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
LLM 'Cognitive Core' Now Evolving
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
Has Elon Musk Given Up On Mars?
'There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.'
Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
When Your Child's Best Friend Is An AI
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
China's Drone Mothership Can Carry 100 Drones
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
Drones Recharge In Mid-Air Like Jets Refuel!
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
Australian Authors Reject AI Training Of Llama
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
Is China Mining Helium-3 On The Moon's Farside?
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
Maybe It's Too Soon To Require Autonomous Mode
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
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.'
Heat Waver - The First Ever Combo Solar Collector And Wind Turbine
'...like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
Tesla 'Fleet Response Agents' Bolster FSD Autonomy
'You hate the whole idea that some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre has got your life... in his hands.'
Mori3 Autonomous Shapeshifting Robot
'My homeland is being threatened by the Replicators. Thus far all attempts to stop them have failed.'
Tesla Seeks 'Tesla Robotaxi' And 'Robobus' Trademarks Ignoring Prior Art
'A robobus had just rolled up to the curb.'
Scary Grid Safety Robots
'The ultimate horror for our paranoid culture...'
Does AI Provide A Way Forward For Talk Therapy
'And there in the next room by the sofa sat a familiar suitcase, that of his psychiatrist Dr. Smile.'
