New robot bee may soon be a spy's secret weapon
Thu, 19 May 2016 19:18:05 +0100
People fear robots are becoming too human, but, in reality, robots are becoming a little more bug-like every day. A team of Harvard University researchers proved this axiom when they found the solution to extending tiny robot flight is by mimicking the way small bugs alight on walls and ceilings. The applications for such a robot are wide-ranging, from small spying devices that can conduct surveillance missions while suspended from a ceiling to research drones that can allow scientists to take measurements where no other sensors can physically go. SEE ALSO: This robot can perform soft tissue surgery better than a human For the typical drone, hovering can take just as much energy as flying. As long as the robot is in the air, it's expending energy and running down its small battery capacity. What researchers discovered, as reported in a new study published Thursday in the journal Science, is that tiny robots could save considerable energy if they simply landed and perched between jaunts, the way a bee or butterfly might land on the ceiling before taking off again. The robo-bee making its approach, landing and then perching. Image: Carla Schaffer / AAAS While the scientists toyed with a number of different surface adhesion possibilities, the team finally settled on a unique combination of electrostatic material and foam to create a new kind of built-in robot landing pad. A bee-inspired robot The team built a bee-inspired micro aerial vehicle (MAV) robot and attached an electrostatic patch consisting of a carbon-fiber base, copper electrodes and a polyamide coating. It sits on a small foam cylinder. When charged, the electrostatic plate can attach itself to almost any surface (wood, glass, organic material) that responds to static electricity (yes, the same stuff you build up when you rub a balloon on a wall or your feet on the carpet). The chosen technology would work equally well on the ground or ceiling, said Robert Wood, a co-author of the new study, in an email to Mashable. "But we felt that perching on an overhang is more challenging since you have to have an adhesive force to overcome gravity." The foam is there to help cushion the landing. Without it, the tiny robot — it has just a 3-centimeter wingspan — might just bounce off the surface. By using electrostatic energy, the researchers significantly broadened the kinds of materials and situations in which the robot can land and then take off again. During testing, the robot was tethered to a power source at all times, allowing researchers to remotely power the electro-static plate, and to circuitry that provided some pre-programmed flight control behaviors (hover, approach target, detach and hover). To design their robot landings, researchers took a cue from how bees perch, observing how they control their own velocity and slow down and hover before landing softly. Perching and flying again The resulting perch solution allows the robot to slow down until it's hovering right underneath the landing spot — perhaps a leaf — and to rise up slowly until it's touching the surface. Then the researchers powered up the electrostatic patch, which creates a bind strong enough to hold the robot in place, even after it powers down its flight motor. A closer look at how researchers built and controlled the robot with bee-like flight and landing capabilities. Image: AAAS The robot can remain perched for as long as the patch is powered up. However, "it's worth noting that the power for adhesion is several orders of magnitude lower than the power required for flight... highlighting one of the benefits of this approach," Wood said. However, the use of static electricity to hold the robot in place produces some significant weight constraints. According to Wood, a Harvard professor who founded the school's microrobotics laboratory, the amount of weight the patch can support is proportional to the area of the patch. "But as size is reduced, surface area (thus adhesion) increases faster than volume (thus weight)," Wood said. "What this means is that this sort of adhesive mechanism is quite appropriate for small-scale systems." Electrostatic adhesion is not new to robotics. Study co-author Moritz Alexander Graule said it's a frequent target for climbing robot research, but it proved especially attractive for this project because the adhesion can be turned on and off without the need for moving parts. It also meant the robot-bee could land, perch and take off without applying any force to the landing surface. What's next? Why build a robot that can fly, land and take off like a bug? Because it can do things people can't do, and could become a critical component in search and rescue operations. According to Wood, it could be useful in "basically any situation where you want to have low cost and distributed sensing [that] would be too difficult or too dangerous for a human." It might also have some pretty handy surveillance applications. A robot bug that can land when no one is around and then stay quietly attached to the ceiling, without the need for audible motors, and that can wait to take off until no one is around, could be quite a boon for would-be spies. Obviously, this is still a research project with numerous challenges ahead of it, most notably the need to remove the tether wires and integrate power and flight control-technology on the tiny robot. This work alone could take a few years, and even then these robot bugs won't be ready to swarm. Wood said that in five-to-10 years "they could be ready for more widespread development and use." That's kind of a buzzkill.
