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Wired test drives -- or rather doesn't -- Audi's latest driverless concept car

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<div class="adAvoidedButFlowable" style="clear: right;">
 Audi unveiled its latest driverless -- or as the German
manufacturer prefers to call it, "piloted" -- concept car at CES
last week, and Wired.co.uk was lucky enough to join the
police-escorted demonstration of this possible vision of the
automotive future.</div>
Cue a surreal experience of sitting in the back seat of a
tricked out autonomous A7 while Las Vegas's finest top and tail the
Audi Autopilot Car for a jaunt on the freeway to demonstrate the
car's unnerving ability to stay in lane at speed and take over
control of the vehicle.<br />
Now, as Audi's chief technical officer Prof. Dr Ulrich
Hackenberg pointed out from behind the untouched steering wheel,
this new iteration of piloted driving will sadly not result in your
very own <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KITT">Knight
Industries Two Thousand</a>. However, it will take a lot of the
donkeywork out of your motorway drudgery. It is also a serious
update on the previous model as the electronics have been actually
fitted into the body of the car rather than taking up the entire
boot, making the previous attempt look like something <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-07/29/heath-robinson-deserves-a-museum">W Heath Robinson</a> might have crafted.<br />
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Bristling with 12 ultrasound sensors, two radar sensors, one
camera and one laser scanner, the concept car, which is expected to
come to market in some form in three to five years, can "see" up to
500m in front of it in perfect weather -- and up to half that in
normal to poor conditions. The radar has a narrow beam that reaches
this long distance, while the laser scanner offers a broader field
of view and stretches at least as far as 80m ahead in very poor
conditions, such as fog and rain.<br />
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These sixteen sensors can read the road around the car to such a
degree that the car is capable of navigating turns, keeping in lane
and maintaining a safe distance from the car in front -- all with
the driver free to take their hands off the wheel and feet of the
pedals. They could, in effect, be reading Wired while on the
motorway.<br />
One unnerving incident in the demonstration was when Hackenberg
showed off the system's ability to assess whether the driver has
fallen asleep at the wheel. An infrared camera pointing at the
driver's face can tell if their eyes remain closed too long (even
if wearing sunglasses) and take action. After a series of audible
warnings to retake control, if no response is forthcoming the car
performs and emergency stop.<br />
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This ability was then put into action surrounded by all-too-real
and completely unsuspecting daytime traffic on the Las Vegas
freeway -- and this is where the police escort came in very handy
to clear lane room -- and sure enough after a very short period of
attempting to "wake" our driver, the car slammed on the anchors for
a controlled halt as cars blurred by in the adjacent lanes at
60mph.<br />
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Even though this is a few years from being commercially
available, the next generations of this technology will see Audi
plan to integrate lane-changing ability, then on and off ramps.
Looking further still Audi wants to see this working in urban
driving -- though, as Hackenberg insists, the days where you will
be able to call your car to come pick you up from the office are a
long, long way off.

Wired test drives -- or rather doesn't -- Audi's latest driverless concept car

Audi unveiled its latest driverless -- or as the German manufacturer prefers to call it, "piloted" -- concept car at CES last week, and Wired.co.uk was lucky enough to join the police-escorted demonstration of this possible vision of the automotive future. Cue a surreal experience of sitting in th…

