Various enterprises and personal interests, such as Man-Machine Interaction (MMI), gesture studies, signs, language, social robotics, healthcare, innovation, music, publications, etc.

Author: Jeroen Page 7 of 51

Tele-operation @ office #01

recorded video stream of a bird eye cam located in front of the robot

Wiimote + 15 Tonnes ‘Robot’ Arm

Lately, I have been studying the teleoperation of UGVs. Many people have tried various forms of gestural interaction to ‘teleoperate’ robots or robotic arms. Here is a nice, larger-than-life example where they control a robotic arm with a Wiimote.

15 tonnes of steel, 200 bar of hydraulic pressure and a control system written in Python. Oh, and a Wiimote.

To be quite honest, I do not think that using a Wiimote for teleoperation is a good idea at all. The only immediate advantage of using a Wiimote instead of using a more elaborate manual controller may well be a better ‘walk-up-and-use’ intuitiveness, although one still has to learn how the Wiimote ‘commands’ are mapped to the robotic arm’s motions, much as one needs to learn this with any other controller. A disadvantage may lie in the limited precision and the limited number of commands that the Wiimote offers. I think it all boils down to a basic ergonomical design of a manual controller for teleoperation. Operators must be able to (learn to) map the controllers options (degrees of freedom and commands) to the robot’s options (degrees of freedom and functions). This will likely involve a lot of prototyping and user testing to see what works best, but there is also quite a large literature on this topic (some of which originates from my current workplace at TNO, for example by Van Erp en by De Vries).

One CareBot ™ One Family

At my new workplace, TNO, we had a modest celebration today: Two robot projects in which we will be cooperating have been approved by the EC (three cheers for the authors of the proposals RL and MN!). One of those is concerned with robotics in healthcare, which brings me to the next video:

From Gecko Systems (check out more movies) comes this would-be personal robot nurse. The people in this movie appear slightly naïve in their childish enthusiasm but it’s nevertheless good to have such glimpses of the future. Who knows, perhaps you and I will be nursed by such machines? A thought I find somewhat disturbing, I must confess.

One family’s experience with a robot companion for their Mother.

Also on Robots-Dreams
Gecko about Consumer Familycare
Gecko about Professional Healthcare

Scratch Input (Chris Harrison, Scott Hudson) – UIST ’08

More info: http://chrisharrison.net/projects/scratchinput

Scratch Input: Creating Large, Inexpensive, Unpowered and Mobile Finger Input Surfaces

We present Scratch Input, an acoustic-based input technique that relies on the unique sound produced when a fingernail is dragged over the surface of a textured material, such as wood, fabric, or wall paint. We employ a simple sensor that can be easily coupled with existing surfaces, such as walls and tables, turning them into large, unpowered and ad hoc finger input surfaces. Our sensor is sufficiently small that it could be incorporated into a mobile device, allowing any suitable surface on which it rests to be appropriated as a gestural input surface. Several example applications were developed to demonstrate possible interactions. We conclude with a study that shows users can perform six Scratch Input gestures at about 90% accuracy with less than five minutes of training and on wide variety of surfaces.

The iSnort Demo

This one is about six months old, but I only just saw it. Definitely good for a laugh. And, it goes to show that the iPhone is not so much something that does ‘gesture recognition’. Rather, it has a really sensitive touchscreen and the ability to create various interactions using that touchscreen. Snorting coke is not a gesture, it is a recognizable ‘practical action’ (if you will allow the term here). So, anyone thinking of iPhone apps can consider going in the direction of any well defined action. I just can’t wait to see who will be the first to build iSwaffel.

Download The iSnort v0.1 NOW at www.TheiSnort.com This is a demonstration of a simulated Apple iPhone / iTouch Application invented by Directed and Produced by Irish (Belfast-based) Filmmaker / Action Artist Peter ‘Magic’ Johnston. Animation and a Co-Directing credit goes to Steven Henry.

I’m dreaming of a WHITE Christmas… just like the ones I used to BLOW…

The ultimate in last-minute Christmas (or New Year) gifts for iPhone and iPod Touch users.

Forget the Virtual Pint – it’s piss. What YOU need is an unlimited supply of ‘Class A’ Virtual Narcotics.

Be the envy of the in-crowd. Get ejected from pubs and nightclubs. Shock and amaze your so-called friends. Get oral sex from Z-list celebrities.

Introducing The iSnort – an ultra-edgy simulated iPhone / iPod Touch application.

Go on… give it a toot… it’s virtually addictive. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Cocaine.

Download The iSnort v0.1 NOW at www.TheiSnort.com for £10 – all future versions and updates are included in this one-off subscription.

Please pass this on. Going Viral on this would be naughty, but nice…

Ninomiya-kun

More info: http://www.pinktentacle.com/2009/06/ninomiya-kun-book-reading-robot/

Real Transformer Robot CHERUBIM

Real Transformer Robot CHERUBIM
NEXT MOVIE!
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=l778LSfPKww

ROBO-ONE: WR-07 Transformer Robot

Transformer robot

Xbox 360 Project NATAL – Official E3 First Look

Title: Natal / Label: Microsoft
The revolutionary new controller from Microsoft, shown at E3 2009, utlizes a high-def camera as well as audio cues to draw the player into an entirely new realm of fully interactive experience.

Natal, Natal, Natal
Will it put the gamers under its spell?
Or will it be the laggard’s hell?
The ghost of Christmas past?
That has come to MS at last
To tell them stories unbelievable
Of rich interactions tangible
Or enjoyable, fun and emotional?

MANOI GO やるならやらねば!真打バージョン

製作:MANOI企画&Dr.GIY 
音楽:Kingrass Hoppers(キングラスホッパーズ) 
ダンス指導:WRECKING CREW ORCHESTRA(レッキングクルーオーケストラ)
5月9日 秋葉原KONDO ROBO SPOTで撮影。
主役のMANOI AT01は私DrGIYがMANOI企画の岡本氏と協力して改造、プログラミングして誕生しました。MANOI GOのGOの意味はGIY&岡本の意味。改造費およそ4倍。
ただ今、メジャーデビュー計画中。

Page 7 of 51

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