Watch a robot named YuMi conduct Andrea Bocceli, and prove no job is safe

Why it matters to you

Think conductors can’t be replaced? You’re probably right, but robot YuMi is still making an attempt.

It’s official. No job is safe from the relentless onslaught of the machine. No matter how expressive, how creative, or how distinctly human you think your craft may be, rest assured, a robot can do it, too. For evidence, one need look no further than Pisa, Italy, where on Tuesday, September 12, a robot made its conducting debut. Named YuMi, this little bot is the brainchild of Swiss robotics company ABB, and is heralded as the world’s “first truly collaborative dual-arm robot.”

Part of the challenge in having a robot take on the work of a human conductor, of course, lies in the inherently human component of the task. Conductors must react to live changes, to emotions, and to a range of other factors that machines seemingly would not be able to anticipate. But for this first performance, it would appear that YuMi did quite an admirable job … at least, by copying the movements of flesh and blood maestro, Andrea Colombini, director of the Lucca Philharmonic Orchestra.

“It was so much fun to perform with YuMi, ABB’s collaborative robot. It showed that a robot could really conduct an orchestra, but only with the excellent work of very talented engineers and a real maestro,” Bocceli said of the experience.

So what exactly went into this work? First and foremost, YuMi took part in rehearsals, and engineers captured Colombini’s arm movements using a technique called “lead-through programming.” In essence, the robot’s arms were guided to mimic its human counterpart’s motions very carefully, and these motions were then recorded. Afterward, these movements were refined in ABB’s RobotSudio software, syncing the movements to the actual music.

“I think … we’re truly making history and writing the future of robotics applications,” said ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer after YuMi’s debut. “YuMi demonstrated how intuitive, how self-learning this machine is – how wonderful our software really is in learning the movement of a conductor, sensing the music, and really conducting an entire team.”

Colombini echoed these sentiments, noting, “Setting up the interaction between the elbow, forearm, and wrist of the robot, making use of its versatility in repeated and demanding attempts to break down the upbeats and downbeats, was very successful,” he said. Indeed, YuMi appeared to achieve what many previously thought unthinkable for a robot — a “fluidity of gesture,” complete with “softness of touch and expressive nuancing.”

Of course, this isn’t to say that robots will be fully replacing conductors anytime soon. But this does bring them one step closer.

Want to sue Equifax over the hack? Chatbot can help you do so for up to $25,000

Why it matters to you

If you want to sue Equifax but don’t know how, this chatbot would be a good place to start.

If you want to take legal action against credit agency Equifax for the way it (mis)handled your data, leading to a major data breach, but you don’t know how to go about it, there’s a simple way to get started. A chatbot that walks you through many of the most important early steps has been set up, and could help you claim as much as $25,000 depending on the state you live in.

The recent hack of Equifax was a bad one. It affected tens of millions of Americans and hundreds of thousands had their personal details exposed in the breach. It’s likely that a class action lawsuit will emerge from the many victims of the data theft, but in the meantime, suing Equifax for negligence in small claims court is possible. To avoid hiring a lawyer for advice, the DoNotPay bot can now walk you through the process.

To get the ball rolling, head to the DoNotPay website and select “Automatically sue Equifax for up to $25,000,” or its associated “Learn more” link. From there you will be taken to a page that invites you to select your state. At the time of writing the two accessible options are New York and California. Other states will need to wait a few hours while the service catches up with requests.

Once having chosen your state, the bot will ask you a few natural language questions, taking details like your name, address, and phone number. These are then automatically submitted into the relevant form, which you can then complete, sign, and file with your local court.

Although these sorts of bots won’t replace the kind of legal advice you can get from a qualified lawyer, for those without the funds to hire one, they do make the process far easier. As The Verge points out, the small claims court will require you to show up to argue your case, and different states have different procedures that must be adhered to, but this bot does at least help you wade through some of the legalese to get started.

Originally started to help people deal with parking tickets, the DoNotPay bot has been expanded by its creator, Joshua Browder, to help tackle what he sees as a much bigger problem: “corporate incompetence.”

Not sure if you’re a victim of the Equifax hack? Here’s how to find out.

Best Heavy Duty Cases for Galaxy Note 8

Keep your Note 8 well protected with a rugged case!

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is here, and as expected it sports a gorgeous (and ginormous) all-glass design.

