Daily Archives: June 29, 2017

The one law of robotics: Humans must flourish – BBC News – BBC News

Posted: June 29, 2017 at 11:18 am


BBC News
The one law of robotics: Humans must flourish - BBC News
BBC News
Can we simplify the laws of robotics, governing the intelligent machines we will soon live alongside?

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The Robotarium: A remotely accessible swarm robotics research testbed – Robohub

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Figure 8: Example of a 15 robot swarm of GRITSBots on the arena surface of the second instantiation of the Robotarium.

When developing algorithms for coordinating the behaviors of swarms of robots it is crucial that the algorithms are actually deployed and tested on real hardware platforms. Unfortunately, building and maintaining a swarm robotics testbed is a resource-intense proposition and, as a consequence, resources rather than ideas tend to be the bottleneck and swarm robotics research does not progress at the rate it could. The Robotarium sets out to remedy this problem by providing remote access to a large team of robots, where users can upload their code, run the experiments remotely, and get the scientific data back. This article describes the structure and architecture of the Robotarium as well as discusses what constitutes an effective, remotely accessible research platform.

This paper won the IEEE Robotics & AutomationBest Multi-Robot Systems Award at ICRA 2017.

The Robotarium Vision

As a swarm-robotic research testbed, the Robotariums main goal is to lower the barrier of entrance into multi-agent robotics and provide access to a state-of-the-art test facility for researchers around the globe. Remote accessibility is therefore an integral part of the design of the Robotarium and is currently realized through a public web interface that gives users the flexibility to test a variety of multi-robot algorithms. Making robotic hardware available online requires the Robotarium to tackle a number of challenges including robust and safe long-term operation of large groups of robots with minimal operator intervention.

In particular, the continuous operation of the Robotarium highlights the need for automated maintenance, which relies on global position tracking, automated battery recharging, and provably collision-free execution of motion paths. To fulfill its intended use effectively, the Robotarium has to implement a number of high-level design requirements that can be summarized as follows:

Robotarium Instantiations

The Robotarium aims to improve and streamline the user experience and facilitate the control of swarms of mobile robots not just for researchers well-versed in robotics but also for interested hobbyists and students. Part of this desired user experience is achieved by providing a seamless transition from prototyping swarm algorithms in the Robotarium simulator to executing the same code on robotic hardware. While methods as outlined in the Usage section below can narrow the gap between simulation and hardware, the initial prototypes of the Robotarium made clear that tight integration between its hardware and software components is highly beneficial.

Therefore, the Robotarium contains custom-designed robots that use a novel wireless charging system, WiFi-based wireless communication between the robots and the Robotariums servers, as well as an overhead position tracking system. The software stack extends from custom firmware for the robots to server backend software consisting of the simulation infrastructure, interaction components (APIs that allow users to write their algorithms in higher-level languages), and coordinating server applications. A detailed description of all these components can be found in [1] while an overview of the system architecture is shown in Figure 1. Here, we just want to highlight the components that set the Robotarium apart, namely its custom miniature robots and their novel wireless charging system that enables automated maintenance and charging.

Robots: At the core of the Robotarium are our custom-designed GRITSBot robots (shown in Figure 2). These inexpensive, miniature differential drive robots simplify operation and maintenance of the Robotarium through features such as (i) automated registration with the server when powered up, (ii) automatic battery charging, and (iii) wireless (re)programming. The GRITSBots provide WiFi-based communication, battery-powered operation up to 45 minutes per charge, and stepper motor-based locomotion. Additionally, these robots are equipped with a slew of introspective sensors that enable predictive diagnostics through precise monitoring of their internal states.

Charging: The GRITSBots are equipped with a wireless charging system. A receiver coil is attached to the robot (see Figure 2 (right)) and transmitters are built into the Robotarium arena surface (see Figure 3 and 4). Automatic recharging of robots is an essential aspect that will enable the long-term use of robots and the automated management of the Robotarium hardware with minimal operator intervention and at the same time make the continuous operation of the Robotarium economically feasible.

To date, three versions of the Robotarium have been built.

