “exploring the possibility” of fines and other legal penalties if those companies don’t pull offending material.

The joint initiative puts some additional heat on internet giants like Facebook, Google and Twitter, since they know that a policy implemented in one country is more likely to show up in another.

But will it amount to much? That’s not so clear. Those same tech companies have already been cooperating with officials in some ways, and there are signs they’ve been making significant progress in screening out hate and other extremist views. There may not be much need to push for greater action if it’s really just a matter of time before anti-extremist screening gets a passing grade. Also, there are likely limits as to how far the UK and France can push: they couldn’t expect Facebook to catch every single extremist post with automatic filtering. While the partnership could prompt changes, it could just as easily amount to political grandstanding.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Gov.uk

Atari 2600 fans get the revival console they deserve

If you want to play retro Atari 2600 games, you’re not short of options. There’s eBay for the original console of course. You can play some on mobile, or buy one of those “Flashback” all-in-ones, or splurge on the ultimate man/woman-cave table. But for those that have the original cartridges, but don’t want to keep an old console on permanent life support, or tinker with modifications under the hood, your options aren’t so good. Enter the RetroN 77 — the 2600 reimagined for the modern age. Importantly, it plays most, if not all of the original game cartridges in glorious 1080p, at a modern aspect ratio right out of the box.

It’s pretty hard not to get misty-eyed while playing Pac Man off the original cart, complete with faded, battle-worn label. The experience is even better when it plays in full screen on a modern TV, without having to jump through any hoops. The company behind the hardware — Hyperkin — has a long history of making modern versions of classic consoles (the SNES, Genesis in particular). You can be sure there’s attention to detail too, with the RetroN 77. I’m reliably informed that those who remember moving the cart in their original Atari (and causing the game to glitch), might get the same experience here (if you want).

Really, though, the RetroN 77 is about fun, and keeping the Atari legacy alive — and given the recent reveal of Ataribox, it’s something lots of people are passionate about. Yes you can use original joysticks, but also there are USB options too, if going full authentic with vulnerable hardware is a step too far. Hyperkin wouldn’t commit to a price, but suggested the RetroN 77 should retail somewhere around $80, landing just in time for the you to get one (for your kids, of course) over the holidays.

Follow all the latest news from E3 2017 here!

Algorithm predicts when someone is at risk of suicide with 92 percent accuracy

Why it matters to you

This suicide risk-predicting algorithm could quite literally save lives.

Sometimes people experiencing suicidal thoughts may alert others in a cry for help. In other instances, suicides can offer tragically few tell-tale clues that would have allowed friends, family, or other individuals to act differently.

That is where a new piece of research from Vanderbilt University Medical Center comes into play. Researchers there have developed a machine learning algorithm designed to predict the likelihood of an individual attempting suicide. In trials, it has proven 80 to 90 percent accurate at forecasting whether a person will attempt suicide in the next two years. This extends to an astonishing accuracy of 92 percent in predicting whether a person is likely to attempt suicide in the following week.

To make its calculated guesses, the algorithm uses a range of different data, such as previous hospital admissions, age, gender, zip codes, prior diagnoses, and medication. When combined, these different risk factors can lead to behavioral insights which may not be so evident just by looking at one or two data points.

The algorithm was trained using data on 5,167 patients admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center with signs of self-harm or suicidal thoughts. Since then, it has been further trained and tested on 12,695 randomly selected patients with no documented history of attempted suicide. The work surrounding the algorithm’s creation was described in a paper published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science.

Since it was published earlier this year, Professor Colin Walsh is testing his algorithm using a dataset from another hospital. After this phase of the project is complete, the next goal will be the most crucial one: To work out how to use it to intervene and, hopefully, save lives.

While there is still a way to go before this is used as a clinical tool by physicians, with suicide being around the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S., this algorithm could prove to be an incredibly important advance. It could, quite literally, be a lifesaver.

Forget ambulances — Sweden is testing defibrillator-equipped first responder drones

Why it matters to you

A drone equipped with a defibrillator could greatly increase the chance of survival during cardiac arrest.

While most drones are designed for recreational purposes, researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden are adding a welcome dose of medical functionality to their list of uses. In a recently-launched pilot program, the researchers tested a drone equipped with a defibrillator to provide more immediate aid to people who experience cardiac arrest.

