Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Augmented Reality Humanoid Robot U-Tsu-Shi-O-Mi
U-Tsu-Shi-O-Mi is a "mixed reality" (or augmented reality) set-up that uses an otherwise featureless humanoid robot as a substrate. This prototype, created by Michihiko Shoji at Yokohama National University Venture Business Laboratory, is disturbing at a very deep level.
(U-Tsu-Shi-O-Mi augmented reality humanoid robot)
U-Tsu-Shi-O-Mi is part of a system that employs computer animation viewed through a special headset. When you put the headset on, you see a beautiful person "painted on" the featureless robot. When the robot moves, for example, to shake your hand, the computer animation "sticks" to the robot and looks continuous to you.
(U-Tsu-Shi-O-Mi augmented reality humanoid robot video)
Shoji sees arcade-style applications, but is looking for ways to reduce the cost and make it suitable for general household use. So, if I got one of these, I could look at it as a maid for a while, and then switch programs and see it as a cook, and so on.
If I were only slightly more paranoid, I could imagine the military might sneak a deadly ninja assassin robot into my house, and it would look just like my wife or my daughter, as long as I was wearing the headset. Maybe I've just been reading too many Philip K. Dick novels...
If you want to see the logical endpoint of augmented reality, take a look at the smart contact lenses of Vernor Vinge's 2006 book Rainbows End, which take the place of the bulky headset in the U-Tsu-Shi-O-Mi system.
Her hand came away from her eye. A tiny disk sat on the tip of her middle finger. It was the size and shape of the contact lenses he had known. He hadn't expected more, but... he bent closed and looked. After a moment, he realized that it was not quite a clear lens. Speckles of colored brightness swirled and gathered in it...
(Read more about Vinge's smart contact lens)
With the smart contact lenses in place, the user selects from any of a number of applications, which allow him to (for example) look at an ordinary city street, and see it covered with Christmas decorations. Or to look at a person, and see what that person would look like with a beard, or with a different set of clothes. The images on the lenses are superimposed on the real-world scene.
Augmented reality research is ongoing, but so far very few applications really meet its main objectives of combining the real and virtual worlds in a single, interactive, three-dimensional reality. But, as long as you're into it, take a look at Augmented Reality Shopping In Osaka and even take an Augmented Reality Cemetary Tour - The Dead Speak.
Via Robot Watch.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 10/12/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 8 )
Related News Stories - (" Computer ")
Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness?
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.' - Isaac Asimov, 1975.
Jetson Orin Nano Super 70 Just $249
'Rayno folded up the microterm and tucked it back inside his jumper.' - Bruce Bethke, 1983.
Automatic Bot Traffic Is 38 Percent Of HTTP Requests
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...' - John Brunner, 1975
Neuroplatform Human Brain Organoid Bioprocessor Uses Less Electricity
'Cultured brains on a slab.'- Peter Watts, 1999
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Sunday Robotics 'Memo
'He then started hand movements of definite pattern...'
Woman Marries Computer, Vonnegut's Dream Comes True
'Men are made of protoplasm... Lasts forever.'
Natural Gait With Prosthetic Connected To Nervous System
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain...'
Spidery 'Walk Me' Toyota Autonomous Wheel Chair Like Star Wars
Walk along with the emperor.
Dancing Robots Taught Dance Moves
'A clockwork figure would be the thing for you...'
Proof Of Robothood - Not A Person
'Who are you people? - Show 'em.'
Indonesian Clans Battle
'The observation vehicle was of that peculiar variety used in conveying a large number of people across rough terrain.'
The 'Last Mile' In China Crowded With Delivery Robots
Yes, it's a delivery robot. On wheels.
Tornyol Microdrone Kills Mosquitoes
'The real border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'
PLATO Spacecraft, Hunter Of Habitable Planets, Now Ready
'I ... set my automatic astronomical instruments to searching for a habitable planet.'
Factory Humanoid Robots Built By Humanoid Robots
'...haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?'
iPhone Air Fulfils Jobs' Promise From 2007 - A Giant Screen!
'... oblongs were all over the floor and surfaces.'
ChatGPT Now Participates in Group Chats
'...the city was their laboratory in human psychology.'
iPhone Pocket All Sold Out!
'A long, strong, slender net...'
Did The Yautja Have These First?
What a marvel of ingenuity the little device was!
Jetson ONE Air Races Begin, Can Air Polo Be Far Behind?
'If you're one of those rarities who haven't attended a rocket-polo "carnage", let me tell you it's a colorful affair.'