Safety on the Robotarium

One of the main challenges faced by remote-access testbeds like the Robotarium is how to faithfully execute remote users instructions without endangering the safety of its hardware. Inter-robot collisions are very likely to happen within a large team of robots, which might result in significant damage to the equipment. Safety on the Robotarium is enforced through so-called safety barrier certificates. Each of the robots is encapsulated in a safety bubble whose size is based on the position and velocity of the robot. This safety bubble is not allowed to be penetrated by other robots. Utilizing these mathematically rigorously formulated certificates, users control inputs to the robots are modified in a minimally invasive fashion such that no collisions will occur. With the help of safety barrier certificates, remote users experiments can be safely performed on the Robotarium. An example of ten robots successfully executing individual trajectories while avoiding collisions is shown in Figure 6 (a video of this experiment can be found on the Robotariums Youtube channel).

Usage

Users interact with the Robotarium by prototyping their code in the Robotariums simulator and submitting their code online via the Robotarium website. This workflow allows users to quickly and efficiently transfer their preexisting work into a Robotarium-compatible format and see their algorithms work on real robots. To ensure a smooth transition from simulator to physical hardware, the Robotarium employs system identification techniques to ensure that these simulated robots emulate the GRITSbots. However, depending on their complexity, some experiments require a few simulation/deployment cycles before achieving the desired result. To ameliorate this condition, the Robotarium aims to operate 24/7, providing a quick turnaround time for users.

This ambitious operating schedule allows users from around the world to interact with the Robotarium in their preferred time frame. However, automating such a complex system incurs some challenges that the Robotarium solves through both hardware and software. For example, the Robotarium and the GRITSbot employ wireless charging to ensure a high degree of reliability and efficiency in autonomous operation. Additionally, the Robotarium regularly undergoes maintenance procedures, which typically range from 2-8 hours in length, ensuring that the requisite hardware is operating correctly. The Robotarium also employs state-of-the-art software packages to meet this operating goal, such as the IoT-friendly MQTT publish/subscribe architecture and Docker.

Altogether, these hardware and software developments allow the Robotarium to service a wide array of users. To date, over 100 users have submitted experiments to the Robotarium. Institutions that have used the Robotarium include the University of Texas Austin, the Tokyo Institute of Technology, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Along with these institutional partners, the Robotarium typically executes 1-2 experiments per day, a number that continuous to grow, from remote users in different countries around the world.

Reference:

First printed: Pickem, D.; Glotfelter, P.; Wang, L.; Mote, M.; Ames, A.; Feron, E. & Egerstedt, M., The Robotarium: A remotely accessible swarm robotics research testbed. In 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), (2017) (Best Multi-Robot Systems Paper)

Image citations:

Figure 1, 2, 7:

Pickem, D.; Glotfelter, P.; Wang, L.; Mote, M.; Ames, A.; Feron, E. & Egerstedt, M., The Robotarium: A remotely accessible swarm robotics research testbed. In 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), (2017) (Best Multi-Robot Systems Paper)

Figure 3, 4, 5, 6, 8: Newly created images.

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The Robotarium: A remotely accessible swarm robotics research testbed - Robohub

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Industrial robotics security is really, really terrible / Boing Boing – Boing Boing

Posted: at 11:18 am

Researchers from Politecnico di Milano and Trend Micro conducted an audit of the information security design of commonly used industrial robots and found that these devices are extremely insecure: robots could be easily reprogrammed to violate their safety parameters, both by distorting the robots' ability to move accurately and by changing the movements the robots attempt to perform; hacked robots can also be made to perform movements with more force than is safe; normal safety measures that limit speed and force can be disabled; robots can be made to falsify their own telemetry, fooling human operators; emergency manual override switches can be disabled or hidden; robots can be silently switched from manual to automatic operation, making them move suddenly and forcefully while dangerously close to oblivious, trusting humans; and of course, robots can be caused to manufacture faulty goods that have to be remanufactured or scrapped.

All of this is possible because industrial robotic control systems lack even the most basic security -- instead of cryptographically hashing passwords, they store them in the clear (with a single, deterministic XOR operation to provide a useless hurdle against hackers); controllers expose an FTP process during bootup that accepts new firmware loads without authentication; network-level commands are not encrypted or signed; controllers use hardcoded usernames and passwords; memory corruption attacks are easy and devastating; the runtimes for the control instructions are poorly isolated from other processes -- the paper goes on and on.

