What is Artificial Intelligence?

Creativity, quality and functionality are the three main characteristics of robot systems that are highly marketable. Yes, you can create robots for fun, but the basic requirement is to satisfy the user's needs.

Mobile Service Robots are the trademark of GeckoSystems latest creations. These robots range from providing home or professional care solutions to business and government security services. MSRs are claimed to be super intelligent service robots, in that they are fully equipped with embedded intelligent systems such as machine vision, directional microphones, millimeter wave radar, LIDAR, hand gun weapon detect, biohazard detect, toxic gas detect, bomb detect, radioactivity detect, facial recognition, voice recognition and the best part is, they're autonomous.

Carebot and Securitybot or SuperSentinel Robot are the two Mobile Service robots described as super intelligent service robots.

Carebot provides personal health care especially to families with either sick/healthy little children and older people with them. Carebot, specifically provides 1) Cost-effective monitoring of the care recipient, 2) virtual visits via Internet, 3) automatic reminders (i.e. medicine schedule) 4) close companionship and 4) automatic emergency notification.

Securitybot specializes in Surveillance/Reconnaissance, Hazard Identification, Perimeter Patrol, Airport Security and Surveillance and Sniper Detection. Watch Securitybot as it navigates around the area.

Toyota Partner Robot version 8 Violin-Playing Robot

I love music! And to hear sounds that soothe my soul is such a beautiful experience. But to listen to a robot playing my favorite music using a real musical instrument, is magical.

Music is an art, an expression of one's emotions, says an artist. But how does a complete non-human being, like a robot, play a real sound when it does not have emotions? It can! In fact, musical robots began playing on stage since the early 80s. There was the Wabots 1 & 2 musical robots, which played the piano, developed by Waseda University (1984), Wasubot, and Mubot (1989), which can play the recorder, violin or cello automatically.

Wabot 2 (Waseda Robot 2)

These robots can actually perform and conduct orchestra with a degree of intelligence that can match halfway to a real artists'. The basic criteria of playing an instrument with a high of difficulty was achieved. Researchers who developed these robots, integrated intelligent computer applications that can translate a musical score into a language that the robot can understand (using vision and hearing sensors), and thus create a mechanical reproduction of a real sound.

Modern musical robots include Toyota's Ritchie, the drum and tuba player, Dave, the trumpeteer, and the violin-playing robot, which played Vanessa Ray's "Pomp and Circumstance" live. Other musical robots playing the instruments which require higher levels of intelligence and skills, like the guitar, clarinet and saxophones, have also been introduced lately. (I just can't get enough of 'em!)

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For more information on musical robots, see links below.

Toyota Partner Robot ver.6 Rolling Type (Drums, Tuba)

Partner Robot ver.5 Rolling Type (Trumpet ver.2) “Dave”

Toyota Violin-Playing Robot (official press release) (JP)

Guitar-Playing Robot

Ants marcing in an unbroken line

I remember when I was a child I used to memorize few rhymes about ants, like "The Ants Go Marching" and "Army Ants". Although it was observable that ants work together, help each other complete a task, and of course walking towards somewhere there's food, in a single unbroken line, I never thought these will inspire researchers to design a software that will determine the best route path for military tactics.

At the University of Granada in Spain, a researcher designed a simulator for the mobility of military troops within a battlefield based on the mechanisms used by ant colonies. This software was developed in order for the armies to define the best path, considering that such path will be covered by a company, involving the security criteria (reaching their destination with the lower number of casualties) and speed (reaching their destination as quickly as possible).

This mini-simulator works by defining the settings (in the battlefields), locating the unit and their enemies, executing the algorithms and identifying the results. In addition, the software designed offers a few tools useful to analyze both the initial map and the results.

Google Earth 5, a 3D view of the earth

Prepare yourself for a travel around the world without getting out of your seats. Explore the famous landmarks, and see the beauty of nature around the globe with just a click.

This is such an amazing technology, Google Earth lets you experience a worldwide tour without having to spend millions of dollars. It is a 3 dimensional view of the earth, where you can tilt, rotate and magnify specific locations you want to see.

Google Earth lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, from galaxies in outer space to the canyons of the ocean. You can explore rich geographical content, save your toured places, and share with others. You can actually create your own virtual planet earth!

Google Earth free download version comes with 1) historical imagery from around the globe 2) ocean floor and surface data from marine experts and 3) simplified touring with audio and voice recording. The free version of Google Earth is part of the test runs. If you want to get the full version, get Google Earth Pro for an experience that you would like to share.

Click here to download Google Earth free download version.

Here is a video on Google Earth, watch it and be amazed!

vOIce sunglasses kit

In this specific category, I have already discussed in previous articles some few technologies which can help the blinds visualize their environment. In lieu of comparison, I would like to discuss another valuable innovation which will enable the blinds to see using auditory sensors.

The vOIce, a vision technology for the totally blind developed by Peter Meijer, a Dutch scientist, allows the blind to represent visual information - to "see" - with sounds. There has been many designs created for vOIce. In its first launch, the gadget looked obtrusive, as in a camera, connected to a stereo headset is mounted on the head, and a laptop. Later designs were more comfortable, sophisticated and better visual effects. And more fashionable too.

Unlike cortical and retinal implants, vOIce, allows visualization of objects without any implants. In theory and experiment, the visual cortex can be responsive to sound, in turn translates this to images. vOIce works by using a video camera that captures and translates arbitrary images into sounds. The vOICe scans each camera snapshot from left to right, while associating height with pitch and brightness with loudness.

The vOIce Learning Edition is available in version 1.77 for Windows 95-98 to Windows 7. This synthetic vision software is a free downloadable software and has already been integrated in modern cellphone models.

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