April 2007
Emma Young
Magazine issue 2598
TWO days before his 40th birthday, Michael Marin of New York suffered a stroke that left him paralysed on one side of his body. After three years of physiotherapy, he had regained control of his left leg, but not the use of his arm.
In an attempt to recover some arm movement, last August Marin began three months of therapy with two trial robotic rehabilitation devices. He is now able to do push-ups. "They're not perfect gym push-ups, but I'm getting there," he says.
Each year 700,000 people in the US and 130,000 in the UK suffer a stroke, making it the biggest cause of severe disability in both countries. Standard physiotherapy can work well for some people, but it is expensive so patients often spend only a short time with a therapist. The standard of therapy can also vary hugely between practitioners, producing variable results. Improving stroke rehabilitation could ...
The complete article is 1389 words long.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Monday, April 2, 2007
New Bar Codes Can Talk To Your Cellphone
It sounds like something straight out of a futuristic film: House hunters, driving past a for-sale sign, stop and point their cellphone at the sign. With a click, their cellphone screen displays the asking price, the number of bedrooms and baths and lots of other details about the house.
Media experts say that cellphones, the Swiss Army knives of technology, are quickly heading in this direction. New technology, already in use in parts of Asia but still in development in the United States, allows the phones to connect everyday objects with the Internet.
In their new incarnation, cellphones become a sort of digital remote control, as one CBS executive put it. With a wave, the phone can read encoded information on everyday objects and translate that into videos, pictures or text files on its screen.
“The cellphone is the natural tool to combine the physical world with the digital world,” that executive, Cyriac Roeding, the head of mobile-phone applications for CBS, said the other day.
In Japan, McDonald's customers can already point their cellphones at the wrapping on their hamburgers and get nutrition information on their screens. Users there can also point their phones at magazine ads to receive insurance quotes, and board airplanes using their phones rather than paper tickets. And film promoters can send their movie trailers from billboards.
Advertisers say they are interested in offering similar capabilities in the United States, but cellphones in the States do not come with the necessary software. For now, consumers have to download the technology themselves.
Still, big advertising and technology companies like Hewlett-Packard and the Publicis Groupe, an advertising conglomerate, are pushing to popularize the technology here.
Until now, in most parts of the world, Web surfing has been separate from everyday activities like riding the train, watching television and driving. But the new technology may erode that distinction.
“You’ve picked up this product, and you don’t want to go back to your PC,” said Tim Kindberg, a senior research at the Bristol, England, lab of Hewlett-Packard. “Or you’re outside this building, and you want more information. We call it the ‘physical hyperlink’.”
In much the same way that Web publishing took off because of the ability to link to other people’s sites, cellphone technologies linking everyday objects with the Web would reveal the digitally encoded attributes of tangible things on grocery shelves or newsstands.
“Everything in the physical world has information related to it somewhere electronically, including yourself and the desk you’re sitting in,” said Chas Fritz, chief executive of NeoMedia Technologies, a company developing these cellphone capacities.
The most promising way to link cellphones with physical objects is a new generation of bar codes: square-shaped mosaics of black and white boxes that can hold much more information than traditional bar codes. The cameras on cellphones scan the codes, and then the codes are translated into videos, music or text on the phone screens.
American universities and technology companies have been experimenting with the codes in their labs for several years. Now, as more cellphones come equipped with cameras and the ability to run small computer programs, the codes are beginning to appear on some state drivers’ licenses and on some mailing labels, mostly for commercial use.
There are other technologies being developed for consumers to scan objects, including radio waves, computer chips or satellite location systems, but the bar code technology is the most developed - and simple and cheap enough even for individuals to publish them on printed materials or on Web sites.
But Hewlett-Packard and the Publicis Groupe are meeting for the second time with cellphone companies in May to advocate for the technology. Technology companies like Motorola and Microsoft have also been researching uses for the codes.
In Japan, the codes did not become mainstream until the largest cellphone companies started loading the code readers on all new phones a few years ago. Now, millions of people have the capability built into their phones, and businesses, in turn, are using them all over - on billboards, street signs, published materials and even food packaging.
In the late 1990s, several dozen start-up companies tried to create devices that would scan print content and ads and then reveal extra information to the reader. But consumers balked at using a special device only to interact with publications.
But now the time seems right for cellphones, ubiquitous and increasingly sold with cameras, to be pressed into service as the scanners.
“There are three things you tend to carry - your keys, your wallet and your phone,” said Rishad Tobaccowala, chief executive of Denuo, a unit of the Publicis Groupe that focuses on emerging and future technologies. “I can see something in advertising in one place, scan it with my phone and recall it later when I am shopping. Or, imagine, I can buy it using my phone.”
About a third of the 84 million households with cellphones in the United States have phones that have cameras on them, according to Forrester Research, and that number is expected to grow as consumers replace their phones. But few people with those phones have downloaded the software to read the codes.
In Japan, some highway billboards have codes large enough for passing motorists to read them with their phones. Hospitals put them on prescriptions, allowing pharmacies to instantly scan the medical information rather than read it. Supermarkets stick them on meat and egg packaging to give expiration dates and even the names of the farmers who produced them.
One of the most popular uses in Japan has been paperless airline tickets. About 10 percent of the people who take domestic flights of All Nippon Airways now use the codes on their cellphones instead of printed tickets.
Yasuko Nishigai, 22, used her cellphone recently to buy a ticket from Tokyo to the Japanese tropical island of Okinawa. To board her flight, she waved the code on her cellphone screen over a scanner.
“I didn’t use a single piece of paper, just my phone,” she said.
The codes are “a natural extension of print,” said Nina Link, the president of the Magazine Publishers Association. “How many times have you engaged with a magazine and you’ve seen something and you’ve said, ‘Boy, I’d really like to remember to get that information.’ And you have to remember to write down the URL.”