Industrial robots epitomize all the problems of the Internet of Shit -- operators who have little or no security expertise, a lack of easy updating, and lazy, sloppy design. But whereas killing someone with the Internet of Shit involves things like turning off the heat in February in Minnesota, industrial robots are giant, barely constrained killing machines.

We explored, theoretically and experimentally, the challenges and impacts of the security of modern industrial robots. We built an attacker model, and showed how an attacker can compromise a robot controller and gain full control of the robot, altering the production process. We explored the potential impacts of such attacks and experimentally evaluated the resilience of a widespread model of industrial robot (representative of a de facto standard architecture) against cyber attacks. We then discussed the domain-specific barriers that make smooth adoption of countermeasures a challenging task.

Interesting future research directions include exploring multi-robot deployments, co-bots, and the safety and security implications of the adoption of wireless connections. Also, an improved survey would produce statistically significant results. We definitely plan to analyze controllers from other vendors, to further confirm the generality of our approach.

An Experimental Security Analysis of an Industrial Robot Controller [Davide Quarta, Marcello Pogliani, Mario Polino, Federico Maggi, Andrea Maria Zanchettin, and Stefano Zanero/Industrial Robots Security]

(via 4 Short Links)

University of Tulsa security researchers Jason Staggs and his colleagues will present Adventures in Attacking Wind Farm Control Networks at this years Black Hat conference, detailing the work they did penetration-testing windfarms.

Yesterdays massive ransomware outbreak of a mutant, NSA-supercharged strain of the Petya malware is still spreading, but the malwares author made a mere $10K off it and will likely not see a penny more, because Posteo, the German email provider the crook used for ransom payment negotiations, shut down their account.

Petya is a well-known ransomware app that has attained a new, deadly virulence, with thousands of new infection attempts hitting Kaspersky Labs honeypots; security firm Avira attributes this new hardiness to the incorporation of EternalBlue the same NSA cyberweapon that the Wannacry ransomware used, which was published by The Shadow Brokers hacker group []

Aside from specific apps needed for work, the most casual Mac users can probably survive without anything more than the bundled software. iLife is a surprisingly capable office suite (Apple even promotes Keynote as a tool for interface design), and recent versions of Safari are more energy efficient than any other macOS-compatible browser. But if []

Despite the upfront cost, electric toothbrushes are much better at removing plaque than those freebies from the dentists office. For those who struggle to fill the American Dental Associations recommended two minutes of brushing time, or anyone with limited dexterity, a sonic toothbrush can give your oral care routine a boost.To keep your chops healthy []

Learning a new language will give your resume an upgrade, sure, but it will also provide a huge cognitive boost for mental tasks outside of translation and conversation. Bilingual brains have been shown to be better at handling multiple concurrent tasks, and gaining fluency in a new tongue is an amazing way to improve memory, []

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Smith & Nephew expands NAVIO Robotics-assisted surgery system into Total Knee replacements – PR Newswire (press release)

Posted: at 11:18 am

"The NAVIO system offers game changing improvements in precision and accuracy without sacrificing efficiency. It allows surgeons the control to create a patient-specific plan in the OR and the confidence to execute with robotic precision," says Dr Joseph Burkhardt from southwest Michigan. "For the Total Knee, it provides surgeons the ability to do more than they have ever been able to do with standard instruments, resulting in improved functional outcomes for the patient."

"The NAVIO partial knee replacement application has been commercially available since 2014, including UKA and PFJ options, and has developed a strong surgeon following," said Glenn Warner, President, US Commercial. "The full market release of the TKA application provides a robotics-assisted solution for one of the largest markets in orthopaedics. Smith & Nephew is committed to continued expansion and growth of the NAVIO robotics-assisted platform."

About Smith & Nephew

Smith & Nephew is a global medical technology business dedicated to helping healthcare professionals improve people's lives. With leadership positions in Orthopaedic Reconstruction, Advanced Wound Management, Sports Medicine and Trauma & Extremities, Smith & Nephew has around 15,000 employees and a presence in more than 100 countries. Annual sales in 2016 were almost $4.7 billion. Smith & Nephew is a member of the FTSE100 (LSE:SN, NYSE: SNN).

For more information about Smith & Nephew, please visit our website http://www.smith-nephew.com, follow @SmithNephewplc on Twitter or visit SmithNephewplc on Facebook.com.

