Soccer robots compete in RoboCup 2017, hope to beat human players by 2050

Why it matters to you

Through RoboCup tournaments, roboticists develop machines of the future through playful games.

It may sound outlandish but some roboticists think a team of humanoid soccer players will win a match against the world’s best humans by the year 2050. It will not be a short road to victory, though. Many of today’s humanoid robots walk with an infantile gait that makes them prone to falling over and that is without the added task of bending a ball around defenders. This year, RoboCup 2017 takes the tournament to Japan.

Every year for the past two decades teams have met in a friendly tournament called RoboCup, which sees them compete in soccer matches and more practical challenges like industrial production and rescue missions. While the last two may be more immediately relevant, the soccer tournament is RoboCup’s main attraction.

“The ultimate goal of Robocup is to develop humanoid soccer-playing robots that can beat the FIFA world champion team,” Gerhard Kraetzschmar, General Chair of last year’s RoboCup, previously told Digital Trends. “We hope to reach that goal by 2050.”

RoboCup launched in 1996, shortly after IBM’s Deep Blue computer system defeated the world’s best chess player. The RoboCup founders realized that, while Deep Blue’s achievement was impressive, there were situations that a smart system would be unable to overcome. They created the tournament and set the 2050 goal to raise the standards and challenge engineers to create machines that could not only think like humans but could “act” like humans as well.

It’s been a challenge to develop such athletic robots. Indeed, even over two decades later, the humanoid machines competing in RoboCup are often comical in their abilities, or lack thereof.

The three main handicaps experienced by the bots are physical agility, stamina, and perception. The human body is the product of millions of years of evolution, and we are particularly suited to play the game of soccer. Humanoid robots, on the other hand, have to be built from the ground up to play the sport, which requires the design of complex artificial muscles.

Meanwhile, today’s battery systems are heavy and need to be replaced during the match. If humanoids will ever defeat humans, they will first need a light, compact, and efficient energy source.

Finally, researchers need to code sophisticated systems of perception to allow their autonomous bots to evaluate things like tactics, field positioning, and ball movement.

Although the end goal is the develop a competitive humanoid team, capable robots of other shapes and sizes already compete in the tournament. The competition ran from Thursday through Sunday, with a closing symposium held on Monday.

In South Korea, ‘Plastic Girls’ lure customers into convenience stores

Why it matters to you

The short film raises ethical questions that will become even more pressing as humanoid robots enter our everyday lives.

The more success robots have in creeping into our lives, the more ethical issues they bring with them. While some roboticists are building sex robots, other of their colleagues are urging governments to outlaw them all together. A new short film by German director Nils Clauss explores another manifestation of the machines — robotic mannequins that small businesses in Seoul, South Korea have used to attract customers. On the surface, the mannequins appear as innocent as inflatable air dancers but, as Plastic Girls progresses, the director manages to make their presence seem much less benign.

“The presented mannequins are unique to Korea and the film explores through them a clever way to address gender issues in Korea without flatly denouncing the society itself,” Clauss writes in a statement.

Clauss moved to South Korea in 2005 and, since then, has documented the nation through film and photos. He first captured images of these robotic mannequins with Plastic Welcomer back in 2015. Plastic Girls is a follow-up film that dives deeper into the phenomenon, giving the robots fake voices, backstories, and motivations in an effort to humanize them.

“I keep smiling for 365 days and I make the world brighter,” says Sumin, a Wonder Woman-costumed mannequin standing outside of a convenience store. A smile is conspicuously absent from her lips.

“My boss tells me everyday that ‘you can’t work here if you don’t bow,’” says Mina, a leather-clad mannequin at a gas station. “So I do my best to lower my head as much as possible.”

While each mannequin speaks, the camera crawls along, offering closeups of their physique.

“By choosing plastic mannequins as the very peculiar main subjects of the film, I intend to make the audience feel uncomfortable,” Clauss says, “but also give them enough room to reflect on the sexualization of public space on a conceptional level rather than specifically within the context of South Korean society.”