The new technology would allow phones to read the codes from computer screens, too. Commuters rushing out the door could scan Web sites on their computer screens with their phones to take the content with them. MySpace users could put a code on their personal pages, so that their friends can quickly transfer the profiles to their phones.
The technology would also allow advertisers to do something they could never effectively do before: monitor the impact of their ads in old media like magazines and billboards by measuring how often their codes are clicked.
In the Philippines, the Daily Philippines newspaper has run ads with the codes. In Britain, News Group Newspapers, the division of the News Corporation that includes newspapers like The Sun, is testing the codes along with some of its sports articles. Readers can scan the code in the newspaper and then see videos relating to the article. Similarly, Economie Matin, a magazine in France, is testing the codes.
In the United States last fall, the Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies placed the codes on concert posters. The publisher Prentice Hall is including the codes in a new marketing textbook for undergraduates so that they can get updates on case studies using the codes.
Executives at Verizon, AT&T and Sprint declined to say whether they were in discussions with the companies that make the code reading technology. Bar code companies said the carriers stood to benefit from the codes because they might encourage consumers to add Internet service plans to their accounts and spend more time on their phones.
The wireless companies have other options to help cellphones interact with the physical world. They could, for instance, adopt image recognition software, which would allow phones to recognize anything - a Coca-Cola can, for example - and deliver related messages. Or, text messaging, currently the most common way that advertisers interact with consumers on their phones, has many advertiser applications.
Advertisers have also experimented with Bluetooth wireless devices and radio frequency identification to beam messages from billboards to consumers’ cellphones, but those technologies are more expensive than the codes.
Even if the wireless companies adopt the bar codes, they will have several formats to choose from. The most widely used ones have names like Semacode, QR Code and Qode.
Getting consumers to use new technologies like these codes takes a lot of marketing by the carriers, said David Oberholzer, associate director of content programming at Verizon Wireless.
He said Verizon is just starting to profit from the work it did to create interest in text messaging.
“The consumer needs a reason to do it,” said Jim Levinger, chief executive of Nextcode, a bar code company. “They don’t just wake up and say, ‘Hey, let’s go scan some bar codes.’ ”
Media experts say that cellphones, the Swiss Army knives of technology, are quickly heading in this direction. New technology, already in use in parts of Asia but still in development in the United States, allows the phones to connect everyday objects with the Internet.
In their new incarnation, cellphones become a sort of digital remote control, as one CBS executive put it. With a wave, the phone can read encoded information on everyday objects and translate that into videos, pictures or text files on its screen.
“The cellphone is the natural tool to combine the physical world with the digital world,” that executive, Cyriac Roeding, the head of mobile-phone applications for CBS, said the other day.
In Japan, McDonald's customers can already point their cellphones at the wrapping on their hamburgers and get nutrition information on their screens. Users there can also point their phones at magazine ads to receive insurance quotes, and board airplanes using their phones rather than paper tickets. And film promoters can send their movie trailers from billboards.
Advertisers say they are interested in offering similar capabilities in the United States, but cellphones in the States do not come with the necessary software. For now, consumers have to download the technology themselves.
Still, big advertising and technology companies like Hewlett-Packard and the Publicis Groupe, an advertising conglomerate, are pushing to popularize the technology here.
Until now, in most parts of the world, Web surfing has been separate from everyday activities like riding the train, watching television and driving. But the new technology may erode that distinction.
“You’ve picked up this product, and you don’t want to go back to your PC,” said Tim Kindberg, a senior research at the Bristol, England, lab of Hewlett-Packard. “Or you’re outside this building, and you want more information. We call it the ‘physical hyperlink’.”
In much the same way that Web publishing took off because of the ability to link to other people’s sites, cellphone technologies linking everyday objects with the Web would reveal the digitally encoded attributes of tangible things on grocery shelves or newsstands.
“Everything in the physical world has information related to it somewhere electronically, including yourself and the desk you’re sitting in,” said Chas Fritz, chief executive of NeoMedia Technologies, a company developing these cellphone capacities.
The most promising way to link cellphones with physical objects is a new generation of bar codes: square-shaped mosaics of black and white boxes that can hold much more information than traditional bar codes. The cameras on cellphones scan the codes, and then the codes are translated into videos, music or text on the phone screens.
American universities and technology companies have been experimenting with the codes in their labs for several years. Now, as more cellphones come equipped with cameras and the ability to run small computer programs, the codes are beginning to appear on some state drivers’ licenses and on some mailing labels, mostly for commercial use.
There are other technologies being developed for consumers to scan objects, including radio waves, computer chips or satellite location systems, but the bar code technology is the most developed - and simple and cheap enough even for individuals to publish them on printed materials or on Web sites.
But Hewlett-Packard and the Publicis Groupe are meeting for the second time with cellphone companies in May to advocate for the technology. Technology companies like Motorola and Microsoft have also been researching uses for the codes.
In Japan, the codes did not become mainstream until the largest cellphone companies started loading the code readers on all new phones a few years ago. Now, millions of people have the capability built into their phones, and businesses, in turn, are using them all over - on billboards, street signs, published materials and even food packaging.
In the late 1990s, several dozen start-up companies tried to create devices that would scan print content and ads and then reveal extra information to the reader. But consumers balked at using a special device only to interact with publications.
But now the time seems right for cellphones, ubiquitous and increasingly sold with cameras, to be pressed into service as the scanners.
“There are three things you tend to carry - your keys, your wallet and your phone,” said Rishad Tobaccowala, chief executive of Denuo, a unit of the Publicis Groupe that focuses on emerging and future technologies. “I can see something in advertising in one place, scan it with my phone and recall it later when I am shopping. Or, imagine, I can buy it using my phone.”