More than six million people die annually as a result of cardiac arrest, making it the leading cause of death worldwide. Only one one in ten people survive a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital, and time is key to increasing these odds. In fact, each minute a cardiac arrest goes untreated without CPR or defibrillation, it decreases an individual’s chance of survival by 10 percent. With this is mind, researchers are coming up with clever ways to decrease the time it takes to treat cardiac arrest victims.

Jacob Hollenberg and his colleagues at the Karolinska Institute analyzed cardiac arrest records for areas outside of Stockholm lacking adequate nearby emergency medical resources. Analysis of this data determined that the median response time for the area was nearly 30 minutes, with a survival rate of zero.

The team then tested the amount of time it would take for a drone carrying a defibrillator to reach these areas compared to an ambulance. To do this, they dispatched a prototype defibrillator drone to locations in the area where cardiac arrests had recently occurred. During 18 trial flights, the drone arrived at the scene about five minutes after it was launched. It took the ambulances an average of 22 minutes to arrive at the same locations. The defibrillator has a speaker to relay instructions for using the device to individuals at the scene allowing for faster medical treatment.

“If we can decrease the time in cardiac arrest from collapse to defibrillation by a few minutes, hundreds of lives would be saved each year,” explained Hollenberg

Hollenberg and his team are currently working with local emergency services to optimize this defibrillator drone program and hopes the system will be ready to implement within the next two years.

Solar-powered Roomba-style robot drives around your garden pulling weeds

Why it matters to you

Hate pulling up weeds in your yard? This gardening robot is here to help.

The tech company that developed the enormously popular Roomba Robot Vacuum isn’t content simply to keep your house looking spotless. With a new Kickstarter campaign, the Massachusetts-based Franklin Robotics is back with a new Roomba-style product — and this time it wants to clean up the weeds in your backyard.

“We’ve developed Tertill, a solar-powered weeding robot for home gardens,” Franklin CEO Rory MacKean told Digital Trends. “Tertill is a small robot that lives in a vegetable or flower garden, and every day it will charge itself up in the sunlight, and when the battery gets full, it wanders around the garden, avoids plants and obstacles, and takes care of the weeding. By addressing one of the more frustrating aspects of gardening, we see Tertill as a way of encouraging people to start a garden, or to continue to enjoy the activity.”

In terms of features, Tertill sports capacitive sensors for identifying what it’s passing over. If it determines that that is a weed (you can put special protective collars over growing plants which may appear weedlike in stature), it then disposes them using a spinning string trimmer.

Simply put, [this is for] gardeners — but there are lots of people who garden,” MacKean continued. “We think it’s particularly interesting to people who are interested in growing food organically, as well as people who find weeding both frustrating and painful, and would otherwise give up gardening, an activity they love.”

If you’re among those folks, you can currently pre-order a Tertill weeding robot on Kickstarter for just $225. Shipping is expected to take place in March 2018.

If Tertill can sell a fraction of the 15 million units that Roombas have sold since their debut, Tertill could prove to be an enormously popular smash hit. Provided you’re not a weed, that is!

Want to live-stream 10,000 feet in the air? Honeywell’s inflight tech will let you

With the growth in the internet of things (IoT), there is rarely a moment when we aren’t connected. Air travel used to be a time when we had to turn our tech off, but no more: planes, too, are becoming a node in the IoT.

However, if you’re a frequent traveler you’ve likely experienced the pain that is inflight Wi-Fi. You get in the air, find out there’s internet access, pay the unworldly fee, and you’re supposedly good to go. We say supposedly because inflight Wi-Fi is famously slow and spotty, and while some are advertised as high-speed, you are restricted from using streaming services like Netflix, Spotify, and HBO Go. Although it’s definitely a feat of engineering that there’s internet in a plane at all, it could use some work. And that’s where Honeywell is stepping in.

Last week, in San Francisco, we had the opportunity to check out what Honeywell has been working on in the way of in-flight internet connections, and we were pleasantly surprised. The company is conducting a worldwide tour on a 757 “Connected Aircraft,” and it’s demonstrating its satellite-based inflight Wi-Fi concept in partnership with Boeing and GX Aviation (the Wi-Fi services arm of satellite communications company, Inmarsat, which counts Air New Zealand, Lufthansa, and Qatar Airways as customers).

“You’ve got to be able to connect in-flight, even through conditions that are tough on a satellite receiver.”

