Lifeboat Foundation

For several years now, Leap Motion has been working on bringing hand gestures to virtual reality. And it makes sense; using your hands to move digital objects is way more natural than fiddling with a controller. But to do this, you needed to strap one of the company’s motion sensor peripherals in front of an existing VR headset, which is a little clunky to say the least. Plus, the sensor was still running the same software built for desktop PCs; a holdover from the days when Leap Motion’s main focus was the aforementioned PC accessory. Now, however, the company is ready to take the next leap forward. Today it’s announcing Orion, a brand new hardware and software solution that’s built just for VR.

Read more

Autism has diverse genetic causes, most of which are still unknown. About 1 percent of people with autism are missing a gene called Shank3, which is critical for brain development. Without this gene, individuals develop typical autism symptoms including repetitive behavior and avoidance of social interactions.

In a study of mice, MIT researchers have now shown that they can reverse some of those behavioral symptoms by turning the gene back on later in life, allowing the brain to properly rewire itself.

“This suggests that even in the adult brain we have profound plasticity to some degree,” says Guoping Feng, an MIT professor of brain and cognitive sciences. “There is more and more evidence showing that some of the defects are indeed reversible, giving hope that we can develop treatment for autistic patients in the future.”

Read more

TED curator Chris Anderson just announced the world’s biggest speaking fee — a $4.5m (£3.1m) cheque to be awarded to a speaker at the 2020 TED conference. There’s just one catch: the speaker must be an artificial intelligence, which convinces the audience that it has mastered the art of the 18-minute TED talk.

The IBM Watson AI X Prize, announced on Wednesday at the TED conference in Vancouver, will offer $4.5 million to the team that develops an artificial intelligence showing “how humans can collaborate with powerful cognitive technologies to tackle some of the world’s grand challenges”.

Peter Diamandis, chairman of the X Prize Foundation, said the winner would be chosen by the TED audience in 2020, when three finalists — either AIs or AI human partnerships — “come on stage to deliver jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring TED talks”.

Read more

Well, US is failing on building a competitive waiter to go up against China’s version.

America is getting crushed by China. Not in trade or weapons or any of those things that don’t matter. We’re losing the war of the Roseys. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the new robot above, serving up deliciousness at a farmhouse restaurant in Sanmenxia, China.

Or look at this December photo of Tete, a robot in Qingdao, China. Tete can communicate over 200 words and has no trouble delivering dishes.

Read more

https://youtube.com/watch?v=KE8yq51GVxw

Whenever, Mr Musk is ready to colonize space; Russia is ready to assist.

‘AI in perspective is not a fairytale,’ says deputy PM adding prototype astronauts will perform dangerous tasks.

Read more

And, who said Transformers were only in movies — think again.

Continue reading “The shape-shifting robot tank that can transform mid-battle” »

Tata’s Robot

TAL Manufacturing Solutions, a Tata Group company, is all set to launch first India-made robot Tata Brabo in the next two months. Read More on India TV News.

Read more

Wild and cool.

Luke Skywalker, your new hand is ready.

Read more

Meet the Internet Troll & Con Slayer — Taryn Wright. No trolls or con can stay hidden long with Taryn and her team on the case.

The long read: After Taryn Wright exposed an elaborate fake tragedy on Facebook, she found herself leading a squad of online detectives – but on the internet, it doesn’t take long for a crowd to become a mob.

Read more