Forward-looking StatementsThis document may contain forward-looking statements that may or may not prove accurate. For example, statements regarding expected revenue growth and trading margins, market trends and our product pipeline are forward-looking statements. Phrases such as "aim", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "well-placed", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target", "consider" and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from what is expressed or implied by the statements. For Smith & Nephew, these factors include: economic and financial conditions in the markets we serve, especially those affecting health care providers, payers and customers; price levels for established and innovative medical devices; developments in medical technology; regulatory approvals, reimbursement decisions or other government actions; product defects or recalls or other problems with quality management systems or failure to comply with related regulations; litigation relating to patent or other claims; legal compliance risks and related investigative, remedial or enforcement actions; disruption to our supply chain or operations or those of our suppliers; competition for qualified personnel; strategic actions, including acquisitions and dispositions, our success in performing due diligence, valuing and integrating acquired businesses; disruption that may result from transactions or other changes we make in our business plans or organisation to adapt to market developments; and numerous other matters that affect us or our markets, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or reputational nature. Please refer to the documents that Smith & Nephew has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including Smith & Nephew's most recent annual report on Form 20-F, for a discussion of certain of these factors. Any forward-looking statement is based on information available to Smith & Nephew as of the date of the statement. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to Smith & Nephew are qualified by this caution. Smith & Nephew does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in circumstances or in Smith & Nephew's expectations.

Trademark of Smith & Nephew. Certain marks registered US Patent and Trademark Office.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/smith--nephew-expands-navio-robotics-assisted-surgery-system-into-total-knee-replacements-300481704.html

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http://www.smith-nephew.com

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Smith & Nephew expands NAVIO Robotics-assisted surgery system into Total Knee replacements - PR Newswire (press release)

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Dogtopia To Award One Lucky Pet Parent with a Year of Free Dog Daycare – Business Wire (press release)

Posted: at 11:17 am

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Does your dog make the best faces? You know, those tongue out, eyes closed and grin from ear-to-ear kind of faces? Dogtopia, the nations leading doggie daycare center, is looking to showcase those playful, happy and excited doggie faces in The Most Exciting Day Ever contest for the chance to win a year of free doggie daycare!

Inviting all dog lovers to participate in The Most Exciting Day Ever Contest, Dogtopia is asking pet parents to share their favorite photos of their best furry friends at http://www.dogtopia.com/contest for the puppy-loving community to see. From Wednesday, June 28 to Monday, August 28, pet parents across the US and Canada are encouraged to visit Dogtopias website to vote on which pup has the best most exciting day ever face. The dog with the most votes will receive one year of free daycare at a Dogtopia location.

Were excited to create a platform where pet parents across North America can learn about the benefits of dog daycare and show off their best furry friends, stated Neil Gill, CEO of Dogtopia. At Dogtopia, we make every day the most exciting day ever for our furry guests by socializing, exercising and educating them. This contest is a way for Dogtopia to reward one happy pup with the most exciting year ever in a safe, fun, open-play environment.

With 50 locations across North America, Dogtopia is now the largest provider of specialty daycare in the United States. The brands continual growth and innovation in pet hospitality has been largely recognized, as theFranchise Times recently ranked them as the best franchise to buy in the annual Zor Awards. Additionally, Dogtopia was ranked #215 onEntrepreneurs2017 Top 500 franchises in the US. Building on this momentum, it is excited to expand its footprint into more than 15 new states this year.

To treat your BFFF (Best Furry Friend Forever) to a years worth of free daycare, please enter by uploading a photo of your dog at http://www.dogtopia.com/contest. Participants can visit the Dogtopia website to cast one vote per day the dog with the most votes by August 28 wins! For more information on the Most Exciting Day Ever contest or Dogtopia, please visit http://www.dogtopia.com/contest.

About Dogtopia

Founded in 2002, Dogtopia is an early pioneer and innovator in the pet services industry, offering an experience focused on safety and transparency in the market. With an emphasis on education, exercise and socialization for dogs, pet parents have the assurance of leaving their beloved furry family members in the hands of trained professionals in an environment created with the safety of dogs in mind. Each facility averages between 3,5007,500 square feet and is specially designed to provide dogs and pet parents with the best experience by reducing odors, noise level, illness and accidents. With 50 locations across North America, the brand is now the largest provider of specialty daycare in the United States and will continue expansion by franchising with successful entrepreneurs. For more information, visit http://www.dogtopia.com or http://www.dogtopia.com/contest.