It’s big, it’s expensive, and no matter what phone makers say about the ruggedness of Gorilla Glass 5 it may shatter on you if it takes a nasty fall.

If you lead an active life (or just know you’re prone to dropping your phone) you may need something a bit more heavy duty than your average case.

• Supcase Unicorn Beetle Shield Series Case
• UAG Plasma Rugged Case
• Spigen Tough Armor Case
• Zizo Static Series Case
• OtterBox Commuter Series Case

Supcase Unicorn Beetle Shield Series Case

Are you the type that can’t be trusted with nice things? Needs to keep your phone fully encased in plastic to protect it from yourself? No judgments here — the first step is admitting you have a problem.

The next step is finding the right solution, which just might be the mighty rugged Supcase Unicorn Beetle Shield Series case. Combining a polycarbonate outer shell with a flexible and shock-absorbing TPU sleeve, this case goes an extra step further by including a built-in screen protector around front to prevent scratches from ruining your Note 8’s display.

It’s otherwise a pretty standard design for a rugged case — beefy in the corners where it needs to be yet slim and sporty enough as to not turn your phone into a thick brick of plastic. You can get yours from Amazon for just $20.

See at Amazon

UAG Plasma Rugged Case

The go-to rugged case for many smartphone users, the UAG Plasma is a rugged and lightweight case that’s arguably the coolest looking case on this list — although that’s always a matter of personal opinion.

It’s a remarkably slim case with a great amount of texture and ridges along the side edges and back to assist with in-hand grip. With reinforced corners to take the brunt of any falls that also provides relief from your screen when you put your phone face down, this is a case style that’s been perfected over the years to offer maximum protection for premium devices such as the Note 8. It’s also thin enough to remain compatible for NFC and Qi wireless charging functionality.

But you will pay a somewhat steep price for all that premium design and build quality — $30 for some color options and up to $55 for the all-black model. Completely justifiable for smartphone peace of mind.

See at Amazon

Spigen Tough Armor Case

Spigen always offers a wide array of case options, but if you’re looking for something rugged look no further than the Tough Armor case.

It offers the rugged dual-layer protection you want while keeping the outer shell clean with a matte finish and a kickstand that’s there if you need it, but otherwise kept flush with the back of the case and out of the way. It’s all shock absorbing TPU around the top and corners — the main areas to take the brunt of a fall — with a polycarbonate shell around the back. If you’re worried about adding a bunch of bulk to your phone, you can rest easy with the Spigen Tough Armor — it adds only 2.5mm of girth to the back of the Note 8. The buttons along the side are covered as you’d expect and kept flush with the design of the case, with the power button given some extra texture so you can always find it.

The Tough Armor is available in five different color options, with the base model (in black) starting at $16.99.

See at Amazon

Zizo Static Series Case

Some case makers add a whole bunch of “stylish” accents to the back of their case — Zizo is one such company.

These cases sure stand out from the rest of the pack with sharp angles around the corners and all the ridges and textures on the backside. Whether you like the look of these cases or not is a matter of personal taste, but there’s no denying that all those ridges will help with your grip and if it still manages to slip out of your hands it should survive most drops. There’s also a pop-out kickstand which is always a handy feature.

The Zizo Static Series is available in seven different color combinations, all for the low price of $11.

See at Amazon

OtterBox Commuter Series Case

OtterBox is one of the most trusted brands for offering rugged cases that are always backed by great customer service.

The OtterBox Commuter Series balances its dual-layer design while maintaining a fairly compact form for a rugged case. It’s compatible with screen protectors (of course OtterBox recommends their own brand) and features a generous lip around the screen to protect the display from scuffs and scratches.

At $50 you may need to justify it as a practical way to ensure your ridiculously expensive Note 8 meets an untimely end. Backed by OtterBox’s limited lifetime warranty, you can buy with confidence.

See at Amazon

What’s your top pick for heavy duty cases?

How are you planning to keep the Note 8 safe? Or maybe you’re one of those rebels who forgoes a case — even with a phone that costs nearly $1000. Plead your case in the comments below!

Samsung Galaxy Note 8

• Galaxy Note 8 review
• Complete Galaxy Note 8 specs
• Galaxy Note 8 vs. Galaxy Note 5
• Which Note 8 color is best?
• Join our Galaxy Note 8 forums

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How to manually update your Nexus or Pixel

Get the latest version of Android on your phone on your own terms.