About a third of the 84 million households with cellphones in the United States have phones that have cameras on them, according to Forrester Research, and that number is expected to grow as consumers replace their phones. But few people with those phones have downloaded the software to read the codes.
In Japan, some highway billboards have codes large enough for passing motorists to read them with their phones. Hospitals put them on prescriptions, allowing pharmacies to instantly scan the medical information rather than read it. Supermarkets stick them on meat and egg packaging to give expiration dates and even the names of the farmers who produced them.
One of the most popular uses in Japan has been paperless airline tickets. About 10 percent of the people who take domestic flights of All Nippon Airways now use the codes on their cellphones instead of printed tickets.
Yasuko Nishigai, 22, used her cellphone recently to buy a ticket from Tokyo to the Japanese tropical island of Okinawa. To board her flight, she waved the code on her cellphone screen over a scanner.
“I didn’t use a single piece of paper, just my phone,” she said.
The codes are “a natural extension of print,” said Nina Link, the president of the Magazine Publishers Association. “How many times have you engaged with a magazine and you’ve seen something and you’ve said, ‘Boy, I’d really like to remember to get that information.’ And you have to remember to write down the URL.”
The new technology would allow phones to read the codes from computer screens, too. Commuters rushing out the door could scan Web sites on their computer screens with their phones to take the content with them. MySpace users could put a code on their personal pages, so that their friends can quickly transfer the profiles to their phones.
The technology would also allow advertisers to do something they could never effectively do before: monitor the impact of their ads in old media like magazines and billboards by measuring how often their codes are clicked.
In the Philippines, the Daily Philippines newspaper has run ads with the codes. In Britain, News Group Newspapers, the division of the News Corporation that includes newspapers like The Sun, is testing the codes along with some of its sports articles. Readers can scan the code in the newspaper and then see videos relating to the article. Similarly, Economie Matin, a magazine in France, is testing the codes.
In the United States last fall, the Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies placed the codes on concert posters. The publisher Prentice Hall is including the codes in a new marketing textbook for undergraduates so that they can get updates on case studies using the codes.
Executives at Verizon, AT&T and Sprint declined to say whether they were in discussions with the companies that make the code reading technology. Bar code companies said the carriers stood to benefit from the codes because they might encourage consumers to add Internet service plans to their accounts and spend more time on their phones.
The wireless companies have other options to help cellphones interact with the physical world. They could, for instance, adopt image recognition software, which would allow phones to recognize anything - a Coca-Cola can, for example - and deliver related messages. Or, text messaging, currently the most common way that advertisers interact with consumers on their phones, has many advertiser applications.
Advertisers have also experimented with Bluetooth wireless devices and radio frequency identification to beam messages from billboards to consumers’ cellphones, but those technologies are more expensive than the codes.
Even if the wireless companies adopt the bar codes, they will have several formats to choose from. The most widely used ones have names like Semacode, QR Code and Qode.
Getting consumers to use new technologies like these codes takes a lot of marketing by the carriers, said David Oberholzer, associate director of content programming at Verizon Wireless.
He said Verizon is just starting to profit from the work it did to create interest in text messaging.
“The consumer needs a reason to do it,” said Jim Levinger, chief executive of Nextcode, a bar code company. “They don’t just wake up and say, ‘Hey, let’s go scan some bar codes.’ ”
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Radioactive Boy Scout
Teenager achieves nuclear fusion at home
by Stephen Ornes
In 2006 Thiago Olson joined the extremely sparse ranks of amateurs worldwide who have achieved nuclear fusion with a home apparatus. In other words, he built the business end of a hydrogen bomb in his basement. The plasma "star in a jar"—shown at the left—demonstrated his success.
For two years, Olson researched what he would need and scrounged for parts from eBay and the hardware store. Flanges and piping? Check. High-voltage X-ray transformer? Check. Pumps, deuterium source, neutron bubble dosimeter? Check, check, check. “I have cross-country and track, so during those seasons I don’t have much time to work on it,” says Olson, a high school senior in Michigan. “It’s more of a weekend project.” Last November the machine finally delivered the hallmark of success: bubbles in the dosimeter. The bubbles indicate the presence of neutrons, a by-product of fusion—an energy-releasing process in which two hydrogen nuclei crash together and form a helium nucleus. Fusion is commonplace in stars, where hydrogen nuclei fuse in superhot plasma, but temperatures that high are hard to achieve on Earth. Still, the prospect of creating all this energy while forming only nonradioactive helium and easily controlled neutrons has made harnessing fusion one of the most sought-after and heavily funded goals in sustainable energy.
Olson’s apparatus won’t work for generating commercial power because it takes more energy to run than it produces. But he has succeeded in creating a “star in a jar,” a tiny flash of hot plasma. “The temperature of the plasma is around 200 million degrees,” Olson says modestly, “several times hotter than the core of the sun.”
Robert Bussard, a nuclear physicist who has spent most of his career investigating fusion for both the government and private companies, applauds Olson’s ambition. “These kids are studying much more useful physics than what the country is spending billions on,” he says. “It causes them to think. They’re not going down the mainstream path to oblivion.” And, aside from using high voltage and emitting low-level radiation, the machine has been deemed harmless.
“About a week ago, the department of health from Michigan called my principal,” Olson says.
“They wanted to come over and inspect it. They did that, they were impressed, and it checked out.”
by Stephen Ornes
In 2006 Thiago Olson joined the extremely sparse ranks of amateurs worldwide who have achieved nuclear fusion with a home apparatus. In other words, he built the business end of a hydrogen bomb in his basement. The plasma "star in a jar"—shown at the left—demonstrated his success.
