Using your thoughts to control devices is certainly something everyone might be interested to try out. A few lucky ones were allowed to be Professor X in a research done by a team from the University of Minnesota led by biomedical engineering professor Bin He. They have been testing a thought-controlled quadcopter, an AR Drone 1.0 from Parrot SA of Paris, and their ultimate aim is to develop thought-control devices that work at high speed, without any surgical implantation.

The subjects would imagine closing or opening their fists. This would be detected by an electroencephalography based skullcap Brain Computer Interface. The cap sends these signals to a computer for processing and the resulting output will be commands which will be beamed to the quadcopter’s control system through Wi-Fi.

Thinking about making a left-hand fist will send a command to the quadcopter to turn left. Imagining a right-hand fist will tell it to turn right, and the thought about making both fists commands it go up and then down again.

Karl LaFleur, a senior biomedical engineering student involved in the project, says, “It’s completely noninvasive. Nobody has to have a chip implanted in their brain to pick up the neuronal activity“.

Though all this seems to be fun, they have not done this research for bringing out Christmas toys. Their goal is to help patients who are paralysed or have neurodegenerative diseases to use their thought for controlling wheelchair or other devices.

Bin He says, “Our study shows that for the first time, humans are able to control the flight of flying robots using just their thoughts sensed from a non-invasive skull cap. It works as good as invasive techniques used in the past”.

“We envision that they’ll use this technology to control wheelchairs, artificial limbs or other devices. Our next step is to use the mapping and engineering technology we’ve developed to help disabled patients interact with the world. It may even help patients with conditions like autism or Alzheimer’s disease or help stroke victims recover. We’re now studying some stroke patients to see if it’ll help rewire brain circuits to bypass damaged areas”.

[Source]

The post Quadcopter Flight Controlled By Thought (Video) appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

What you see above could be a great help for millions of stroke victims or patients with partial spinal cord injuries. The “AMES device”, which recently received FDA approval, is said to be capable of helping paralyzed patients to regain muscle movements.

Developed by Dr. Paul Cordo of the Oregon Health & Science University in collaboration with AMES, the device robotically moves a paralyzed or partially-paralyzed limb while simultaneously vibrating receptors in the muscle tendons associated with the movement. This could alert the brain to re-establish contact with the muscles and help guide the motion.

The device measures and provides real-time visual biofeedback of how much of effort the patient is making for doing a particular movement, and also performs diagnostic tests during sessions so that the progress of patients can be checked.

The device has been tested and found to have improved the movements and strength of patients. However, this device is not for patients with a completely severed spinal cord. It is expected to be available in hospitals and clinics in the beginning of 2014.

[Source]

The post AMES Device For Rehabilitating Paralyzed Patients appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

DARPA does not just do research on creepy robots, they are also very much into bionic limbs. And their RE-NET program has two new projects which are dealing with the link between amputees and their prosthetics.

The aim of the program is to perfect the technology which connects nerves and muscles with artificial limbs. This will allow users to move their prosthetic as they would move their real arm or leg and also feel with it.

The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago is working on improving the connection between muscles and an artificial arm. The first video below shows what they have achieved so far. It shows a former army officer, who was injured in Iraq, using his muscles to move his prosthetic.

The second video shows the studies done by the Case Western Reserve University to improve the sense of touch available via an artificial arm.

Although both the projects are far from being finished, the progress they have made is certainly impressive.

[Source]

The post Muscle-Controlled Prosthetic Limbs That Can Feel (Video) appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

We are quickly nearing the same timeframe as the Jetsons took place in, and yet where’s my flying car, where’s my robot maid? To the later of these, the idea of robot personal assistant could actually not be too terribly far off after all.

The PR2 personal robot is designed by Willow Garage and uses the power of a Kinect 3D camera to analyze your body movements and decide how best to serve you. Getting ready to place something in the fridge? The robot anticipates this and opens the door for you.

Need a cold one? The robot could figure that out as well, bringing you a beverage and even pouring it. Hell, even dirty dishes could be a thing of the past with the PR2 robot.

