FREAK OUT^51
MEMORABLE
NAVY SHIPMATE
RESCUE ROACHES
ALMOST
HUMAN
ALBERT’S
BACK
Most of us shudder at the sight of a cockroach, but if
you’re caught under the rubble of a crashed building,
they may be your new best friend. Why, you ask?
Well, scientists have created a high-tech backpack
for real cockroaches that allows humans to remotely
control where the bug scurries. Their backpacks can
carry a locator beacon and a tiny microphone to pick
up cries for help. Cockroaches that are surgically
transformed into remote-controlled ‘biobots’ could
help find earthquake survivors.Japan-based robot maker Kokoro has rolled out a
couple of super-realistic androids called Actroid-F.
They look like humans, talk like humans and even
have realistic facial expressions. Their creator
hopes they’ll come in handy for talking with
elderly people and improving communication
skills for kids with developmental disorders.With famous physicist Albert Einstein’s head and a
spacesuit body, the Albert Hubo ‘bot is kinda creepy.
It’s a bit like Albert, who died yonks ago, has popped
back to earth to say howdy. The first walking robot
with human-like expressions, it can shake hands,
bow and do sign language. But they haven’t figured
out how to get it to fly to the moon yet...A humanoid robot is about to join the United States
Navy recently raised some eyebrows by dancing
Gangnam Style. CHARLI-2 is the test platform for ASH,
the Autonomous Shipboard Humanoid that will be
used by the Navy to fight fires inside a ship. It can be
programmed to do other things like mopping the deck.
Hmmm, wonder if it can do homework too...?Meet the Elfoid, a mobile phone that looks like a
naked robot that can see, speak, hear and glow.
It’s shaped like a person because the developers
wanted to create a sort of ‘physical presence’ so it
feels like you are talking to the person you called.
Too bad if everyone else thinks you’re having a good
conversation with your sister’s doll!