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Dogtopia To Award One Lucky Pet Parent with a Year of Free Dog Daycare - Business Wire (press release)

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Google Is Experimenting With Virtual Reality Advertising – Fortune

Posted: at 11:17 am

Clay Bavor, VP of Virtual Reality for Google, introduces the Daydream View VR headset during the presentation of new Google hardware in San Francisco.Beck Diefenbach Reuters

There aren't many people currently using virtual reality yet, but that doesnt mean Google isnt looking at how to advertise to them.

Google debuted a new project Wednesday thats exploring ways to show online ads in virtual reality. The new project is part of Googles Area 120 workshop that the company is using for its employees to quickly test new ideas to see if they can become actual products.

It makes sense that Google is exploring advertising in VR, considering the search giant derives the bulk of its revenue from online ads. Google is also pitching the experiment as way for developers to eventually make money building VR apps, besides just selling them online, according a blog post.

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According to an animated GIF created by Google ( goog ) , the VR ad prototype resembles a small cube with corporate logos adorned on all sides. By either clicking on the cube or staring at it long enough, people can trigger the cube to generate a small screen above that shows a video ad, sort of like a small clown might burst out of a jack-in-the-box toy.

Googles work on VR ads is still early in development, so its unlikely people will see similar ads emerge in virtual worlds. The company is currently seeking developers to test the project via the Google cardboard headset, Daydream VR platform, and the Samsung Gear VR headset.

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Google did not reveal if versions of its VR ads would work on competing VR platforms, like Facebooks ( fb ) Oculus Rift headset, the HTC ( htc ) Vive headset, or Sony's ( sne ) Playstation VR.

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Google Is Experimenting With Virtual Reality Advertising - Fortune

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Google experimenting with new virtual reality ads that react to users’ eyes – The Independent

Posted: at 11:17 am

Designed by Pierpaolo Lazzarini from Italian company Jet Capsule. The I.F.O. is fuelled by eight electric engines, which is able to push the flying object to an estimated top speed of about 120mph.

Jet Capsule/Cover Images

A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore

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A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore

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Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea

Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images

Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea

Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images

The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company

Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images

Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea

Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images

Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi

Rex

Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session

Rex

A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

Reuters

A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

Reuters

A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China

Rex

A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China

Reuters

A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China

Reuters

A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London

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A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv

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Electrification Guru Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart talks about the electric Jaguar I-PACE concept SUV before it was unveiled before the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S

Reuters

The Jaguar I-PACE Concept car is the start of a new era for Jaguar. This is a production preview of the Jaguar I-PACE, which will be revealed next year and on the road in 2018

AP

Japan's On-Art Corp's CEO Kazuya Kanemaru poses with his company's eight metre tall dinosaur-shaped mechanical suit robot 'TRX03' and other robots during a demonstration in Tokyo, Japan

Reuters

Japan's On-Art Corp's eight metre tall dinosaur-shaped mechanical suit robot 'TRX03'

Reuters

Japan's On-Art Corp's eight metre tall dinosaur-shaped mechanical suit robot 'TRX03' performs during its unveiling in Tokyo, Japan

Reuters

Singulato Motors co-founder and CEO Shen Haiyin poses in his company's concept car Tigercar P0 at a workshop in Beijing, China

Reuters

The interior of Singulato Motors' concept car Tigercar P0 at a workshop in Beijing, China

Reuters

Singulato Motors' concept car Tigercar P0

Reuters

A picture shows Singulato Motors' concept car Tigercar P0 at a workshop in Beijing, China

Reuters

Connected company president Shigeki Tomoyama addresses a press briefing as he elaborates on Toyota's "connected strategy" in Tokyo. The Connected company is a part of seven Toyota in-house companies that was created in April 2016

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A Toyota Motors employee demonstrates a smartphone app with the company's pocket plug-in hybrid (PHV) service on the cockpit of the latest Prius hybrid vehicle during Toyota's "connected strategy" press briefing in Tokyo

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An exhibitor charges the battery cells of AnyWalker, an ultra-mobile chasis robot which is able to move in any kind of environment during Singapore International Robo Expo

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A robot with a touch-screen information apps stroll down the pavillon at the Singapore International Robo Expo