According to Scientists studying the robot at Cornell, it can make correct predictions about human needs 82% of the time when looking on second into the future, 71% for 3-seconds and 57% for 10-seconds. Not bad.

Looking at the robot in the video, I have to admit it somewhat reminds my of Rosie from the Jetsons. It makes you wonder, will robots be commonplace in the home in the coming decades or is this just a pipe-dream that will never truly play out?

Personally, I’m not sure. The idea is intriguing, but do we really want/need robot maids and servants around the house? What do you think?

[ source ]

The post The PR2 Personal Robot is A Real-Life Rosie the Robot – Sort Of appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Ethics to be debated or not, robots are certainly becoming more popular these days. While some are busy arguing that we should all start asking questions as early as possible, before Skynet happens, many have already made plans with robots in the center. Say hello to “Mantis” and “Shrimp”, Australia’s agricultural robots.

Developed by Salah Sukkarieh, Professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at the University of Sydney, these robots can sense color and therefore can tell if a fruit is ripe or not. And that’s why they are named after the Mantis shrimp which has 16 different color receptors for detecting up to 12 colors.

And not just colors. According to Sukkarieh, “We have fitted them with a lot of sensors, vision, laser, radar and conductivity sensors – including GPS and thermal sensors“. The robots are currently being tested at the moment and it is hoped that after more development the machines will be able to perform more complex tasks such as watering or applying fertilizer depending on the data collected and ultimately harvesting. Also under development are unmanned aircrafts, seen below.

So why there is a need to use robots, you ask? Australia has a limited workforce and a minimum wage of A$15.96 per hour. Using robots could help them to improve efficiency. Australia is currently one of the leaders in the agricultural field (the sector now accounts for 2 percent of the country’s GDP) and they are hoping to become the top suppliers to Asia in the coming years. And farming is very important to them as their once-booming mining sector has slowed down.

What do you think of this new development, bring on more robots or do you feel we should tread carefully with our robotic future?

[Source]

The post Mantis And Shrimp: Australian For Robots appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

There are good and bad sides for everything, and 3D printing is no exception. The new printing technology, which is quickly becoming more popular these days has brought out some questionable ideas, but it also looks to have the potential to actually save lives in the future.

The little guy you see in the image above is Kaiba Gionfriddo. When he was just six weeks old, his parents found out that he had a severe form of tracheobronchomalacia, which makes his trachea collapse due to loosely supporting cartilage. This meant that he would stop breathing on a regular basis. But luckily for him, a 3D-printed tracheal support splint was already being developed by Dr. Glenn Green, University of Michigan associate professor of pediatric otolaryngology, and Dr. Scott Hollister, professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering.

They had to get permission from the US Food and Drug Administration to implant it into young Kaiba as the device wasn’t tested on humans before. After getting emergency clearance they created a computer model of the splint based of a CT scan of Kaiba’s trachea. Then they 3D printed it into a physical object made of a biopolymer called polycaprolactone and implanted it around Kaiba’s airway. He hasn’t had any breathing problems ever since and is now 20 months old. The polymer will be dissolved into his body within two to three years, and by that time more rigid cartilage will be present to prevent the tracheal collapse.

But 3D printing is going to be a blessing not just for children suffering from tracheobronchomalacia. The possibilities of the tech are endless.

As you might know, thousands of people in the US alone are in need for a kidney transplant. But the available number of kidneys are not even enough for half of the number of people in need. Close to 4000 people die in the US every year due to this reason. The answer to this issue could be bio printed kidneys. This is something that is being researched by a team led by Dr. Ibrahim Ozbolat at the University of Iowa.

Their long term goal is to develop “functioning human organs some five or 10 years from now”, according to Ozbolat. This means that patients suffering from other conditions as well could get help from 3D printing done with bio-ink, a solution made of bio materials and living cells. Ozbolat says, “One of the most promising research activities is bioprinting a glucose-sensitive pancreatic organ that can be grown in a lab and transplanted anywhere inside the body to regulate the glucose level of blood“. That could indeed be a great help for the millions of diabetic patients around the world.