The short film is an obvious nod towards Blade Runner, as Creators pointed out, particularly with respect to Vangelis’ iconic score, with its sizzling, ambient synth sound. The music in Plastic Girls was composed by gender studies graduate and collaborator Udo Lee.

South Korea’s mannequin trend is apparently dying out, according to Clauss. In the two years since he shot the images for Plastic Welcomer, many of the mannequins disappeared from storefronts. “We also contacted the company which made these dolls and surprisingly they had also gone out of business,” he said. To solve the problem they borrowed a mannequin and transported her around to the various locations.

So, despite the film’s cautionary tale, Plastic Girls may soon no longer exist in South Korea — but that’s not to say the issues the film raises will disappear along with them.

Google’s Gboard for iOS update includes YouTube, Maps, and doodling

Why it matters to you

With the new Gboard features for iOS, you now have more options like sending your location through maps or videos through YouTube without having to leave the messaging window.

Google rolled out an update on Monday for its Gboard app on iOS, adding more features to the keyboard. The latest additions include the integration of the YouTube and Maps app, along with a drawing tool.

Released last May for iOS, Gboard is a third-party keyboard app that replaces your default keyboard allowing you to run Google searches. It looks identical to the iOS keyboard, but when downloading Gboard, you see a G button at the top left of the screen. By tapping on it, a Google search bar opens up and results show up underneath the search bar.

In the most recent update, Gboard gives users the option to share more information within messages such as location. With Maps now integrated into the keyboard, you can easily send your current address or a local address around you. By tapping on the G button, a variety of places will come up such as where you are located along with businesses or other addresses. Once you choose the preferred one, it will instantly send it within the message window with a link to Maps for others to access.

Next to the Maps button is also a YouTube tab for you to send videos without having to exit the messaging window. While on the tab, you can search for any video through the search bar and results will appear. By swiping to the left, you can pick which video you would like to send by tapping on it and the other person will receive a link to the video in the conversation.

Another feature Google rolled out with the new update is a drawing tool — known as Ink — that lets users doodle straight from the keyboard. By tapping on the emoji button and then the pen icon, a blank canvas will appear along with an array of colors. Tapping on any color and then on the blank screen, you can draw anything you like and then send the work of art through the message window.

In February, Google added 15 new languages such as Croatian, Czech, and Danish, giving users more options to search and share messages. With this new update, Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew have also been added to the list of languages now supported within the keyboard.

Among the list of Gboard features, the keyboard also offers a one-handed mode, predictive typing, and a gallery of emojis and GIFs to search for. While the current Gboard update only applies to the iPhone, the third-party keyboard app is available for download on both iOS and Android.

Thanks to a Danish physicist, the world might soon be snacking on jellyfish chips

Why it matters to you

Jellyfish populations have been exploding in recent years. Turning them into snacks could be a solution that also helps address the sustainable sourcing dilemma.

Alongside their love of hoodies and the word “disruption,” one way to recognize techies away from their computers is through their penchant for unusual foodstuffs. Whether it’s otherworldy recipes designed by AI, 3D-printed candy, or specially engineered red algae made to look like juicy shrimp, folks in tech like their culinary experience to be as cutting edge as their smartphones. Well, move over bleedable veggie burgers, because there may soon be a new snack in town: jellyfish chips.

Developed as part of physicist Mie Thorborg Pedersen’s master’s thesis at the University of Southern Denmark, the technique offers an alternative to the salting process that’s been used in Asian cultures for centuries. It involves extracting water from the jellyfish using a combination of kitchen salt and alum. Not only is the new technique considerably faster at producing an edible snack than the traditional 30-to-40-day drying-out process, but it also results in considerably tastier food — complete with crispy texture.

“It is fascinating how you can turn a very slimy gel into a crispy chip,” Pedersen told Digital Trends. “We developed a method for preparing jellyfish for eating with inspiration from how gels behave in different solvents. When we immerse jellyfish in 96 percent ethanol we observe how the gel of the jellyfish collapse, in line with theories concerning gels. After 2 to 3 days we can then let the alcohol evaporate and get this paper-like jellyfish chip.”