Google is finally bringing Android apps to Chromebooks
Thu, 19 May 2016 19:17:47 +0100
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google's Play Store, home to more than 1 million Android apps, is finally moving beyond the confines of Android. Chrome OS, the operating system that powers Chromebooks, is getting support for the Play Store, Google announced Thursday during a session at its I/O developer conference. SEE ALSO: Google just revealed its strategy to rule the post-search world. Will it work? Though Google previewed the news Thursday, Android apps won't officially launch until later in 2016. But developers can begin to optimize their apps for Chrome OS ahead of the launch. Once the Google Play Store is available to Chromebooks, users will be able to download Android apps to their desktop — even if they don't have a web or desktop version. During a demo Thursday, Senior Director of Product Management Kan Liu showed off Clash of Clans, Adobe's and Photoshop Mix running on a Chromebook. Any app that's available in Google Play on Android will also be available in Google Play on Chrome, though there may be some device-specific restrictions (phone dialer apps, for example, may not be available since they require a cellular connection.) Still, developers will be able to optimize their apps for Chrome OS — by creating better experiences for mouse and keyboard input, for example — beginning in June, if they have an Asus Chromebook Flip, Chromebook Pixel (2015) or Acer Chromebook R11. You can see a full list of supported device here. While some had speculated that Google would also bring Android apps to its Chrome browser, Google said this change was limited Chrome OS, at least for now. More than two years in the making, the move marks the biggest step yet toward Google's goal of creating a more unified experience between Chrome and Android. Google first began to bring Android apps to Chrome OS in 2014 as part of a project called App Runtime for Chrome, but relatively few developers took advantage of the capability. And since then, rumors have persisted that Google planned to merge Android and Chrome. Meanwhile, Chromebooks themselves are more popular than ever. Research firm IDC reported that Chromebooks outsold Macs for the first time during the first quarter of 2016 — a stat Google touted during its announcement Thursday. Now Google has finally offered a look into its vision for the future of Chrome OS. Update: This story has been updated to clarify that Android apps are only coming to Google Play on Chrome OS. An earlier version said the apps would be available on the Chrome browser, as well.
Full Unreal Engine compatibility coming to Google's Daydream VR
Thu, 19 May 2016 19:00:29 +0100
Game and app developers already working inside of virtual reality will be able to port existing apps and games to Google's brand new Daydream platform, if they are building on Unreal Engine. Epic Games appeared on the stage of Google I/O to unveil Unreal Engine 4's compatibility with Daydream, which was announced on Wednesday. SEE ALSO: With Daydream, Google's plans to dominate VR become more clear Since Daydream is a virtual reality platform that supports several different Android-powered mobile phones, it will allow more people to access VR in the next few years, said Nick Whiting, VR and AR Technical Director for Epic Games. The biggest benefit will be the required controller — every Daydream user will need it to jump into VR — so developers all can code for the same specifications. "Once you've interacted with motion controllers it's really hard to go back, like going back to [Oculus] DK1," Whiting told Mashable . "You see the magic of being in game, but then you look down and the illusion is broken when you don't have hands." The Epic Games team built its own tech demo to show off the controller's capabilities in Daydream. In the dungeon crawler game, players can wave a wand, attack monsters, point at menus and drink potions, all with two buttons, a clickable trackpad and the included sensors. "Almost everyone can wave their hands around and use a trackpad. It's very simple so it's very hard to do something wrong," Whiting said. "Many people grab Oculus Touch or Vive and they aren't gamers, it's amazing how many buttons are on them. It's good to have a simple, natural interface for people." Daydream will sell virtual reality games and apps through the Google Play Store. There isn't a release date yet, but Unreal Engine 4 access will appear when developers get their hands on the platform, presumably before wider consumer release.