Other possibilities include 3D printed skins and prosthetics. The list goes on. How about a 3D printed jaw implant, it’s here. Or how about a 3D printed skull piece, it’s also here. As you can see, the technology of 3D printing is certainly going to play a big part in the medical field in the future, or should we say from now on. It seems to have the potential to save lives while improving the living standards of many others.

What are your thoughts about 3D printing? Do you think that it’s going to play an important in the future of medical science?

The post 3D Printing Going To Save Many Lives In The Future (Video) appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Right now, we are at the verge of major innovations in mobile tech, robotic tech, nanotech and countless other breakthroughs. It is an exciting time, but potentially a scary time as well.

As robots and AI continue to advance, there will be some very real concerns regarding both privacy and ethics. Speaking at Google’s Big Tent conference in London this week, several knowledgeable experts in robotics came together to discuss the future of robots, particularly focusing on the moral side of things.

The group was made up of Jon Snow (moderator), Bertolt Meyer from the University of Zurich, Observer columnist Carole Cadwalladr and Noel Sharkey, part of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots and robotics and AI expert at University of Sheffield.

Some of the big questions asked were how will robotic tech further change society, and who will determine what we should and shouldn’t do.

According to Meyer:

“I visited a lab in southern California where they are creating a chip that will go in people’s brains to restore memory function in Alzheimer’s patients. Now when they put this chip in healthy rats, they got a super rat with excellent memory. I asked one of the scientists working on this for 30 years, should we be doing this with humans? He says, ‘I don’t know’. The ethical implications hadn’t occurred to him.”

While each side obviously had different opinions about the future of these advanced technologies, ultimately they all agreed that scientists are probably not the ones who should decide on the ethics of engineering autonomous robots. But then who should? A good question.

Meyer continues:

“Business people aren’t the best to answer these questions either — as soon as there’s money to be made, lots of questions you or I ask will be put aside. Now they are niche products, but if they become available to the mass market through augmenting human capabilities, it could become profitable”.

According to Sharkey, “science should be allowed to progress, but we shouldn’t be caught off-guard the way we were with the internet”.

Sharkey commented:

“It’s always humans making the decision to kill people, and it’s crucial for laws of warfare that we can separate competence and civilians. No one will be held accountable otherwise”.

Ultimately, it is about handling regulation on the governmental level. As well as just having everyday people understanding the ethics of what they should or shouldn’t do with the tech.

Robotic Tech Opens the Door to Both Good and Bad

But of course there are good and bad things about these tech advances. Meyer was talking about how he feels about his artificial hand, without wearing which he feels “super incapacitated”. With advancements in robotic limbs, devices that can help people see/hear and other enhancement tech – we have the potential to truly impact lives in a positive way.

Unfortunately, there are also negative implications here. “When it comes to enhancement, we have to worry about it ethically. Will we get a society where people are forced to [replace healthy limbs] otherwise they won’t get a job?” says Sharkely.
Then there is the idea that not everyone will be able to afford such tech, further dividing classes.

As Cadwalladr puts it:

“The tools by themselves are wonderful, but the way we use technology is not symmetrical. Those who have more money will become super mortals. When I saw Sergei Brin with his Google Glasses at a Ted conference, he went on this game with Emotiv technology that shows your mental focus. Sergei leapt to the top of the leader board. I did pretty average. Sergei is highly intelligent already, but if I put the glasses on and they won’t increase my abilities”.

Snow also seems to believe that inequality arises with the advancement of technology. Cadwalladr and Sharkey also talked about the good and bad sides of using robots as assistants in hospitals and care homes.

“They’re talking about using them as nursing assistants or elder care — but doesn’t that take away from our humanity? Isn’t it better for people to talk to people,” said Cadwalladr. Sharkey is worried about “human dignity; accountability”. There are certainly many questions about what robotics will mean for the future. There are tons of positives on the horizon, but there are real concerns as well. So how do we proceed? We need to start seriously talking and regulating now.

The future is coming, now we just need to be ready for it. What do you think about the future of robotics and AI? Who should be regulating these technologies and making the bigger ethical decisions relating to them?