The reason why the creation is so promising to Pederson and others is because it offers a potential new food source whose population has — contrary to other sources of overfished seafood — exploded in recent years. Jellyfish numbers are so great that, in some parts of the world, jellyfish-killing robots have been deployed to deal with the problem. (And it really is a problem: Nuclear power plants have been shut down as a result of swarms of jellyfish clogging up the pipes!)

“What makes this exciting is that people in the Western world are starting to look for alternative food sources such as insects, and the jellyfish is a supplement to this,” Pederson said.

A paper on the work was recently published in the International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science.

AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper 1950X CPU gets chilly, breaks a Cinebench record

Why it matters to you

Although liquid nitrogen was used to keep AMD’s chip super-cool during the overclocking process, the company’s goal was to show the processing potential of its new Threadripper family.

During AMD’s Capsaicin SIGGRAPH 2017 event celebrating the launch of its Ryzen Threadripper and Radeon RX Vega products in August, the company hosted a special overclocking session to push the limits of the upcoming Ryzen Threadripper 1950X processor. The overclocking team used liquid nitrogen (LN2) in a controlled environment, so don’t expect to reach their speed using simple tweaks at home.

Out of the box, this chip has a base clock speed of 3.4GHz, a boost speed of 4.0GHz, and a maximum speed of 4.2GHz via the Extended Frequency Range (XFR) feature used in AMD’s new “Zen” processor design. But the liquid-cooled chip went beyond that XFR clock speed using all 16 cores. This was accomplished by turning down the PCI Express lanes from Generation 3 and feeding the chip extra voltage while slowly cranking up the speed of all physical cores.

In the first stage of the overclocking event, Lab501 reached 4.8GHz and loaded up the popular Cinebench performance measuring software to achieve a score of 3,688. The team then increased the overclocked speed to 5.2GHz and saw a score of 4,122 in Cinebench. Prior to the event, the highest score achieved by a 16-core processor in Cinebench was 2,867.

Here are the full specifications of all three Ryzen Threadripper processors and their prices:

Ryzen Threadripper 1950X
Ryzen Threadripper 1920X
Ryzen Threadripper 1900X
Cores:
16
12
8
Threads:
32
24
16
Base Speed:
3.4GHz
3.5GHz
3.8GHz
Turbo Speed:
4.0GHz
4.0GHz
4.0GHz
XFR Speed:
4.2GHz
4.2GHz
4.2GHz
Total L1 Cache:
1.125MB
1.5MB
?
Total L2 Cache:
8MB
6MB
4MB
Total L3 Cache:
32MB
32MB
16MB
Unlocked:
Yes
Yes
Yes
PCI Express 3.0 Support:
64 Lanes
64 lanes
64 lanes
Max Supported
Memory Speed:
2,667MHz DDR4
2,667MHz DDR4
2,667MHz DDR4
Max Supported
Memory Channels:
4
4
4
Default Power Draw:
180 watts
180 watts
180 watts
Price:
$999
$799
$549
Availability:
August 10
August 10
August 31

These are the three Ryzen Threadripper chips officially announced by AMD. Three more are expected to arrive in the future without the “X” branding: the 16-core 1950, the 12-core 1920, and the 8-core 1900. The base and boost speeds are unknown for now, but they will likely have the same 180-watt power draw as the three current chips.

As we noted last week, the big duel between AMD and Intel will be with their 16-core, 12-core, and 8-core models. And now that AMD has officially announced its Ryzen Threadripper 1900X, we can better compare AMD against Intel’s Core i7-7820X in a performance-per-dollar ratio.

AMD’s low-tier Threadripper chip still won’t hit the same maximum speed as Intel’s solution, but it has a faster base speed and costs slightly less. The chip’s shortcoming in the maximum speed department could theoretically be ratified by overclocking the chip, but not at the speeds seen during AMD’s special event during SIGGRAPH 2017.