For two years, Olson researched what he would need and scrounged for parts from eBay and the hardware store. Flanges and piping? Check. High-voltage X-ray transformer? Check. Pumps, deuterium source, neutron bubble dosimeter? Check, check, check. “I have cross-country and track, so during those seasons I don’t have much time to work on it,” says Olson, a high school senior in Michigan. “It’s more of a weekend project.” Last November the machine finally delivered the hallmark of success: bubbles in the dosimeter. The bubbles indicate the presence of neutrons, a by-product of fusion—an energy-releasing process in which two hydrogen nuclei crash together and form a helium nucleus. Fusion is commonplace in stars, where hydrogen nuclei fuse in superhot plasma, but temperatures that high are hard to achieve on Earth. Still, the prospect of creating all this energy while forming only nonradioactive helium and easily controlled neutrons has made harnessing fusion one of the most sought-after and heavily funded goals in sustainable energy.
Olson’s apparatus won’t work for generating commercial power because it takes more energy to run than it produces. But he has succeeded in creating a “star in a jar,” a tiny flash of hot plasma. “The temperature of the plasma is around 200 million degrees,” Olson says modestly, “several times hotter than the core of the sun.”
Robert Bussard, a nuclear physicist who has spent most of his career investigating fusion for both the government and private companies, applauds Olson’s ambition. “These kids are studying much more useful physics than what the country is spending billions on,” he says. “It causes them to think. They’re not going down the mainstream path to oblivion.” And, aside from using high voltage and emitting low-level radiation, the machine has been deemed harmless.
“About a week ago, the department of health from Michigan called my principal,” Olson says.
“They wanted to come over and inspect it. They did that, they were impressed, and it checked out.”
Saturday, March 31, 2007
EXA Infosys Announces Significant New Technologies for Database Monitoring and Ontology
Arthur Tisi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of EXA Infosystems Inc. announced today the release of a Beta Version of its new Data Monitoring and Ontology Engine codenamed P2U. This new technology is the result of over 20 man years of work in this area and is designed to give a user capabilities to be very specific about the conditions and restrictions of monitoring and understanding of the different definitions of the physical data to be identified with clarity and precision that should drive critical business decisions. All major databases and data feeds are supported and the P2U tool utilizes JDBC drivers and the Ontology tool is compliant with the Semantic Web RDF Specifications. The technology has been available in an alpha version for internal use and has been provided to a number of key strategic partners for internal use and evaluation.
Stamford, CT (PRWEB) March 30, 2007 -- Arthur Tisi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of EXA Infosystems Inc. announced today the release of a Beta Version of its new Data Monitoring and Ontology Engine codenamed P2U. This new technology is the result of over 20 man years of work in this area and is designed to give a user capabilities to be very specific about the conditions and restrictions of monitoring and understanding of the different definitions of the physical data to be identified with clarity and precision that should drive critical business decisions. All major databases and data feeds are supported and the P2U tool utilizes JDBC drivers and the Ontology tool is compliant with the Semantic Web RDF Specifications. The technology has been available in an alpha version for internal use and has been provided to a number of key strategic partners for internal use and evaluation.
EXA's CEO, Arthur Tisi said, "These two technologies are vital for monitoring and understanding any type of data across physical platforms of any type - foe example, data across databases, websites and other platforms. In essence you can program a website to be automatically updated any time another website's information is updated or data in any database changes. You can also create a common language across computer systems and that is a main reason why Web 2.0 is based on Semantic Web. This is a very important set of tools if you want to manage data across different data sources."
The P2U platform uses some of the most advanced algorithmic, calculus and statistical programming available and was conducted as a global effort between EXA's technical teams in Moscow, India and Israel.
Tisi also praised the two leaders responsible for these advances, "Oleg Margolin and Oleg Alshansky are pioneers in the areas of data integration, business intelligence and analysis, they have found a seam in the data goldmine."
Oleg Margolin EXA's Chief Technology Officer (CTO), said, "This follow-on to our original research will make next generation research and real-time changes to data a reality. The fact is this is a huge step forward in the area of data monitoring using open architectures." He also stated, "
"The monitoring requires no additional access rights to the database except "read-only". The approach does not require any knowledge about database table structures given the fact that this tool discovers metadata and allows the user to have a complete and comprehensive view of the discovered metadata." Margolin made it clear that the understanding of semantic is key, "By building a web of complex ontological objects and describing their relationships, our tool creates a true foundation of the real world data integration capabilities that allows an understanding of the different definitions of the physical data to be identified with clarity and precision that will drive critical business decisions."
Oleg Alshansky, EXA's Vice-President of Development was the manager of the development effort. He stated, "The monitoring mechanism includes complex rule-based algorithms that gives a user capabilities to be very specific about the conditions and restrictions of monitoring.
In this regard, we have accomplished something very powerful while our Ontology tool is compliant with Semantic Web RDF specification making it easy to import/export ontologies that are created or used by other software tools"
Data monitoring and Ontological solutions have to date have been associated with relational data. With EXA's announcement , areas related to web based information are now incorporated into data models.
EXA Infosystems Inc. is a privately held technology products company located in Westchester, New York. EXA has four divisions which specialize in Business Data Systems, Financial Systems, Global Sourcing and Research solutions. The Company provides services which are described at its web site, www.exainfosys.com .
Stamford, CT (PRWEB) March 30, 2007 -- Arthur Tisi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of EXA Infosystems Inc. announced today the release of a Beta Version of its new Data Monitoring and Ontology Engine codenamed P2U. This new technology is the result of over 20 man years of work in this area and is designed to give a user capabilities to be very specific about the conditions and restrictions of monitoring and understanding of the different definitions of the physical data to be identified with clarity and precision that should drive critical business decisions. All major databases and data feeds are supported and the P2U tool utilizes JDBC drivers and the Ontology tool is compliant with the Semantic Web RDF Specifications. The technology has been available in an alpha version for internal use and has been provided to a number of key strategic partners for internal use and evaluation.