[Source]

The post Killer Robots, Super AI: Who Controls the Ethics Behind Innovation? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

A manned mission to Mars could happen sometime in the coming decades, possibly by 2030. One of the safety issues, which was discussed by researchers and public health experts at the Humans 2 Mars Summit, is how to deal with dust on the Red Planet.

According to some of them, the martian dust’s high silicate mineral content could produce bad chemical effects by interacting with water in human lung tissue. While Richard Williams, NASA’s chief health and medical officer, was more concerned about perchlorates in the dust which can cause damage to the thyroid gland.

But of course human visitors would be wearing spacesuits on Mars as the planet’s oxygen content is insufficient and there are radiation issues as well. But the dust can stick to the suits and reach living spaces to result in health problems, damage to critical instruments and more troubles. Maybe they will find some way to clean their spacesuits perfectly before entering their accommodation.

The good news is that we can collect a lot of data from the robotic missions, and then gain as much necessary info as possible to ensure full safety for us to land and live on Mars. According to Grant Anderson, co-founder of Paragon Space Development, “The Apollo programme spent $17 million trying to solve their lunar dust problems, and I’m not sure they made much progress, because they had to do the tests on Earth. For Mars, the precursor robotic missions should all have some way to test how dust is going to kill you“.

All this is very exciting, right? But when are these guys going to plan a trip to the new Earth? Maybe it will happen after a few centuries?

[Source]

The post Martian Dust Would Be A Danger To Human Visitors appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

There are a variety of causes for the occurrence of blindness, such as the lack of enough blood supply for the retina. If it doesn’t get proper amounts of oxygen, the result will be permanent blindness. The chances of preventing it depend on when the doctors realize if a patient’s retina is not receiving sufficient oxygen; the sooner the better. Prof. Bradley Nelson and his team of researchers at ETH Zurich seem to have found out a solution.

Earlier the team created microrobots, measuring a millimeter in length and one third of a millimeter in width, which could be used to deliver medication or remove scar tissue in the eye. Magnetic fields can be used to guide these tiny robots through the vitreous fluid.

They coated these microrobots with nanospheres made of a dye, which fluoresces when exposed to a specific wavelength of light. This fluorescence fades faster if there is higher amount of oxygen surrounding the dye. Now the team can inject these oxygen sensing dye-coated robots into the vitreous fluid to move them to the surface of the retina. They would then apply light to observe the dye’s fluorescence, and thereby determine the amount of oxygen around the area. The robots can be removed from the eye later on by magnetically attaching them to an inserted needle.

According to ETH, other methods now available for determining the oxygen levels within the eye are not sensitive enough. The method using microrobots have already been tested in water samples with different O2 levels and were found to be a success.

[Source]

The post Microrobots For Preventing Blindness appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

DARPA’s Autonomous Robotic Manipulation (ARM) program, which was announced back in 2010, aims to build a robot that can do a variety of manipulation tasks with minimum operator input. One of the toughest tasks for the hardware team is developing a reliable and low-cost hand for the robot. iRobot and researchers at Harvard and Yale appear to have come up with a solution.

Their hand that you see above has fingers capable of surviving hits from a baseball bat and that can lift 50 pounds as you will see in the video. From a basketball to a pin, its three fingers can pick up a variety of objects. And it costs just $3,000. In comparison, the average cost of a military-grade robot hand in 2010 was around US$50,000.

But a lot of research and development is still left in the ARM program. While the hardware team will focus on building a complete robot, many others will be working on AI software which will require some serious work.

The software system must enable the GFE (Government Furnished Equipment; i.e. the robot) to perform the Challenge Tasks following a high-level script with no operator intervention. For example, the operator would issue a command such as “Throw Ball.” That command would in turn decompose into a sequence of lower-level tasks, such as “find ball,” “grasp ball,” “re-grasp ball, cock arm, and throw”.

Check out the video below to see the hand in action. It’s not creepy like an earlier DARPA product.

[Source]

The post iRobot Hand For The DARPA ARM Program (Video) appeared first on Mobile Magazine.