News of the Threadripper overclocking limits arrives after Der8auer delidded the 16-core 1950X model to discover that Threadripper chips are rebranded Zen-based Epyc server processors AMD recently launched for the data center market. What components AMD activated and deactivated in the Epyc design for the enthusiast desktop market is unknown.

Deal: Get the unlocked Galaxy S8 for as low as $425 right now!

A fantastic deal on this year’s best phone.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 continues to be one of the best phones you can buy this year, even at its regular retail price of $724.99.

The Galaxy S8 colors, including Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver, and the new Coral Blue.

Right now, though, Samsung is doing everything it can to change the minds of the unconvinced through an awesome promotion. Until August 4, users can get $150 off the regular price of the Galaxy S8 by doing absolutely nothing — just clicking on the link and buying it. That brings the price to a very-palatable $574.99, and well under most flagships today.

But if you decide to trade in a used phone on Samsung’s list — an older Galaxy, iPhone, LG or Pixel (see the full list below) — you get another $150 off the Galaxy S8, bringing the total down to $424.99.

On its own, this would be a pretty killer deal, but combined with the newly-available Coral Blue Galaxy S8 — the popular color that debuted with the Note 7 and came to the Galaxy S7 and promptly sold out — it’s basically unbelievable.

The deal applies to all carrier versions of the Galaxy S8, too, but the Coral Blue model is only available unlocked at the moment (though it’ll soon be available through Verizon, Sprint and AT&T). The good news is that Samsung is making it easy to finance the unlocked model just like the carrier versions, so you’ll only be paying $17.71 a month for it should you choose to go that route. The unlocked model also comes with a month of Samsung Premium Care, which is a great alternative to other insurance policies.

Remember, this deal is only available until August 4, so if you’re looking to get the Galaxy S8 at its lowest price ever, stop staring at the screen and click below!

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Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

• Galaxy S8 and S8+ review!
• Galaxy S8 and S8+ specs
• Everything you need to know about the Galaxy S8’s cameras
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• Join our Galaxy S8 forums

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Build your own remote controlled car with this $150 SunFounder Raspberry Pi robot kit!

Building your own robot is a very rewarding activity, but it’s tough to just sit down and start soldering parts together. You need a kit that contains everything required!

Build a remote controlled car with a mounted webcam for just $150! Learn more

Right now, Android Central Digital Offers has a deal on a SunFounder Raspberry Pi robot kit. It contains everything you need to build a webcam-mounted, remote controlled robot car that you can drive from your phone. If you don’t already have a Raspberry Pi, you can grab a cheaper kit for just $110. Need everything, including a new Raspberry Pi? You’ll pay just $150. We’ll also cover the shipping costs.

This kit includes three circuit boards, all cables needed, plus everything required to build the car from scratch. Don’t forget about the USB webcam that transmits live pictures while you drive around. Python code is included to get the car up and running, and Dragit is also included for debugging and programming.

Practice Python and control your own car with this $150 kit! Learn more

Want to experience the pleasure of building your own remote controlled car? Ready to practice Python and Dragit? This kit has everything you need to complete this fun project, and you won’t pay any shipping. Get started today!

You can charge this 15000mAh power bank via Lightning, Micro-USB, or both

Our friends at Thrifter are back again, this time with a great deal on a discounted 15000mAh power bank!

If your family is mixed with iOS and Android users, this is the battery pack that you need. Right now you can grab iClever’s 15000mAh portable battery for just $23.99 with coupon ICLEVER8 at Amazon. This is a discount of $11. So what makes this one stand out from the others?

Well, it features both a MicroUSB and Lightning input for charging the battery pack, which is super convenient, and you can even use them both at the same time to charge it up even faster. It also has 2 USB outputs, so you can charge up two devices at the same time while on the go.