EXA's CEO, Arthur Tisi said, "These two technologies are vital for monitoring and understanding any type of data across physical platforms of any type - foe example, data across databases, websites and other platforms. In essence you can program a website to be automatically updated any time another website's information is updated or data in any database changes. You can also create a common language across computer systems and that is a main reason why Web 2.0 is based on Semantic Web. This is a very important set of tools if you want to manage data across different data sources."
The P2U platform uses some of the most advanced algorithmic, calculus and statistical programming available and was conducted as a global effort between EXA's technical teams in Moscow, India and Israel.
Tisi also praised the two leaders responsible for these advances, "Oleg Margolin and Oleg Alshansky are pioneers in the areas of data integration, business intelligence and analysis, they have found a seam in the data goldmine."
Oleg Margolin EXA's Chief Technology Officer (CTO), said, "This follow-on to our original research will make next generation research and real-time changes to data a reality. The fact is this is a huge step forward in the area of data monitoring using open architectures." He also stated, "
"The monitoring requires no additional access rights to the database except "read-only". The approach does not require any knowledge about database table structures given the fact that this tool discovers metadata and allows the user to have a complete and comprehensive view of the discovered metadata." Margolin made it clear that the understanding of semantic is key, "By building a web of complex ontological objects and describing their relationships, our tool creates a true foundation of the real world data integration capabilities that allows an understanding of the different definitions of the physical data to be identified with clarity and precision that will drive critical business decisions."
Oleg Alshansky, EXA's Vice-President of Development was the manager of the development effort. He stated, "The monitoring mechanism includes complex rule-based algorithms that gives a user capabilities to be very specific about the conditions and restrictions of monitoring.
In this regard, we have accomplished something very powerful while our Ontology tool is compliant with Semantic Web RDF specification making it easy to import/export ontologies that are created or used by other software tools"
Data monitoring and Ontological solutions have to date have been associated with relational data. With EXA's announcement , areas related to web based information are now incorporated into data models.
EXA Infosystems Inc. is a privately held technology products company located in Westchester, New York. EXA has four divisions which specialize in Business Data Systems, Financial Systems, Global Sourcing and Research solutions. The Company provides services which are described at its web site, www.exainfosys.com .
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Second Humanoid Robot In France Welcomed
Science Daily — The HOAP3 humanoid robot has just arrived at the Laboratory for Computer Science, Robotics and Microelectronics of Montpellier (LIRMM -- CNRS -- University of Montpellier 2). This platform supplements the one that was installed at the LAAS in Toulouse last June. They were both made in Japan and represent a strong robotics research potential for France.
Research activities in the field of human robotics are expanding rapidly. The establishment of the JRL (Joint Japanese-French Robotics Laboratory) based in both Japan (Tsukuba) and France (Toulouse-LAAS and Montpellier-LIRMM) contributed strongly to the realization, reinforcement and dynamization of the robotics research community in this field. The two humanoid robots are at the core of JRL's research.
The acquisition of HOAP3 by LIRMM, 50% co-financed by the CNRS, is part of this process. Within the framework of JRL-France, the LIRMM will thus offer the national community an open experimental platform for the validation of models or control methods contributing to ambulation and the handling of objects while maintaining balance.
This 8.8 kg, 60 cm tall robot has 28 motorized articulations. It has a large number of sensors including accelerometers, rate gyros, an infra-red range finder, pressure sensors and two cameras. This unit is based around a completely open software platform (RTLinux) allowing all of the researchers interested to freely evaluate and test their new theoretical developments concerning the modeling, control, vision or learning of these.
This platform supplements the one already installed at LAAS in Toulouse, the HRP2 robot, which is more realistic because it is on a "human scale," but also more complex. HOAP3 will allow for very rapid progress because its use is simple and does not require prior validations on a simulator. Furthermore, the software platform used to control the robot will facilitate the integration and the harnessing of work already developed with Linux.
On the other hand, the fact that HOAP3 is small means that it cannot perform all of the tasks that a humanoid robot might do in a life-size environment. For these tests, the platform installed at LAAS will thus be complementary. Lastly, HOAP3 has a wireless communication link that allows it to handle teleoperation work or collaboration of mobile robots. One of LIRMM's hopes is to soon have several humanoids so that it can study robot cooperation.
You can discover HOAP3 at the National Humanoid Robotics Exhibition to be held in Montpellier on March 29 and 30, 2007 (http://www.lirmm.fr/JNRH).
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by CNRS.
Research activities in the field of human robotics are expanding rapidly. The establishment of the JRL (Joint Japanese-French Robotics Laboratory) based in both Japan (Tsukuba) and France (Toulouse-LAAS and Montpellier-LIRMM) contributed strongly to the realization, reinforcement and dynamization of the robotics research community in this field. The two humanoid robots are at the core of JRL's research.
The acquisition of HOAP3 by LIRMM, 50% co-financed by the CNRS, is part of this process. Within the framework of JRL-France, the LIRMM will thus offer the national community an open experimental platform for the validation of models or control methods contributing to ambulation and the handling of objects while maintaining balance.
This 8.8 kg, 60 cm tall robot has 28 motorized articulations. It has a large number of sensors including accelerometers, rate gyros, an infra-red range finder, pressure sensors and two cameras. This unit is based around a completely open software platform (RTLinux) allowing all of the researchers interested to freely evaluate and test their new theoretical developments concerning the modeling, control, vision or learning of these.
This platform supplements the one already installed at LAAS in Toulouse, the HRP2 robot, which is more realistic because it is on a "human scale," but also more complex. HOAP3 will allow for very rapid progress because its use is simple and does not require prior validations on a simulator. Furthermore, the software platform used to control the robot will facilitate the integration and the harnessing of work already developed with Linux.