23Jan2014

Emospark is an emotionally-aware AI console for the home

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Emospark is a cube-shaped "artificial intelligence console" that
uses face-tracking and language analysis to assess human emotion and deliver
relevant content accordingly.<br />
Created by inventor Patrick Rosenthal, the Emospark console measures 90 x 90
x 90 and is designed to sit in the home and interact with people. At its core
lies a chip called the "Emotional Processing Unit" that allows the
system to build up an Emotional Profile Graph of the people in the house.<br />
To communicate with the Android-powered Emospark, users can simply talk to
it through speaking or typing into their tablet, mobile phone (which means it
can gauge your emotions on the move), computer or TV. It combines this with
face-tracking technology to gauge the user's likes and dislikes by categorising
their emotional responses to music, videos and other content (using an
emotional spectrum based on seven emotions: joy, sadness, trust, disgust, fear,
anger, surprise and anticipation). Users can also connect with Facebook and
YouTube to help the cube build up a history of interests.<br />
Emospark initially tries to recommend particular pieces of content -- be it
a song or a YouTube video -- that might help to improve the user's mood. So,
for example, the cube might tell you that your friend Michael has posted a new
video onto Facebook and it has 12 likes, would you like to watch it. If you say
yes, the cube will play it on the TV or other device. If you start to laugh, it
will show you similar content.<br />
Levy Rosenthal explained to Wired.co.uk that sharing content is about
sharing emotions. "Hundreds of millions of people post pictures, music and
videos because they want to share the emotions that are inside. You want to see
if other people like it, if they share the same emotions." Emospark also
acts as a virtual assistant, connecting to Wikipedia and collaborative
knowledge community Freebase. This means you can ask your cube questions, much
in the same way you might speak to Siri. Emospark will reply in a
conversational way, searching through records of previous conversations and
selecting an appropriate response to your comments. Over time, the cube will
develop its own personality based on the interactions it has with people, said
Levy Rosenthal.<br />
Rostenthal told Wired.co.uk that Emospark is designed to achieve "a
positive singularity". He explained that there are two versions of the
future: one which goes in the way of the Terminator, with robots based on pure
logic and another full of emotions, "like Wall-E, a cute robot full of
emotions who saves humans from logical robots".<br />
"Humans see that robots are coming, but a lot of money for research is
coming from the army -- for flying drones and weaponised robots -- and people
are getting scared," he explains. "Today all machines are pure logic.
But we are emotional. It's important for machines to understand humans on an
emotional level."<br />
Since it's an Android device, the cube can be customised using apps from the
Google Play store. Developers are invited to come up with new apps or gaming
systems that take advantage of Emospark.

Emospark is an emotionally-aware AI console for the home

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06Jan2014

Robot rivals ready to compete in Darpa challenge

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<div class="adavoidedbutflowable">
In a robotic twist on American Gladiators, 17
robots and their teams will descend upon Florida this week to see which ones
have the greatest superhero potential.</div>
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<div class="adavoidedbutflowable">
Darpa, the Pentagon's research wing, is turning
to robots to respond alongside humans when there's a natural or human-made
disaster -- an initiative that Darpa says was triggered by the 2011 earthquake
in Japan that caused the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster.</div>
<div class="adavoidedbutflowable">
At the <a href="http://www.theroboticschallenge.org/">Darps Robotics Challenge</a> (DRC)
Trials Friday and Saturday at the Homestead Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla.,
robot prototypes will be run through a challenge course consisting
of eight tasks to evaluate robots' perception, autonomous decision-making,
mobility, dexterity and strength -- all the qualities Darpa expects robots
would need to work in disaster scenarios.</div>
Speed, however, is not one of the qualities that will be tested. Robots will
be given 30 minutes to perform each of the eight tasks once over the course of
the two-day event, although Darpa expects that not all of the teams will be
able to complete every task.<br />
"We know the robots are slow and unsteady at this point -- they're much
like a one-year-old human in terms of locomotion and grasping abilities and
much farther behind that in brainpower," said Gill Pratt, Darpa program
manager, in a <a href="http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2013/12/16.aspx">statement</a>.<br />
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"The robots are taking 'baby steps' this year, but their performance
will establish a reference point for what we can expect from the teams that
return next year for the DRC Finals," said Pratt. "We want that event
to be much more difficult and force the robots to demonstrate useful
capabilities in realistic disaster scenarios."<br />
Teams from MIT, Nasa and Boston Dynamics, among 14 others, will compete for
as many as eight spots to continue to receive Darpa funding to advance their
robot for the DRC Finals scheduled for late 2014.<br />
According to Darpa, the robots will encounter these tasks and challenges
over the two days:<br />
<strong>Drive and exit utility vehicle</strong><br />
The hardest single task and the one that requires the most robot-human
interaction. The operators must direct the robots to drive the vehicle safely
despite occasional communications disruptions. Getting out of the driver's seat
poses significant strength and dexterity challenges for the robots.<br />
<strong>Walk across rough terrain</strong><b><br />
</b>The robots must maintain their balance and identify safe routes for
placement of limbs.<br />
<strong>Remove debris from doorway</strong><b><br />
</b>Robots must demonstrate a wide range of motion, in addition to balance and
strength, to clear a path forward.<br />
<strong>Open series of doors</strong><b><br />
</b>Moving the doors in an arc challenges the robots' perception and dexterity.
The robots must figure out how to align and move themselves as they open each door.<br />
<strong>Climb industrial ladder</strong><b><br />
</b>To avoid falls, the robots must safely navigate the ladder and maintain
their balance as they climb. Strength is required to stop a fall.<br />
<strong>Cut through wall</strong><b><br />
</b>Using power tools tests the robots' strength, dexterity and ability to perceive
their environment.  The robots must also simultaneously apply rigid force
to hold a tool, yet demonstrate the flexibility to smoothly manipulate it.<br />
<strong>Carry and connect fire hose</strong><b><br />
</b>The robots must identify the standpipe and then transport a bulky, non-rigid
item (the fire hose) to it. The robots must then have sufficient dexterity and
strength to attach the hose to a standpipe and open the spigot.<br />
<strong>Locate and close leaking valves</strong><b><br />
</b>The robots must identify the valves, determine which ones are open and have
sufficient range of motion to turn the valve wheels in an arc to close them.<br />
<div class="adavoidedbutflowable">
<a href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/11/atlas-robot/">Atlas</a>, one of
the robots in the competition, has received  significant attention for its
human-like abilities.</div>
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Robot rivals ready to compete in Darpa challenge