• An impressive 15000mAH of power means 6 full charges of your iPhone 6, and 3.5 full charges of your Galaxy S7. Now, that’s powerful
• Decked in a sleek matte black with a smooth touch finish, it’s technology done in serious style
• Two 5V 2A Micro USB charging ports and a dedicated lightning 5V 2A charging port means there’s power to go around for the whole family. And if you need to recharge this portable charger fast, simply plug it into two power sources and it charges 50% faster. Talk about a win-win for everybody
• Two 5V 2.4A USB AF Output supports two iPads at one go. And with Smart ID, this travel charger recognizes your devices and maximizes charging output. Apple devices also enjoy quick charge – so time to iPlug in
• In case of emergencies, this handy dust-proof power bank doubles up as a nifty torchlight activated by a double press of the power button, and the built-in power indicator is in a soft blue that’s easy on the eyes. Comes in a compact flannelette carry bag

Stop stressing over your battery life when you are out and about, and instead grab one of these to keep with you at all times. The first time you use it you’ll be super thankful that you made the purchase.

See at Amazon

More from Thrifter

• Which warehouse shopping club is best for you?
• Top 10 Thriftiest U.S. cities to live in

For more great deals be sure to check out our friends at Thrifter now!

Microsoft working on Windows Dev Center app for Android

Windows developers will soon be able to manage and monitor their apps on Android.

Microsoft is currently working on a dedicated Windows Dev Center app for Android. Spotted by Android Police (via MSPU), the app is currently available on the Google Play Store as an early alpha version marked with an (Unreleased) tag.

If you’re a Windows developer, much of what you’ve come to expect from the Dev Center will be available here upon full release. Microsoft indicates you’ll be able to dive into app performance data such as acquisition, revenue, and crash highlights. You can also investigate crashes and even respond to customer reviews. Here are the highlights:

• Track app performance data: Use the dashboard to view acquisition, revenue, and crash highlights across all your apps. Then dig into specific app data to get a more detailed view, including customer demographics and OS version.
• Investigate crashes: Use crash data to help identify and correct issues in your apps. View crashes over time by type, device, app version, and the exception type to help pinpoint issues in your code.
• Respond to customer reviews: Check out the latest reviews and respond to your customers directly through the app.

While the app is available to download, it’s designated as the first alpha version of the app, which means its in a very early state and likely quite unfinished. Still, if you want to check it out, you can find it on Google Play now.

Best Phone Accessories for Surviving a Music Festival

Let technology enhance your music festival experience with minimal distractions.

Summertime for me means hitting up as many music festivals as I can afford, soaking in the sun and enjoying live music. But the experience has evolved over time as smartphones and technology continue to change how we interact with the world around us. Smartphones have proven to be incredibly useful in a big festival setting, whether it’s for tracking down your friends in a sea of people, planning out your day with the festival app or schedule, or recording and sharing your favorite moments on social media.

While a number of the major music festivals have already come and passed in 2017, there’s still a festival or two running every weekend in my part of Canada until mid-September, not to mention Lollapalooza and other major fests still on the horizon. And it’s never too early to start prepping for next year’s fest. Let’s dive in!

Battery Packs

The number one accessory you’re going to want to consider is a battery pack. It’s bad enough when your phone dies on an average day, but when you’re in the middle of a huge crowd of people far away from a power source? Forget about it.

We’ll look at different charging packs — smaller ones that are great to throw in a backpack or pocket for personal use, and bigger battery banks ideal for group camping at a weekend festival.

Personal charging solutions

The right battery pack is going to be vastly different depending on your needs. Maybe you want to maximize capacity, or you’ll prioritize sleek design over anything else. If you’re looking for something cheap that you won’t be upset if it gets lost or damaged during the festival, check out our list of great portable battery packs under $25.

I’ve been personally testing the Ventev Powercell 3015c battery charger this summer, and I’ve really appreciated how slim and compact the design is. With a built-in USB-C charging cable I can charge it up, grab it and go. Featuring a lithium-ion battery with 3,000 mAh capacity, I’ve been able to regularly recharge a Samsung Galaxy S8 or Google Pixel from battery warning back up to around 75% in about an hour or so, which has been more than enough to get me through a day at a festival.