Top Democratic senator probes SWIFT, NY Fed about Bangladesh heist
Thu, 19 May 2016 18:59:45 +0100
The Senate Homeland Security Committee's top Democrat sought information Thursday from global financial network SWIFT and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on steps being taken to bolster cyber security in the wake of the theft of $81 million from the central bank of Bangladesh. Senator Tom Carper of Delaware requested that both answer questions and brief his staff by June 17 on how they were handling issues following the February heist, during which hackers wired money out of an account at the New York Fed held by Bank Bangladesh, as well as how they were safeguarding against other potential cyber threats. "These cyber attacks raise important questions about the security of the SWIFT system and the ability of its members to prevent future attacks," Carper wrote in his letters.
YouTube is building a new version of its app for virtual reality
Thu, 19 May 2016 18:13:07 +0100
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — YouTube will soon have a much better virtual reality experience. Google is making a standalone YouTube app for Daydream, the company's newly-announced Android-based virtual reality platform. Clay Bavor, Google's head of VR, announced the upcoming app during a session at the company's I/O developer conference Thursday. SEE ALSO: With Daydream, Google's plans to dominate VR become more clear The app will "provide an easier, more immersive way to find and experience virtual reality content on YouTube," Google says. The app won't be available until Daydream launches later this year (Daydream is expected in the fall, though Google hasn't said whether it will launch with the new YouTube app) but Bavor offered an early look at the new app, which was more immersive than YouTube's existing virtual reality features. While YouTube already has limited support for VR videos, the new YouTube VR app will also offer an immersive interface for searching and browsing. The app also has many of the same features the current version of YouTube has, including voice search and playlists. Additionally, YouTube is already working with a few content partners, including BuzzFeed , Tastemade and the NBA, to create VR-ready experiences for the new app. But the YouTube VR app won't be limited to 3D content. Any existing YouTube video will be available within the YouTube VR app, including 360-degree videos and YouTube's catalog of "classic" 2D videos.
Google is building a cinema-grade VR camera with IMAX
Thu, 19 May 2016 18:07:24 +0100
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google wants to take VR all the way to Hollywood. Last year the company launched its platform for creating 360-degree video, called Jump, and since then Hollywood studios have come calling, Google's head of VR, Clay Bavor, said at the Google I/O developer conference on Thursday. He also said Google will be working with IMAX to build a cinema-grade VR camera system. Bavor didn't reveal any details of the camera or technology, but presumably it would be a step above the GoPro Odyssey, the first Jump camera, which cobbles together 16 individual GoPros within a Google-designed rig. That camera uses Google tech to stitch together all the footage into high-res 360-degree video with depth. SEE ALSO: Huawei to announce Daydream-ready devices by the end of 2016 That depth is what provides a richer experience when the footage is viewed on a VR headset. Objects appear in 3D, as if they exist in real space, as opposed to seeing a "flat" spherical image. It's not perfect, however — the viewer can't really move around the environment much at all. However, high-end VR camera systems like the Lytro Immerge promise at least a limited space that viewers can move in. Presumably Google's cinematic Jump system would do the same, although the Lytro system isn't in the hands of filmmakers yet either. Google also announced it would partner with Yi, a Chinese action-cam manufacturer, to build an Odyssey-like rig for the company's 4K action camera. Although cinematic VR is in its infancy, consumer 360-degree cameras are already in the hand of consumers. The Ricoh Theta S captures bare-bones 360 footage, and Samsung's Gear 360 is available in Korea and is coming to the U.S. this summer.