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24Dec2013

Reality Mediators' sensors shock you back into reality if you get lazy

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<div class="adavoidedbutflowable">
A designer has created a series of body sensors
that emit unpleasant shocks when the wearer stops actively interacting with
their environment.</div>
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<div class="adavoidedbutflowable">
Singapore-born, London-based Ling Tan created <a href="http://lingql.com/gallery/reality-mediators-3/">Reality Mediators</a> as
a means of questioning the purpose of wearables in enhancing or interrogating
our relationship with the world. Will these devices make us even more inclined
to do little for ourselves, or will they drive us to explore our environment
more fervently and in new ways. Alternatively, will they totally change how we
percieve and interact with the world, taking us over, in ways we do not notice.
One phase of the project, referred to as Limits Of Bearability, is designed to
help us understand "how the artificially intelligent nature of active
technological prosthesis can alter the user's consciousness, and how bearable
such devices are perceived by the user in the long run". </div>
Project volunteers wear the Reality Mediators for between three and four
hours at a time, of which there are three different types: muscle sensors,
brainwave sensors and GPS. When activity is disrupted and the wearer appears to
be breaking from their active routine, one of four actuators that run on
Arduino microcontrollers will turn on them to deliver either an electrical
shock, an unpleasant sound, heat or vibrations. "All the outputs create
inherently unpleasant effect on the user so as to measure the level of obvious
disruptiveness to user's everyday activities," says Tan on her website.
The wearer does not have to physically stop moving to get a shock, they might
let their mind aimlessly wander, thus changing the brainwave patterns and
leading to the electrical stimulation that reminds them to keep active.<br />
According to Tan, after a while, the wearer's body starts to change its
routine according to the device's demands. It adapts to the wearable, rather
than the other way around. "This then questions the issue of who is in
control; the user or the device?" she <a href="http://www.dezeen.com/2013/12/09/reality-mediators-wearable-technology-punishes-laziness-ling-tan/">tells
Dezeen</a> in an interview. She goes on to explain to the magazine how the
consumer-style packaging and branding she's created for the project is designed
as a piece of commentary on how the public can be led to adopt something that
appears like any other product, despite its potential underlying negative
effects. Squaring this argument at Google Glass, she tells Dezeen the company
is adept at using its marketing skills to bring a device to the public that
essentially shatters the concept of privacy, as we are all encouraged to wear
our personal data.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Such intrusiveness can also be good for your health though,
according to Microsoft, which wants to bring us the <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-12/06/microsoft-smart-bra">comfort-eating
combatting wearable bra</a>. A series of sensors would measure sweat and heart
rate. When worn over time the sensors can track behaviour and see if
stress/boredom leads to habitual eating. When the system picks up a repeat
of these symptoms, a connected app will signal a gentle warning telling the individual
not to go to the fridge, or to have an apple. Why Microsoft has decided to
target the female sex is unclear. Yes, historically, we have been the fatter
sex, more prone to obesity. But men have caught up in the last decade according
to UK public health records on the morbidly obese, and <a href="http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/foresight/docs/obesity/17.pdf">one study
predicts</a> that by 2050 obesity will affect 60 percent of men and 50 percent
of women. So they better start on a man-bra.</div>
<br />