Now that Android Oreo is available, Pixel and Nexus owners are clamoring to get the latest updates as soon as possible. But Google doesn’t always push these over-the-air updates as soon as people would like, which is where this guide comes in. Using the tips below, you can sideload factory images or OTA updates to your Nexus or Pixel device as soon as they are available.

These phones aren’t just bought by developers. If there’s a single reason for consumers to buy a Nexus or Pixel device, it’s this: the newest software first. Period.

• A few things to know
• Unlocking your bootloader
• Flashing the stock Nexus or Pixel image
• Flashing the OTA update image

First, know this …

Before we go into the steps of sideloading Android updates, it is strongly recommended that you have previous knowledge of working with the Android SDK (software development kit) and Terminal (OS X or Linux) or Command Prompt (Windows), as it is possible to harm your device if something were to go wrong in the following process.

If you need to download the Android SDK you can grab it from the Android Development website and follow their instructions on how to install it correctly. For the following process, all you will need is the adb and fastboot files which are located in the Platform Tools folder.

Additionally, all the following commands are written as they would be in Terminal on a Linux or OS X platform. If you are following this guide and using a Windows machine, you will not need to use the “./” seen in the guide.

Enable developer settings and USB debugging

Go to your Settings and scroll down to About Phone/Tablet
Tap on the Build number seven times until the dialog box says you are now a developer
Go back to the Settings menu and you should find a new option called Developer options. Click into the Developer options
Make sure that the developer options are turned on and that USB debugging is checked on
If you’re upgrading a device running Lollipop or higher, make sure Enable OEM unlock is checked
Plug your device into your computer and click “OK” on the dialog box asking you to Allow USB debugging while connected to the computer. You can also select to always allow access on that computer

If done correctly, this will be everything you will need to do on your phone or tablet for the moment.

Unlocking your bootloader

Nexus devices and Pixel phones bought from Google directly have a bootloader you can unlock. If you want to manually flash software, you’ll need to do this.

To do this you must first boot into your bootloader. You can either manually turn off your phone or tablet and hold down the power button and the volume down button to enter your device’s Bootloader Menu or you can enter the following commands into your terminal or command prompt.

Run the following command to make sure your device is properly connected to your computer. If it returns a string of characters it means that you are all set to start updating your device.

./adb devices

Now to enter into the Bootloader menu just run the following command.

./adb reboot bootloader

At the bottom of the screen, there will be several things listed including the lock state of the device. This should say locked unless you have unlocked your bootloader in the past and never went back and locked it again.

To unlock your bootloader, which is required only when flashing a stock firmware image (not sideloading and update, which we’ll get to soon), you must enter the following commands. Remember that when unlocking your Nexus’ bootloader it will factory reset your device, so you will lose everything stored on it. If you have not yet backed up anything important on your device you can hit the power button while Start is highlighted in the Bootloader menu and this will boot you back into your device like normal. Now back to unlocking your bootloader.

On older devices (pre-Marshmallow), you used:

./fastboot oem unlock

On newer devices you’ll use:

./fastboot flashing unlock

A dialog will appear on the device asking if you are sure about unlocking. Again this will factory reset your device, so if you want to back out of the process you just need to select no with the power button. If you are ready to unlock your bootloader you press the volume up button and then the power button to confirm that you wish to unlock your bootloader.

./fastboot reboot-bootloader

It is recommended to reboot the bootloader just to give itself a check to make sure everything is working correctly before moving onto the next step.

Flashing the stock firmware image

Now that your bootloader is unlocked, it’s time to flash the new firmware. To find the system images, head on over to the Factory Images page, find your device, and download the latest factory image available. It is easiest to then uncompress the file in the Platform Tools folder where the adb and fastboot files are so that you don’t have to type the path to the different files when flashing the firmware. (Or if you know that you can drag a file into a terminal window to copy the path, just do that.)

To begin, make sure you are still in the bootloader menu on your device and double check that your bootloader is in fact unlocked.

First, make sure that your computer is communicating correctly with your phone or tablet. As long as your device’s serial number comes back as a connected device you are ready to begin updating your device.

./fastboot devices

Now it is time to flash the updated bootloader with the following command.

./fastboot flash bootloader [bootloader file].img

You will not see anything on the screen of your device but there should be a dialog in your terminal or command prompt. When it is done flashing the bootloader you should reboot back into the bootloader as to make sure everything is still working correctly.

