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
Golf Ball Test Robot Wears Them Out
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
Boring Company Vegas Loop Like Asimov Said
'There was a wall ahead... It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
Rigid Metallic Clothing From Science Fiction To You
'...support the interior human structure against Jupiter’s pull.'
Is The Seattle Ultrasonics C-200 A Heinlein Vibroblade?
'It ain't a vibroblade. It's steel. Messy.'
Roborock Saros Z70 Is A Robot Vacuum With An Arm
'Anything larger than a BB shot it picked up and placed in a tray...'
A Beautiful Visualization Of Compact Food
'The German chemists have discovered how to supply the needed elements in compact, undiluted form...'
Bone-Building Drug Evenity Approved
'Compounds devised by the biochemists for the rapid building of bone...'
Secret Kill Switch Found In Yutong Buses
'The car faltered as the external command came to brake...'
Inmotion Electric Unicycle In Combat
'It is about the size and shape of a kitchen stool, gyro-stabilized...'
Grok Scores Best In Psychological Tests
'Try to find out how he ticks...'
PaXini Supersensitive Robot Fingers
'My fingers are not that sensitive...'
Congress Considers Automatic Emergency Braking, One Hundred Years Too Late
'The greatest problem of all was the elimination of the human element of braking together with its inevitable time lag.'
The Desert Ship Sailed In Imagination
'Across the ancient sea floor a dozen tall, blue-sailed Martian sand ships floated, like blue smoke.'
The Zapata Air Scooter Would Be Great In A Science Fiction Story
'Betty's slapdash style.'
Thermostabilized Wet Meat Product (NASA Prototype)
There are no orbiting Michelin stars. Yet.
Could Crystal Batteries Generate Power For Centuries?
'Power could be compressed thus into an inch-square cube of what looked like blue-white ice'