Using satellites for broadband internet isn’t new — the concept dates back to 2000 when Boeing launched its now-defunct Connexion service, and, today, it can be found on planes serviced by GX Aviation, Gogo, Panasonic Avionics, Global Eagle, and Viasat, among others. To date, most airlines in the U.S. connect to the internet through air-to-ground (ATG) connections (Gogo is largest service provider in this front). Switching over to satellites helps alleviate many of the issues associated with air-to-ground connections, primarily a constant connection that covers a wider area, including over large bodies of water. And what early satellite technology lacked in speed, the newest equipment, such as Honeywell’s JetWave (the onboard product used by GX Aviation to connect to three existing Inmarsat Ka-band satellites), aims to improve that.

With its Connected Aircraft, Honeywell is demoing just how its hardware delivers on said performance. And, because the JetWave uses two receivers instead of one, it results in speeds that are up to 100 times faster when compared to existing global connectivity solutions today. According to Honeywell, the simultaneous beams to the satellite allows for seamless switching, and it’s how it achieves a consistent experience, whether over land or water – one beam allows users to stay connected, while the second receiver acquires the new spot beam as an aircraft moves from one beam to another. GX users use one beam at a timeThe JetWave equipment can be installed in new planes prior to delivery to airline partners, but Honeywell says older aircraft could easily be retrofitted with JetWave.

And just how fast is it? Honeywell is advertising speeds of up to 30Mbps, which isn’t bad at all and is just enough to allow for live-streaming purposes. When Honeywell invited us to take part in the flight, it specifically encouraged us to try live-streaming. During the test flight, we were able to conduct a Facebook Live broadcast on the Digital Trends Facebook page, and even though that live video was a little choppy, the fact that we could conduct one at all shows that this is an improvement over previous implementations.

We also verified those speeds with a speed test — it actually surpassed the 30Mbps range, although it’s highly likely that results will be slightly less impressive on a standard commercial flight compared to Honeywell’s fully decked out test flight. Even if an airline chooses to use that bandwidth for other purposes instead, it could, for example, offer improved entertainment streaming in lieu of installing seatback displays, which could help a plane fly lighter and use less fuel.

A better connection opens the gateway for a slew of new tools for pilots and ground control.

“Satellite technology has come a long way,” said Honeywell’s VP of Connected Aircraft Kristin Slyker, in an interview with Digital Trends. “You’ve got to be able to connect in-flight, even through conditions that are tough on a satellite receiver.”

Now, we know what you’re thinking: More reliable and faster Netflix! And that’s true, but that’s really only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the advantages of a connected aircraft. And ultimately, many of those advantages could have seriously positive effects on the overall flight experience.

For starters, a better connection opens the gateway for a slew of new tools for pilots and ground control, essentially allowing planes to communicate in real-time. According to Honeywell, instead of a pilot having to spend a few hours before the flight sifting through data that they have and having to file a flight plan, pilots can get can update their flight plan in real-time if, for example, unforeseen bad weather is ahead. That can make for a faster flight that’s better on fuel efficiency, and more comfortable for passengers who might otherwise be flying through spotty weather patterns.

A connected experience also makes for better maintenance management. Different components of Honeywell’s test plane had sensor in them that could detect when those components might wear out or break based on terabytes of previous data, using predictive analytics. That could ultimately save a lot of money for airlines, which wouldn’t have to take a plane out of use for a few weeks for repairs, instead being able to quickly and efficiently replace worn-out parts as they come up in Honeywell’s system.

Christian de Looper/Digital Trends

Christian de Looper/Digital Trends

Christian de Looper/Digital Trends

Christian de Looper/Digital Trends

These services are available to flight operators through Honeywell’s GoDirect suite of apps, which include apps for weather, flight planning, ground control, and so on.

Of course, Honeywell isn’t alone. As the biggest service provider of inflight broadband Gogo is making serious moves of its own. The company is transitioning from its ATG infrastructure in favor of its satellite-based systems, called 2Ku, which should make for a much better customer experience than ATG. But what Gogo doesn’t necessarily have, according to Honeywell, is Honeywell’s experience in aviation and its ability to help pilots — not just the customers sitting in the cabin. Honeywell also isn’t selling connectivity directly to passengers — it’s selling to airlines who will, in turn, handle pricing and connectivity for passengers, including how much of that bandwidth is allocated to passengers and how much goes to pilots and the connected plane.

According to Honeywell, within the next 18-24 months we’ll see a much wider adoption of its JetWave technology, including on domestic flights in the U.S. Regardless of which company is delivering the connection, the flying consumer can get ready for better inflight Netflix.