MrMobile has some thoughts on the subject, too.
He’s tried and tested over 30 different types of battery packs and says the best battery packs will combine safety, capacity, and charging speed. He offers a really good breakdown of what to look for when shopping for battery packs along with some great suggestions for brands and styles to consider.

You may also be interested in harnessing the power of the sun to charge your devices, an ideal solution at smaller festivals where power outlets might be in short supply. The Anker PowerPort Solar Lite topped our list of best solar chargers, but there are more compact options available as well.

Communal charging solutions

Planning to camp at a festival with a group of friends? Safe bet that you’ll all be looking for a reliable charging source for your phone and other devices. That’s where investing in a massive battery bank becomes a viable option because charging your tech in your tent sure beats wasting time hanging around the charging stations or outlets provided by the festival.

If you’re going to go big, you might as well go BIG. Last summer, MrMobile took a look at the Anker PowerHouse

This year our crew used the Goal Zero Yeti 400, an absolute behemoth of a portable charging station that allows you to charge pretty much anything with 396 watt-hour, 33Ah capacity. You’re able to charge up to seven devices at once, great if you’re at a camping festival with a larger group of friends. There’s an optional solar panel available, too, which we used and had no problems keeping everyone’s phones topped up throughout the weekend.

Bluetooth Speaker

When the music is over and you’re heading back to your hotel or campsite, it’ll be up to you and your friends to keep the music going. Now, some camping festivals I’ve been to have banned Bluetooth speakers for obvious reasons — no one wants a campground filled with hundreds of competing amplified music sources — yet that hasn’t stopped people from bringing them along anyways.

I totally get it, though. Bluetooth speakers are an incredibly convenient accessory to bring along on a camping trip, so why wouldn’t you also bring one to a camping music festival? If that’s your plan, check out our list for the best portable Bluetooth speaker.

I’ve been sweet on the Anker SoundCore 2 so far this summer, and while the beefier SoundCore Boost offers better bass and acoustics, you’ll appreciate the longer battery life and more rugged design of the SoundCore 2 when you’re camped out in a field.

360 camera

This is an aspirational accessory for myself, but as someone who tries not to get too annoyed by people who hold up their phones throughout a band’s set to snap photos or record a favorite song (because I am occasionally that guy myself) I love the idea of holding up a Samsung Gear 360 and capturing an amazing moment with a photosphere that I can revisit later in VR. The future is here.

Samsung tops our list of best 360 cameras with its refined Gear 360 for 2017. It packs light and is slim enough to fit into a pants pocket and can snap a quick photosphere in an instant. But there are other options out there you may want to consider, including the Insta360 Air (available with USB-C or Micro-USB

If you’re planning to shoot video, you’re going to want to try and keep the camera as steady as possible. You can see the difference between steady shot 360 footage and handheld footage, so if it’s feasible, pack a collapsable monopod or small tripod so you can record some steady footage. A monopod will be clutch to have if you’re planning to get right into the thick of things in a crowd and record video.

Snapchat Spectacles

Snapchat Spectacles and music festivals go so well together they literally rhyme. But really, I can’t think of a more natural fit for wearing these high-tech specs that allow you to record 10-second Snapchat videos at the press of a button. It keeps your phone safely in your pocket as you’re able to record exactly what you’re seeing to share with your Snapchat followers.

Check out our Snapchat Spectacles review

MrMobile is a fan of the Spectacles, and offers some great thing to consider before buying. One key point he brings up: these are going to attract a lot of attention. Expect to get a lot of people asking about your cool shades, especially in a crowded and hip music festival. Definitely a status symbol for an outgoing personality type — then again, you’d have to be pretty outgoing to wear these colorful sunglasses.

Oh, and that’s the other great feature about these — they’re actual sunglasses, too, which you’re probably going to need at a music festival anyways!

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What’s your must-have festival accessories?

Do you have any recommendations that didn’t make our list? Let us know in the comments!