On the other hand, the fact that HOAP3 is small means that it cannot perform all of the tasks that a humanoid robot might do in a life-size environment. For these tests, the platform installed at LAAS will thus be complementary. Lastly, HOAP3 has a wireless communication link that allows it to handle teleoperation work or collaboration of mobile robots. One of LIRMM's hopes is to soon have several humanoids so that it can study robot cooperation.
You can discover HOAP3 at the National Humanoid Robotics Exhibition to be held in Montpellier on March 29 and 30, 2007 (http://www.lirmm.fr/JNRH).
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by CNRS.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Upgraded Version of Xbox 360 to Be Introduced by Microsoft
By LAURIE J. FLYNN
Raising the ante in the video game wars, Microsoft is bringing out a new version of the Xbox 360 game machine that has a bigger hard drive, better high-definition video support and a stylish black finish, not an insignificant feature in a world where looking cool ranks high.
The idea is to appeal to an elite class of hardcore game players who would like a little more of everything.
“Today’s games-and-entertainment enthusiast has an insatiable appetite for digital high-definition content,” said Peter Moore, corporate vice president for Microsoft’s interactive entertainment business, in Redmond, Wash.
The Xbox 360 Elite, which is to be announced today and will be in stores in late April, will have a list price of $479, or $80 more than the Xbox 360 Pro and $180 more than the basic Xbox 360. The new model has a 120-gigabyte hard drive, in contrast to the standard model’s 20-gigabyte drive. It also has a high-definition multimedia interface port and cable and a wireless controller and headset. Current Xbox 360 owners can buy the new 120-gigabyte hard drive as a separate accessory for $179.
Microsoft is clearly hoping to fill what it sees as a hole at the top end of the market. The Nintendo Wii has been outselling the PlayStation 3 from Sony and the Xbox 360 in recent months, but that system is largely positioned as a family-friendly game machine that can be purchased for $50 less than the lowest-priced Xbox. The Sony system is priced higher than both the Nintendo and the Microsoft systems, with the cheapest model priced at $499.
Both Microsoft and Sony have positioned their consoles as entertainment hubs, not just for playing sophisticated video games but also for listening to music and viewing downloaded movies and television shows.
John Rodman, group product manager for the Xbox platform and Xbox Live, pointed to a recent Microsoft survey that revealed that nearly 40 percent of the time that Xbox 360 users spent with their consoles was for activities other than gaming.
Yet when it comes to gaming, Xbox 360 users are serious, Mr. Rodman says. Six out of 10 Xbox 360 users use Xbox Live, Microsoft’s online gaming service.
“We don’t feel like the Wii customer and the Xbox customer are the same thing,” he said. “We think that as soon as the Wii customer turns 14 they want something else.”
James L. McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research, said that Microsoft hoped to encourage customers to spend more money downloading movies and games, which require considerable hard-drive space.
Raising the ante in the video game wars, Microsoft is bringing out a new version of the Xbox 360 game machine that has a bigger hard drive, better high-definition video support and a stylish black finish, not an insignificant feature in a world where looking cool ranks high.
The idea is to appeal to an elite class of hardcore game players who would like a little more of everything.
“Today’s games-and-entertainment enthusiast has an insatiable appetite for digital high-definition content,” said Peter Moore, corporate vice president for Microsoft’s interactive entertainment business, in Redmond, Wash.
The Xbox 360 Elite, which is to be announced today and will be in stores in late April, will have a list price of $479, or $80 more than the Xbox 360 Pro and $180 more than the basic Xbox 360. The new model has a 120-gigabyte hard drive, in contrast to the standard model’s 20-gigabyte drive. It also has a high-definition multimedia interface port and cable and a wireless controller and headset. Current Xbox 360 owners can buy the new 120-gigabyte hard drive as a separate accessory for $179.
Microsoft is clearly hoping to fill what it sees as a hole at the top end of the market. The Nintendo Wii has been outselling the PlayStation 3 from Sony and the Xbox 360 in recent months, but that system is largely positioned as a family-friendly game machine that can be purchased for $50 less than the lowest-priced Xbox. The Sony system is priced higher than both the Nintendo and the Microsoft systems, with the cheapest model priced at $499.
Both Microsoft and Sony have positioned their consoles as entertainment hubs, not just for playing sophisticated video games but also for listening to music and viewing downloaded movies and television shows.
John Rodman, group product manager for the Xbox platform and Xbox Live, pointed to a recent Microsoft survey that revealed that nearly 40 percent of the time that Xbox 360 users spent with their consoles was for activities other than gaming.
Yet when it comes to gaming, Xbox 360 users are serious, Mr. Rodman says. Six out of 10 Xbox 360 users use Xbox Live, Microsoft’s online gaming service.
“We don’t feel like the Wii customer and the Xbox customer are the same thing,” he said. “We think that as soon as the Wii customer turns 14 they want something else.”
James L. McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research, said that Microsoft hoped to encourage customers to spend more money downloading movies and games, which require considerable hard-drive space.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
IBM Announces Tool to Help Visually Impaired 'See' Internet Multimedia
Millions of senior citizens may experience streaming video, animation
March 25, 2007 - IBM has announced a first-of-its-kind emerging technology that helps blind and visually impaired people experience streaming video and animation on the Internet. It is estimated that there are more than 161 million people with these impairments and the vast majority are senior citizens.
The multimedia browsing accessibility tool hasn't been named yet, according to Information Week. "Chieko Asakawa, a senior accessibility researcher at IBM who has been blind since the age of 14, spearheaded the development of the new software out of frustration with streaming video," IW says. It was designed at IBM's Tokyo Research Laboratory.
The emergence of multimedia content has raised usage levels of Web content. Yet people with low or no vision have not been able to enjoy the benefits of these advances. Screen-reading software and self-talking browsers cannot handle multimedia applications, which are designed for intuitive visual use. Visually impaired users cannot see multimedia control buttons appear on a screen.