./fastboot reboot-bootloader

Next you flash the updated radios. This step is only necessary if you are updating the firmware of a phone or tablet that has cellular radios built into it.

./fastboot flash radio [radio file].img

./fastboot reboot-bootloader

Finally, it’s time to flash the actual system image to your phone or tablet.

Warning: The following line of code will wipe your device. If you do **not* want your device to be wiped, remove the “-w” from the command. The update should still take just fine, and it will not wipe your user data.

./fastboot -w update [image file].zip

When this is done, your phone will restart itself and boot up normally. As this process clears all data from your device, it will take slightly longer for your device to boot up for the first time. Once you have been greeted with the device setup walkthrough process, you know you have successfully flashed a new version of the firmware.

If you do not want to enter the commands manually there are scripts included inside the compressed folder containing the system image that will do most but not all of the heavy lifting for you. The flash-all script files will automate the flashing of the bootloader, radios (if needed), and the system image. The problem with this process is that you must first make sure that your phone is in the bootloader menu and its bootloader must be unlocked before starting the script. Of course, if these are not already done the script will fail to run and nothing will happen.

Flashing an OTA update image

If you don’t want to unlock your bootloader, you can sideload an OTA update. That is, you’re going to download to a computer the update file your phone normally would grab itself over the air (thus OTA), and then push it over via the command line.

It used to be that we’d have to hunt for the OTA file location when a phone would download it, and use that to pull the file from Google’s servers. And we can still do that if we want. (Though it’s not quite as easy as it used to be.) But Google now provides OTA images for download. (You can find them here. The only real difference is that these aren’t “delta” updates, containing just the changes from the previous update. So the files are a good bit larger.

Just as is the case with the factory image update, put the OTA file in the Platform Tools directory to simplify the process of sending the file to your phone.

First, make sure that your computer is communicating correctly with your phone or tablet. As long as your device’s serial number comes back as a connected device you are ready to begin updating your device.

./adb devices

Next, put your device into the bootloader menu by either the following command or by holding down the power button and the volume down button while it is turned off.

./adb reboot bootloader

Now use the volume down button twice until you have scrolled to Recovery mode, and press the power button to select it. It will look like your phone is restarting itself but an image of an Android with a red exclamation mark over it will appear. Next hold down the power button and press the volume up button, and you will be in recovery mode.

Now that you are in the Android system recovery, use the volume down button to highlight apply update from ADB and press the power button to select it. The text on your Nexus’ screen will now say that you can send the OTA to the device using adb.

./adb sideload [OTA file].zip

In your terminal or command prompt you will see a dialog that shows you the progress of transferring the update to your phone or tablet and once it has been completely transferred you can read what is happening with the update live on screen. Again, once the process is done your phone will restart itself and attempt to boot normally. You have successfully updated!

Getting the newest software updates on your Nexus or Pixel is easy to do but understandably difficult the first time. Once you’ve gone through this process several times it will become second nature to you, so don’t be discouraged. Luckily Nexus devices are extremely easy to get back into working order if something gets installed wrong or flashed incorrectly — so don’t be alarmed if you’ve pressed the wrong button.

If you have any trouble along the way, be sure to hop into the forums and ask for help!

Update, September 2017: This post was updated with current links and references to Android Oreo.

Android Oreo

• Android Oreo review!
• Everything new in Android Oreo
• How to get Android Oreo on your Pixel or Nexus
• Oreo will make you love notifications again
• Will my phone get Android Oreo?
• Join the Discussion

How to use Tasker to automate Bluetooth connections

Tasker makes managing Bluetooth a breeze.

If you want to connect and disconnect from a Bluetooth device, usually the easiest thing to do is power the Bluetooth device off, but that’s easier said than done for some Bluetooth devices, such as Bluetooth-enabled audio-video receivers and out-of-sight Bluetooth adapters. For those, you usually have to dip into Settings and manually disconnect. Thankfully Tasker, a handy plugin, and a good launcher can make connecting and disconnecting a breeze.

Today we’re going to take advantage of Tasker’s plethora of plugins, by using Bluetooth Auto Connect to perform the actual connecting and disconnecting of Bluetooth devices, so download that and Tasker itself before we get started.

Open Tasker
Under the Tasks tab, tap the + in the bottom right corner.

Name your Task and press the checkmark.

Tap the + in the bottom right corner.
Search for and select the Bluetooth Auto Connect task.