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An exhibitor demonstrates the AnyWalker, an ultra-mobile chasis robot which is able to move in any kind of environment during Singapore International Robo Expo

Getty

Robotic fishes swim in a water glass tank displayed at the Korea pavillon during Singapore International Robo Expo

Getty

An employee shows a Samsung Electronics' Gear S3 Classic during Korea Electronics Show 2016 in Seoul, South Korea

Reuters

Visitors experience Samsung Electronics' Gear VR during the Korea Electronics Grand Fair at an exhibition hall in Seoul, South Korea

Getty

Amy Rimmer, Research Engineer at Jaguar Land Rover, demonstrates the car manufacturer's Advanced Highway Assist in a Range Rover, which drives the vehicle, overtakes and can detect vehicles in the blind spot, during the first demonstrations of the UK Autodrive Project at HORIBA MIRA Proving Ground in Nuneaton, Warwickshire

PA wire

Chris Burbridge, Autonomous Driving Software Engineer for Tata Motors European Technical Centre, demonstrates the car manufacturer's GLOSA V2X functionality, which is connected to the traffic lights and shares information with the driver, during the first demonstrations of the UK Autodrive Project at HORIBA MIRA Proving Ground in Nuneaton, Warwickshire

PA wire

Ford EEBL Emergency Electronic Brake Lights is demonstrated during the first demonstrations of the UK Autodrive Project at HORIBA MIRA Proving Ground in Nuneaton, Warwickshire

PA

Full-scale model of 'Kibo' on display at the Space Dome exhibition hall of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Tsukuba Space Center, in Tsukuba, north-east of Tokyo, Japan

EPA

Miniatures on display at the Space Dome exhibition hall of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Tsukuba Space Center, in Tsukuba, north-east of Tokyo, Japan. In its facilities, JAXA develop satellites and analyse their observation data, train astronauts for utilization in the Japanese Experiment Module 'Kibo' of the International Space Station (ISS) and develop launch vehicles

EPA

The robot developed by Seed Solutions sings and dances to the music during the Japan Robot Week 2016 at Tokyo Big Sight. At this biennial event, the participating companies exhibit their latest service robotic technologies and components

Getty

The robot developed by Seed Solutions sings and dances to music during the Japan Robot Week 2016 at Tokyo Big Sight

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Government and industry are working together on a robot-like autopilot system that could eliminate the need for a second human pilot in the cockpit

AP

Aurora Flight Sciences' technicians work on an Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automantion System (ALIAS) device in the firm's Centaur aircraft at Manassas Airport in Manassas, Va.

AP

Stefan Schwart and Udo Klingenberg preparing a self-built flight simulator to land at Hong Kong airport, from Rostock, Germany

EPA

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Google experimenting with new virtual reality ads that react to users' eyes - The Independent

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This Scrappy Virtual Reality Company Sold to AOL. It All Started With a Nepal Earthquake, Some GoPros, and Susan … – Inc.com

Posted: at 11:17 am

Bryn Mooser is the co-founder of Ryot Films, which produces media for immersive formats like virtual reality and 360-degree video. He started thinking about transformative technology while working as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa, living on the edge of the Sahel in a region that had cell-phone towers--but had never had landlines. Ryot initially published news stories that enabled readers to take social actions, and then pivoted into immersive video. In 2016, Mooser and his co-founder, David Darg, sold Ryot to AOL. --As told to Jeff Bercovici

As someone who's covered humanitarian crises as a journalist and a filmmaker for years, I've always felt that traditional filmmaking and photography were limited. When you walk into a war zone or someplace after a natural disaster with a traditional camera or video recorder, you can capture only one thing. That's frustrating. There's nothing like actually standing where you can understand the scale of these things. When I saw VR for the first time a couple of years ago, I thought this could be an incredibly powerful medium to give people a totally new perspective.

We were the first group to show a VR film at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was about solitary confinement. At the after-party, a friend showed me a prototype of the Hero 360 rig, which is just a bunch of GoPros in a 3-D-printed case. That was when the light bulb went off for us. I knew all of our filmmakers around the world could shoot on GoPros and, more important, that they knew how to fix them in the field. I knew we could figure out the stitching part with our postproduction team.