Google will build its own 'Daydream-ready' VR headset and controller
Thu, 19 May 2016 18:03:44 +0100
Amateur hour is over. Though Google's already got a foothold in virtual reality with Cardboard, the company made it clear it's really serious about VR. At Google I/O, the company announced Daydream, its VR ecosystem. While Google only showed off a reference design for a VR headset and controller for developers to model their own after, Clay Bavor, Google's vice president of VR, confirmed the company will build its very own headset and controller. The company didn't say if development has already started or when it might launch. SEE ALSO: With Daydream, Google's plans to dominate VR become more clear Daydream-ready smartphones will need to meet a stringent set of requirements. They will need to have low latency, sustained performance, head tracking and a VR system UI, according to Google. These specs will allow users to have an optimal VR experience that won't make them nauseous. Image: google A VR controller with a clickable touchpad, motion sensors and two buttons will also be a requirement for Daydream VR headsets. Reference design VR controller for Daydream. Image: google Eight phone makers will have Daydream-ready smartphones out by the end of the year: Image: google Interestingly enough, Google didn't unveil the long-rumored all-in-one VR headset. The headset was rumored to not require a smartphone or PC to work. It's unclear if Google is still working on this internally and it's just not ready or if it has shifted its strategy to Daydream. BONUS: Google wants to give your car and Android brain
Hilarious new video series flawlessly mocks those who say 'girls can't code'
Thu, 19 May 2016 18:02:32 +0100
When it comes to entering a male-dominated field like tech, there's a lot standing in a girl's way. Girls, after all, are just too beautiful and emotional to truly succeed at something as intense as coding, right? If that sounds ridiculous, it's because it is — and Girls Who Code is starting a conversation about these bogus stereotypes. SEE ALSO: To let girls in, the tech industry is thinking pink. But that isn't enough. The nonprofit, which works to close the gender gap in tech, launched a new three-part video series this week called Girls Do Code . Using satire and deadpan humor, the series sheds light on offensive stereotypes surrounding girls in tech, all while highlighting the need to change them. The videos focus on three main topics that, according to misguided popular opinion, keep girls from being successful coders: boobs, beauty and menstruation. "When I'm not menstruating, I'm ovulating, so there's no time to code at all," laments one girl. "I don't even have boobs yet and they still get in the way," another says. "It's crazy." The humor in the videos is silly and shameless, but places much-needed attention on a topic that is anything but laughable. "There are already a ton of inspirational videos about why girls should code," Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, said in a release. "We wanted to try something different ... Our hope is these videos will spark a much-needed conversation about the messages we send our young women, and what we can do to create a more inclusive, well-rounded image of a programmer." Girls are constantly shamed for being "too sensitive" and their bodies labeled "too distracting" to men in school or the workplace. This devaluing of women exists everywhere — but it's especially apparent when looking at the tech industry's gender problem. In middle school, 74% of girls express interest in science, technology, engineering and math. But when choosing a college major, only 0.4% of high school girls choose computer science. By the time they reach college, women make up only 1 in 5 computer science grads. That gap, according to Girls Who Code, starts when adolescent girls are taught — implicitly and explicitly — that coding is too nerdy and too male for them. "These videos may seem absurd, but sadly they're not so off the mark," said Margot Richaud, a Girls Who Code alumna. "As a high school senior, I've had classmates and teachers tell me that coding is not for me, or that I'd be better off focusing on design and making something look pretty.'" Richaud said these comments, plus the stereotypes we see every day, keep a lot of her friends from considering computer science as a career path. But blasting stereotypes around women in tech isn't the only barrier-busting part of the series. Susan Young, group creative director of the campaign, said that the series highlights another misconception about girls. "There's also the notion that girls can't appreciate this kind of humor — also a ridiculous stereotype," she said. According to Adweek , the campaign may also move to television, depending on donated media. But, for now, you can check out all the humorous and thought-provoking videos here.