Tap the pencil next to Configuration.

Uncheck Global Settings.
Tap Profiles.
For a Bluetooth device without a microphone, you only need Media Audio checked. If connecting to a Bluetooth device that can be used for calls, also check Call Audio.

Tap the back button.

Tap Devices.
Uncheck all devices except the one you wish to connect to.
Drag the device you wish to connect to up to the top of the list.

Tap the back button.

Tap Profile Action.
Tap Connect.

Tap the back button three times.

Tap the nine dot icon in the bottom middle of the task screen.
Tap Application icon.
Tap Bluetooth Auto Connect.

Tap the back button.

Repeat these steps to create a second task, setting the Profile Action to Disconnect this time. Now that we have a task to disconnect and reconnect, we need a way to trigger them. There are several ways we can accomplish this:

• Tasker Tasks can be added to your home screen as 1×1 Task Shortcut widgets.
• Tasker Tasks can be assigned as gesture shortcuts in launchers like Nova Launcher and Action Launcher.
• Joao Dias, the maker of AutoApps and many of Tasker’s awesome plugins even has a method of tying Tasker Tasks into Google Assistant to trigger them with your voice.

I use the gesture shortcut method, using the two-finger swipe up to connect to my Bluetooth adapter in my bedroom, and a two-finger swipe down to disconnect. It doesn’t even feel like Tasker once it’s setup that way, it just feels like a natural part of my home screen launcher. Above all, these tasks make connecting and disconnecting to my Bluetooth receiver a heck of a lot easier than digging into Bluetooth settings every morning and night.

Questions? Comments?

Need some more help with Tasker? Let us know down below and we’ll help out best we can!

Here are August’s winners of the Honor/Huawei incentive program!

These are the lucky August winners of some cool Huawei/Honor swag.

There’s nothing like being a cool person on the internet and winning great gadgets while doing so. But with our Huawei/Honor Community Incentive Program, you can do just that! The basis is pretty simple: be an active, engaged and friendly member of the Huawei or Honor communities in our forums to win great stuff.

Here are the winners from August:

• Aljean Thein — Congrats, you’ve won a MediaPad M3 tablet!
• vtua — Congrats, you’ve won an Honor Band Z!
• pkcable — Congrats, you’ve won an Honor Band Z!

We’ve already halfway into September, but there’s still plenty of time to get to the top of the charts and win some amazing stuff! All you need to do is be active our Huawei/Honor communities!

Learn more about the Huawei/Honor Incentive Program!

How Electroloom’s clothes-printing revolution died

What happens to all of those startups that get their five minutes in the spotlight before disappearing into the ether? In the hard-nosed world of technology, a thousand such enterprises will fall before a single one becomes even a modest success. This is one such story.

Electroloom launched back in Spring 2015, a radical device that had the potential to upend the world of clothes manufacture. The device could — theoretically — create a garment in any shape we saw fit using little more than electricity and raw materials. The 3D printer for clothes also created fabric without stitches or joins, making its products lighter and stronger than typical cloth.

And yet, just over a year later, Electroloom had run out of money, with investors abandoning the project. The dream had died as quickly as it had begun, leaving plenty — including crowdfunding backers — to wonder what had exactly happened. Now, a year later, company co-founder Aaron Rowley opens up about what went wrong and what exactly killed the Electroloom.

It was at California Polytechnic State University that Rowley was first exposed to the process known as electrospinning. Field-Guide Fabrication Electrospinning, to give it its full name, is a process used to make medical implants and air filters.

Imagine a sealed plastic box, with an electrically-charged metal plate that can be any shape you desire. A customized mix of liquid polyester and cotton filaments is then sprayed onto it through an electrically-charged nozzle. The airborne fibers are drawn to the plate and form as a series of nanofibers, gradually building into a single piece of cloth.

It’s not all magic, however, like the fact that the process takes a very long time to complete: up to 16 hours for a single garment. Even though results were slightly crude, the lack of stitches and joins offered the possibility of new ways to create clothes.

Rowley’s interest in the technique didn’t start until after he began tinkering with 3D printing in the nights during his day job at Boston Scientific. He soon found the technology too limiting, saying that “conceptually, the world is not made of completely solid goods.” Soon after, he decided that “rigid 3D printing isn’t the Holy Grail,” and explored other methods of creating objects.