Then, the next day, the Nepal earthquake happened. My business partner, David, was going there to provide humanitarian aid. I called up the kid who had the camera and David took it with him. Anytime he wasn't delivering aid, he put the camera on. I'd worked in Haiti with Susan Sarandon, and she agreed to do a voiceover. About a week later, we showed the video outside a film festival in Telluride. We couldn't get it programmed in the festival, so we just set it up on a park bench with a Samsung VR headset and we put it on people.

We called it the Nepal Quake Project. It was the first time VR had been shot in a natural disaster area. Every day, we'd go to the street corner to set up and there would be a line of people waiting, and a lot of those people, when they took off the headset, they were crying.

Our gamble was mobile-first, 360-degree storytelling for socially distributed platforms like Facebook and YouTube. If we could make more 360 films than anybody else, then the second those platforms launched, all those publishers and brands would call us. Sure enough, the day after Facebook launched Facebook 360, we got inundated with emails from media brands and advertisers.

As the company was growing and we had more interest in what we were doing, we were about 20 really scrappy kids in a garage in Venice, California. There were six of us at the time, including myself, who were sleeping on the floor of the office, because we were investing every single dollar back into the company. When our film Body Team 12 was nominated for an Oscar, we had no money for an apartment, no money for a tuxedo. I had worked in Haiti with Kenneth Cole, the designer, so I called him and he made tuxedos for David and me. I think I was probably the only Oscar nominee who didn't have a home to go back to.

What AOL loved about us was that spirit. At the time, a year and a half ago, we weren't really thinking about acquisition. We were focused on raising a Series A. We had a lot of options, but I realized I just couldn't raise money anymore. I couldn't go to another lunch and have a Cobb salad and iced tea and talk about how great my company was. It was taking me out of the field and out of being with my team. What we wanted to do was stop raising money and just put our heads down and start building big.

At Oath, which is what the merger of AOL and Yahoo is going to be called, you have two big companies that have their own ways of thinking about original content and branded content. I'm helping them rethink production and how original content is made and also bringing a lot of new formats to all the brands with virtual reality, augmented reality, and 360. We still bring the same spirit to our work every day. But now I can afford a house.

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This Scrappy Virtual Reality Company Sold to AOL. It All Started With a Nepal Earthquake, Some GoPros, and Susan ... - Inc.com

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Virtual Reality Porn? VRotica VR Headset Starts Selling: First Look … – Variety

Posted: at 11:17 am

Cambridge, U.K.-based virtual reality (VR) startup Hologram just beat tech giants like Google and HTC to the punch by releasing a standalone VR headset that works without a computer or a phone. Then again, Hologram is arguably playing in a league of its own: Its VRotica headset only plays porn, and nothing else.

Hologram started selling the VRotica headset for $220 online Tuesday, promising consumers access to triple-X-rated 3D VR content from Badoink, a studio that already operates a network of VR porn sites and has produced some 300 plus such videos to date.

The headset ships with six videos preloaded, and gives consumers the ability to buy additional content on a per-title basis.In the near future, Hologram aims to also sell content from other studios as well as user-generated uploads to VRotica users, with plans to have more than 1000 videos available before the end of the year. And eventually, the company plans to include live streaming as well as simple adult-themed games as well.

Virtual reality and pornography is not a new combination. Producers of adult content have been trying to capitalize on the new medium ever since Facebook-owned Oculus kicked off the new virtual reality boom in 2013. Most major VR headset manufacturers have tolerated adult content on their devices, but closed off their content and app stores to porn studios.

This has forced consumers to do whats often called side-loading to get access to this type of content: They have to download it to their PCs, or mobile devices, and then find ways to transfer and play the videos. Hologram co-founder Deniz Opal told Variety that his company was looking to simplify this process with the release of the VRotica headset. VRotica allows us to streamline the delivery of immersive adult entertainment, without any of the many distractions found on other systems, he said.

This focus on adult video content, as well as the comparably low price, also means that VRotica is essentially selling stripped-down hardware thats missing many of the features now common on other VR headsets. There is no external controller or touchpad to interact with the content. Instead, VRotica can be a controller via a series of simple buttons on both sides of the headset. And with its focus on VR video, the headset doesnt offer any type of positional tracking.

The headset, which Variety was able to review exclusively ahead of its official launch, features what can best be described as adequate video playback quality. VRoticas display comes with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixel, and a field-of view of 83 degrees. As a comparison, the latest Gear VR, when combined with a Samsung Galaxy S8, features a field-of-view of 101 degrees and a display resolution of 2960 by 1440 pixels.