With Daydream, Google's plans to dominate VR become more clear
Thu, 19 May 2016 17:57:40 +0100
On the second day of Google's annual I/O developer conference, the tech giant dove into greater detail on its virtual reality plans. During I/O's first keynote on Wednesday, Google unveiled Daydream, a VR development platform based on Android that consists of smartphones, a headset and controller, and apps. On Thursday, Google's Daydream got a little more solid. SEE ALSO: Android N gets enhanced VR functions with Daydream "We think VR is amazing," said Clay Bavor, Google's vice president of virtual reality. "We want to bring to everyone in the world." Daydream will set the stage for immersive mobile VR with a strong emphasis on quality-made virtual experiences. Smartphone makers will need to meet standard VR specs — powerful performance, have low latency and have a VR System UI — in order to qualify to be Daydream-ready. Image: google Over a half dozen phone makers plan to release Daydream-ready smartphones by the end of the year. Announced partners include Samsung, HTC, LG, Xiaomi, Huawei, ZTE, Asus and Alcatel. "Creating presence on a smartphone is easier said than done," said Nathan Martz, a product manager at Google. "Great VR experiences require great hardware." But it's not just hardware. Software matters too. "We've worked to make sure Android is a great OS for VR," Martz said. Image: google Google also unveiled a reference design VR headset that'll work with Daydream-ready smartphones. Presumably, it'll work similarly to Samsung's Gear VR, which has a hatch for smartphones to slot in. Daydream VR headsets, in theory, should also be lighter since they don't have a built-in touchpad. Instead, users will use a specially designed controller to navigate the VR world. VR controller for Daydream-ready VR headsets. Image: google The VR controller will be used for controlling menus and playing games within VR. The simplistic controller only has two buttons and a clickable touchpad on the top. The controller also has motion sensors that can detect in which orientation it's being held in. Wii Tennis , but in VR, anyone? Additionally, you can aim it at things like a laser pointer. The Daydream Home VR interface. Image: google A VR version of the Google Play store for users to download and discover VR content will include a motion-intensity rating next to apps — much like Oculus's own VR app store. "Daydream home is your experience launcher, access Play Store and access system settings," said Lindsay Metcalfe, a design manager at Google. Google Streetview VR app. Image: google One example shown onstage was the YouTube VR app. With it, users will be able to watch 360-degree videos in up to 4K resolution. YouTube VR app Image: google Daydream Labs is an experimental VR arm working on all kinds of software experiences (like flipping VR pancakes). Metcalfe says Daydream Labs is currently putting out two experiments a week. Most importantly, Google's VR ambitions will be backed by major content creators and game developers. Here are just a few of the developers that will produce content for Daydream: Image: google Unreal Engine 4, developed by Epic Games, will be one major way for developers to create high-performance and rich VR experiences. "We know Unreal Engine 4 is going to power some incredible and amazing experiences [in Daydream]," said Mark Rein, vice president and co-founder of Epic Games in a video reel presented on stage. Image: google Google also announced the popular game development tool Unity will be a supported on Daydream. "I think VR is going to be driven by mobile," said John Riccitiello, CEO of Unity. "The holodeck will happen. You'll be closer to your nearest and dearest. I'm looking forward to connecting with them in a much more closer way that makes me feel like I'm right there." "We've got 5 million developers — all of them ready to jump onboard." BONUS: A first look at Android Wear 2.0
Larry Page spars with Oracle attorney at Android trial
Thu, 19 May 2016 17:21:39 +0100
By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google did not pay to use Oracle's software in millions of smartphones, but the company believed that the intellectual property was free for anyone to use, Larry Page, chief executive of Google's parent company, told jurors in court on Thursday. In a retrial at San Francisco federal court, Oracle Corp has claimed Google's Android smartphone operating system violated its copyright on parts of Java, a development platform. Alphabet Inc's Google unit said it should be able to use Java without paying a fee under the fair-use provision of copyright law.
Senators introduce bill to block expansion of FBI hacking authority
Thu, 19 May 2016 16:14:58 +0100
By Dustin Volz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A small group of bipartisan senators introduced a bill Thursday that would block a pending judicial rule change allowing U.S. judges to issue search warrants for remote access to computers in any jurisdiction, even overseas, arguing the change would expand the FBI's hacking authority. The one-page legislation from Democratic Senator Ron Wyden and Republican Senator Rand Paul would undo the change, adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court in a private vote last month and without congressional involvement, to procedural rules governing the court system. Republican Senator Steve Daines and Democrats Tammy Baldwin and Jon Tester are co-sponsoring the Stopping Mass Hacking Act.
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