It was a short step from there back to the experiments he had undertaken as an undergraduate in college. Electrospinning seemed, at first blush, like a way to break past the orthodoxy of existing manufacturing methods. He teamed up with Joseph White, another CPSU student and friend, to examine the wider potential for the technology.

But before Rowley and White could really spend any time really looking into the research, they were thrust into the spotlight. In 2014, the pair applied for a design grant from Alternative Apparel, because the first prize was free access to TechShop, a maker space in San Francisco. They won, and in addition to unfettered access to the hardware space, they received another prize as well: attention.

“The reality is, everything just really snowballed. I had been messing around with it,” says Rowley. “After we won, there was these investors that heard about it and started talking to us.” He was caught up in a “wave of enthusiasm” that stopped him from having the time to “really sit and think, is this the right technology?” He added that “there were a lot of things that I think I didn’t think enough about before really committing to it.”

At the time, Rowley had little more than a document, some renders and a vision for how things would go. But he had optimistically promised that Electroloom would have a workable product within a year. By May 2015, the company launched a Kickstarter designed to develop a number of prototype devices that could be used to finesse the product, much like Oculus’ initial run of developer-friendly VR headsets.

That’s when the problems really started to mount up.

“We were making such decent progress, and things were going so smoothly, that it felt reasonable to make certain assumptions.” These included the idea that it would be easy to build a desktop Electroloom reliable enough to build a developer community. “The machine created big electric fields which caused so many challenges from an electronics standpoint.” Rowley explained that “our hardware couldn’t withstand a lot of the fields that we were creating.”

When they did manage to get the devices working, even more problems became apparent, including a terrible user experience.

In a regular 3D printer, a user can place a plastic filament into an extruder and, with some patience, get it working. But operating the Electroloom wasn’t that simple, and Rowley “didn’t really have a great user experience for putting chemicals into the machine.” In fact, the team “couldn’t get things to that baseline [level of] quality we thought we needed for people to really get value out of these developer machines.”

The fabric from the Electroloom.

Aaron Rowley / Electroloom

And then there was the fabric itself, which looked great on the video and felt soft to the touch, like a form of suede. But when it was actually worn as a garment, it wasn’t the most comfortable thing to have on your body for a whole day. “It held its tension, it had some ability to stretch and it did flow like a fabric,” says Rowley. An early experiment involving a misshapen white t-shirt that was taken home by one of the Electroloom team. It was subsequently worn by their daughter as a dress, and Rowley admits that “the dress was a really exciting moment for us.”

But the team’s optimism quickly gave way to despair as they learned that the fabric, for all of its promise, wasn’t working. “It would fray very easily, and layers would begin to fray from the surface,” said Rowley, before adding that “the edges would [then] begin to tear quite easily.” There was also the fact that, while the t-shirts were strong enough to withstand being pulled around on camera, they were very vulnerable to snags and tears on things like door handles.

The team began tweaking the fabric to try and iron out these issues, but the various chemistries that they employed all had their own pitfalls. “If we wanted more durable, the fabric got stiffer and then it wouldn’t flow,” says Rowley, “but if we wanted it to be softer and similar to how clothes feel like, then it got super weak.” Later, he added that “we could never figure out how to balance those two characteristics, no matter which way we tried to push it.”

Unfortunately, this realization came long after the Kickstarter, as it dawned on the team that there were “certain [chemical] things we couldn’t hack.” And that the sort of resources required to make the process work would raise eyebrows at a chemicals behemoth like Bayer, let alone a tiny startup.

Then there was the fact that Rowley didn’t really know what Electroloom was for, or who would wind up using it. The company’s genesis occurred at the peak of the distributed manufacturing craze — the notion that you’d 3D-print objects at home or locally, rather than across the world. The hope and expectation was that the notion of the factory would die away in favor of the in-home replicator.

But the notion that we were a few years away from having a 3D printer to create any conceivable object in our homes was a laughable one. More reasonably, the sort of looms that Electroloom proposed would be better suited to mass-production factories. The move by shoemakers like Adidas and Nike to “reshore” their production to the West, facilitated by robotic factories, is clearly where the world is going.

Unfortunately, Rowley and, by this point, his team, were trying to serve a wide variety of masters. The company had conversations with textile factories interested in building an industrial version of the device. The team were offered, essentially, carte blanche to build a device big enough to fill a warehouse, but were unable to fulfil the deal.