In laymans terms, this means that the image quality of Samsungs Gear VR headset notably better than that of VRoticas headset. Then again, the content playable on the VRotica device also doesnt require a whole lot of bells and whistles.

Without getting into too many juicy details, most VR porn videos follow the same basic formula: One actor (typically but not always male) is filmed from the chest down, sitting or lying and initially not doing much else. Then another actor (typically but not always female) appears and initiates the undressing, and whatever else follows after. Its what the industry calls point-of-view, or POV, and it is meant to give viewers the ability to imagine themselves as part of the action.

Most of that action predictably happens more or less in the center of ones field-of-view, and can be viewed without ever really moving ones head. In other words: Theres really no reason to ever look over your shoulder or marvel at the scenery. That also explains why most adult VR videos at this point are recorded as 180-degree videos. Ironically, YouTube just realized that the same is true for many non-adult VR videos, which is why the Google-owned video platform introduced 180VR as a 180-degree video format.

Speaking of which: Its often said that the porn industry is leading the charge in adopting new technologies. Thats sort of true for the VRotica headset as well, albeit with some caveats. Both Google and Facebook have announced that they are working on standalone headsets that wont require computer or phones, and Googles hardware partners HTC and Lenovo are set to release standalone Daydream devices later this year.

Specs-wise, these devices surely will beat VRoticas hardware on many fronts, which also means that it wasnt that hard to get something much more basic out of the door. However, more advanced standalone devices will also likely cost at least three times as much which is a lot of money for people who primarily want to watch adult content.

Time will tell if thats really a big market, but Hologram is betting that focusing on just one slice of content is the right path forward for other content genres as well and the company has some experience producing VR content for a variety of genres, ranging from horror games to apps for medical treatments. Adult is the first niche we are looking at, but plan to use the same model for other niche markets, said Opal.

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A Virtual Reality Arcade Isn’t Going to Be Science Fiction Much Longer – Westword

Posted: at 11:17 am

Wednesday, June 28, 2017 at 7:50 a.m.

Lakewood entrepreneur Victoria Merchant wanted to create a fun, family-friendly alternative to late-night bowling alleys. In February, she had a lightbulb moment: virtual reality.

"VR has been on the back burner lately, I think," says Merchant. "Developers and makers wanted to go straight to consumers, but it didn't work as anticipated, because the equipment is still expensive."

Instead, Merchant saw virtual-reality arcades, where customerswould be able to try out and enjoy the latest, most advanced VR technology,as the next step in VR entertainment without the prohibitive costs.

The entrepreneur commissioned Nathan Hostetler, a techie acquaintance, to build computers for a soon-to-launch Denver VR arcade. After trying the virtual-reality equipment, Hostetler signed on.

This weekend, the duo will celebrate the grand opening of Head Games VR, the first virtual-reality arcade in the greater Denver area. AtHead Games VR, there will be three large play stations, where customers of all ages and backgrounds will be able to use HTC Vive headsets to engage in everything from experiential virtual reality to avid video gaming. More anxious customers might want to avoid games like Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, where partners help instruct a friend to diffuse a bomb a terrifying scenario in virtual reality.

In the future, the entrepreneur hopes the facility will grow to include eight HTC Vive headsets, so friends can play four vs. four multiplayer games. Additionally, a "mixed reality" room is in the works, where customers will enter a green room and film themselves inside of a virtual world. Merchant also hopes to offer this room as a facility for developers to film demos for their games.

"We don't want this to be a typical mall arcade," she says. "We want people to enjoy coming here with friends and family, and we want to take suggestions from customers; we want to create a community."

On Saturday, July 1, Head Games VR will host an opening-night after-party for Comic Con, which runs June 30 to July 2. At the event, there will be giveaways, raffles, a tournament, and five minutes on the equipment per customer, free of charge. Game developers, including Colorado's LIMN Interactive,willdemo new titles.

The arcade opens its doors officially onJuly 2.

Head Games VR's Comic Con After Party, 8 p.m., Saturday, July 1, 9655 West Colfax Avenue, Unit C, Lakewood. For more information, go to Head Game VR's Facebook page.

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A Virtual Reality Arcade Isn't Going to Be Science Fiction Much Longer - Westword

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