In addition, the audio of a streaming video --- which automatically starts playing after the page is loaded --- interferes with a synthesized assistive voice from screen-reading software, a vital assistant for visually impaired users. Furthermore, most multimedia content operates with a mouse rather than keyboard, making it impossible for visually impaired people to use it.
The new multimedia browsing accessibility tool offers people with visual impairment the same multimedia control features sighted people see and operate with a mouse.
To enjoy a streaming video on video sharing websites, for example, visually impaired people can select the "play" button by simply pressing a predefined shortcut key to control the media instead of roaming the content to search for buttons to control the video. The tool also allows users to control video replay speed, volume and even speed up the sound since to people with visual impairment, listening to the sound streaming video offers is painfully slow.
"The new multimedia browsing accessibility tool will enable persons with visual impairments the opportunity to access dynamic multimedia web content, quickly and easily. This tool is another example of IBM Research developing innovative solutions for persons with disabilities," said Chieko Asakawa who leads accessibility research at IBM's Tokyo Research Laboratory.
The new multimedia browsing accessibility tool can adjust the volume of an individual source, allowing users to identify and listen to different sound sources including screen-reading software and the sound of a video. If a content creator wants to offer a voice narrative to a video, the new accessibility tool provides the flexibility of metadata, which contains a text script explaining what is happening on screen.
The tool automatically makes adjustments to let voice guidance synchronizes with the video, even with the speed control capability.
"IBM has a long history of developing innovative solutions for persons with disabilities, and the new multimedia browsing accessibility tool is another example of IBM innovation that will enhance the web experience for persons with visual impairments," said Frances West, director, IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center.
IBM plans to open source (make available for others to help develop) the new multimedia browsing accessibility tool to accelerate the enhancement and adoption of the tool to make multimedia contents accessible for visually impaired.
"IBM has developed other technologies for the visually impaired, including a talking browser and programs that help people with visual impairments adjust font sizes and color contrast on Web pages," reports Information Week.
IBM (www.03.ibm.com/press/us/en/presskit/TechWatch.wss)
March 25, 2007 - IBM has announced a first-of-its-kind emerging technology that helps blind and visually impaired people experience streaming video and animation on the Internet. It is estimated that there are more than 161 million people with these impairments and the vast majority are senior citizens.
The multimedia browsing accessibility tool hasn't been named yet, according to Information Week. "Chieko Asakawa, a senior accessibility researcher at IBM who has been blind since the age of 14, spearheaded the development of the new software out of frustration with streaming video," IW says. It was designed at IBM's Tokyo Research Laboratory.
The emergence of multimedia content has raised usage levels of Web content. Yet people with low or no vision have not been able to enjoy the benefits of these advances. Screen-reading software and self-talking browsers cannot handle multimedia applications, which are designed for intuitive visual use. Visually impaired users cannot see multimedia control buttons appear on a screen.
In addition, the audio of a streaming video --- which automatically starts playing after the page is loaded --- interferes with a synthesized assistive voice from screen-reading software, a vital assistant for visually impaired users. Furthermore, most multimedia content operates with a mouse rather than keyboard, making it impossible for visually impaired people to use it.
The new multimedia browsing accessibility tool offers people with visual impairment the same multimedia control features sighted people see and operate with a mouse.
To enjoy a streaming video on video sharing websites, for example, visually impaired people can select the "play" button by simply pressing a predefined shortcut key to control the media instead of roaming the content to search for buttons to control the video. The tool also allows users to control video replay speed, volume and even speed up the sound since to people with visual impairment, listening to the sound streaming video offers is painfully slow.
"The new multimedia browsing accessibility tool will enable persons with visual impairments the opportunity to access dynamic multimedia web content, quickly and easily. This tool is another example of IBM Research developing innovative solutions for persons with disabilities," said Chieko Asakawa who leads accessibility research at IBM's Tokyo Research Laboratory.
The new multimedia browsing accessibility tool can adjust the volume of an individual source, allowing users to identify and listen to different sound sources including screen-reading software and the sound of a video. If a content creator wants to offer a voice narrative to a video, the new accessibility tool provides the flexibility of metadata, which contains a text script explaining what is happening on screen.
The tool automatically makes adjustments to let voice guidance synchronizes with the video, even with the speed control capability.
"IBM has a long history of developing innovative solutions for persons with disabilities, and the new multimedia browsing accessibility tool is another example of IBM innovation that will enhance the web experience for persons with visual impairments," said Frances West, director, IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center.
IBM plans to open source (make available for others to help develop) the new multimedia browsing accessibility tool to accelerate the enhancement and adoption of the tool to make multimedia contents accessible for visually impaired.
"IBM has developed other technologies for the visually impaired, including a talking browser and programs that help people with visual impairments adjust font sizes and color contrast on Web pages," reports Information Week.
IBM (www.03.ibm.com/press/us/en/presskit/TechWatch.wss)
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Blood Bank uses new technology
Siouxland Community Blood Bank is the first in the nation to introduce the Cymbal System created by Haemonetics.
The Cymbal System is a new generation of automated red cell collection technology for volunteer blood donors who choose to donate double red cells. The Siouxland Blood Bank has had double red cell donation capability since September of 2001, when it introduced the Haemonetics first generation technology. Now at half the size of the first generation series, the Cymbal System is highly versatile for a mobilesetup. It is battery operated and allows volunteer blood donors to donate twice as much blood in a single visit.
The Cymbal System is designed for ease of the donors. Donating double red cells takes about 15 to 20 minutes longer than a single unit donation, but donors only have to donate half as often. The donation interval with double red cells is 112 days as opposed to 56 days with a single unit donation, potentially allowing donors to donate the maximum amount of blood a year in only three visits.