Rowley admits that “the industrial route probably would have been to focus on in that capacity.” Fundamentally, building a consumer device, initially for hobbyists, “added this huge, huge layer of complexity” that made finishing the job almost impossible.

On August 10th, 2016, just short of a year and three months later, and Rowley posted the note “Thanks, and Farewell” to his Medium page. The money had run out, and investors refused to back the project further, saying that the plan to build a desktop loom was a mistake. A variety of factors had played into the company’s collapse: slow technical progress, scientific risk and a “poorly defined market opportunity.”

In the post mortem, it’s clear that Electroloom was hyped by its creators and those around them far too early. In the push to take a good, but nebulous, idea to market too soon, the endeavor wound up wasting plenty of time and money.

Electroloom is no more, and the underlying technology is trapped in limbo, gathering dust in basements both real and metaphorical. Rowley and White have both been forced to move on, the former joining Vue, a smart glasses startup.

Electroloom

Rowley has advice for others looking to build their own hardware company off their own backs as well. “In software,” he explained, “you might have a couple of developers who can handle an entire project.” By comparison, when building a real product, “it’s touched by hundreds of people,” and one mistake by any one of those people can ruin things forever.

Vue is, however, benefiting from Rowley’s scars, carrying over his experience of building hardware projects. The entrepreneur believes that he is “learning a lot that [he] wasn’t learning,” and that he will always take “more time with diligence on a product.”

If he had his chance to do it all again, Rowley would have made more of an effort to examine different methods of creating fabrics. “We just made a bet on electrospinning way too early,” he said, “but we got promising prototypes and we kind of just said, okay, that’s it.” He admits, as well, that there was “a lot of naivety on [his] part,” as he bought into his own hype.

Rowley also believes that there is a problem with Silicon Valley’s culture that pushes an unhealthy view of business. He explained that investors and inventors aren’t bothering to pay attention to what came before “to understand what their technology should be doing.” But the collective blindness to this is down to the “hype around getting funded” and “stories glorifying founders like Mark Zuckerberg and other college drop-outs.” He added that Silicon Valley deserves “all of the criticism that it gets.” Because, fundamentally, “it does a lot of great things, but it’s also a culture where people get away with some ridiculous things.”

This interview has been condensed and edited.

Why the Honda Urban EV concept is a success

One of the big surprises at this year’s Frankfurt auto show is the Honda Urban EV concept. Not only was Honda able to keep the car under wraps right up to the reveal, but the styling was a significant departure from what we expected of a future electric car designed for Europe. Instead of a funky, one-box urban pod, Honda gave the Urban EV sporty, retro looks. It looks like a cross between a first-generation Honda Civic (the thick, raked C-pillar and front fascia), crossed with a classic Mini Cooper (the tiny size, low stance and flared fender arches).

This design is such a success because it both bucks the trend of EVs primarily being ultra-futuristic and aerodynamic machines, and it does that with classically attractive design cues. It allows the Urban EV to stand out from slippery-looking amalgam of Hyundai Ioniqs, Chevy Volts and Bolts, Teslas, Nissan Leafs (Leaves?), and even Honda’s own Clarity line. And it shows that traditionally appealing elements like wide fenders and a low, forward-leaning stance that have been successful on internal combustion cars for ages can work just as well on an electric car.

We love the design, and many of us would love to see the car in the United States. It’s very unlikely to happen though, and, as hard as it is to admit, that’s probably the right move for Honda. Americans seem to be uninterested in subcompact hatchbacks, unless they’re lifted with cladding or have a Mini badge. But the thing is, there’s no reason Honda can’t transfer what it’s learned with the Urban EV to something with a more American-friendly body style.

At the bare-minimum, Honda could scale up the Urban EV to be sized similarly to a Civic, add a couple doors, lift it an inch or two, and paint the fender flares in a matte black. Then they could call it a crossover, but retain most of the Urban EV’s slick, old-school looks. Honda could also create a sedan with some of the same, crisp, squared-off lines of the Urban EV. Keep the C-pillar raked forward, leave the body as straight and unadorned as possible save for some aggressive wheel arches, and emphasize width in the front and rear fascias. It could be Civic or Accord sized, or somewhere in-between, and would make for a lean, mean sedan.

In the end, Honda has something really sweet in the Urban EV. It would be a shame if Europe was the only beneficiary, and there are clearly ways Honda can bring the same aesthetic here, too.