Double red cell donation uses a smaller needle to collect blood in only one arm. Then, a machine separates the red cells and the donor gets back the platelets, plasma and white cells.
"At the Siouxland Community Blood Bank, we remain committed to being a leader in our field for introducing cutting edge technology," said Janette Twait, chief executive officer with the Siouxland Community Blood Bank.
"Our partnership with Haemonetics has allowed us to introduce the newest and latest technology that blood banking has to offer so that we are able to ensure that the needs of patients in 36 area hospitals are met safely and sufficiently.
"To be eligible for double red cell donations, men must weigh at least 130 pounds and be 5 feet 1 inch tall, women must weigh at least 150 pounds and be 5 feet 5 inches tall.
To be eligible to donate blood individuals must be at least 17 years of age; (16 in the state of Iowa with a signed SCBB parental consent form); however there is no upper age limit as long as the donor is in good health. In addition, donors need to weigh at least 110 pounds and have not donated whole blood in the past 56 days. A photo I.D. is required at the time of registration.
The Cymbal System is a new generation of automated red cell collection technology for volunteer blood donors who choose to donate double red cells. The Siouxland Blood Bank has had double red cell donation capability since September of 2001, when it introduced the Haemonetics first generation technology. Now at half the size of the first generation series, the Cymbal System is highly versatile for a mobilesetup. It is battery operated and allows volunteer blood donors to donate twice as much blood in a single visit.
The Cymbal System is designed for ease of the donors. Donating double red cells takes about 15 to 20 minutes longer than a single unit donation, but donors only have to donate half as often. The donation interval with double red cells is 112 days as opposed to 56 days with a single unit donation, potentially allowing donors to donate the maximum amount of blood a year in only three visits.
Double red cell donation uses a smaller needle to collect blood in only one arm. Then, a machine separates the red cells and the donor gets back the platelets, plasma and white cells.
"At the Siouxland Community Blood Bank, we remain committed to being a leader in our field for introducing cutting edge technology," said Janette Twait, chief executive officer with the Siouxland Community Blood Bank.
"Our partnership with Haemonetics has allowed us to introduce the newest and latest technology that blood banking has to offer so that we are able to ensure that the needs of patients in 36 area hospitals are met safely and sufficiently.
"To be eligible for double red cell donations, men must weigh at least 130 pounds and be 5 feet 1 inch tall, women must weigh at least 150 pounds and be 5 feet 5 inches tall.
To be eligible to donate blood individuals must be at least 17 years of age; (16 in the state of Iowa with a signed SCBB parental consent form); however there is no upper age limit as long as the donor is in good health. In addition, donors need to weigh at least 110 pounds and have not donated whole blood in the past 56 days. A photo I.D. is required at the time of registration.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
New technology gives doctors the big picture
By Rick Bentley / The Fresno Bee
03/20/07 03:45:11
Dr. Charles Smith, medical director of the Department of Medical Imagery, stares at the images on four computer screens. The screen is filled with the sonogram image of a kidney of one of his patients. The screen is covered with 16 smaller images of the same kidney.
The images give Smith the opportunity to look at how the patient's kidney has changed over the past year. And all it took was a few seconds on the computer.
Children's Hospital Central California is now using the multimillion-dollar Picture Archiving Communication System, or PACS. The system, put in place in December, will eventually phase out the way doctors have dealt with X-rays, CT scans and other ways to peek inside their patient's bodies. The old system required doctors to hold up huge sheets of X-ray film to a light for scrutiny. That system is being replaced by computerized imaging.
Now, instead of the images being on film, digital versions are collected and stored in the computer. These digital images can be accessed in an instant by the physicians. And they can be accessed by multiple doctors simultaneously, even doctors who happen to be on vacation at other points on the globe.
Keith Pipes, director of Imaging Services, says that the new system is better for the doctors, the patients, the hospital and even the environment.
"In the past, a patient would have an X-ray made. The film would have to be processed. That would take a few minutes. How much detail was in the image depended on the technician," Pipes says. "We now use what is called computerized radiography. There is no more film; it is like an Etch A Sketch. A special plate is used. You make the exposure with X-rays, but instead of going to the darkroom, you enter the plate into the computer, and it pops up on the screen immediately."
Under the old system, once the image was made, it had to be shipped around the hospital, depending on the patient's needs. If the X-ray got lost or misfiled, the doctors had no history of the patient's condition. With PACS, the images are available to be seen as soon the information can be loaded into the computer.
Another plus is the additional information available through the digital images. Film X-rays have only one contrast. Because the image is collected digitally, the doctor can change the contrast on the image to see as much or little detail as necessary.
"You could not do that with film." Pipes says. "This is considerably higher resolution than you can get from a view box."
A huge bonus for doctors is that the images can be shared. It is possible for the X-ray to be seen at the same time by a doctor doing an operation, a specialist in another part of the hospital and by the patient's doctor who is at home. Those doctors would have had to be in the same room to simultaneously view an X-ray under the old system.
Smith is a big supporter of the new system.
"In the past I would have had to look at large stacks of X-rays of the patient. To get those X-rays I would have to order them from the files. Sometimes they got lost. Now all I have to do is call up the images on the computer screen," Smith says.
PACS is designed to allow doctors to examine one image or multiple images taken over an extended period of time. The computers feature terabytes of storage and make it possible for the doctors to look at the patient's medical reports at the same time.
In the past, patients were given the large film X-rays when they left the hospital. Depending on how long the patient was under a doctor's care, that could end up being a hefty stack. Now, the patient is sent home with the images stored on a CD.
03/20/07 03:45:11
Dr. Charles Smith, medical director of the Department of Medical Imagery, stares at the images on four computer screens. The screen is filled with the sonogram image of a kidney of one of his patients. The screen is covered with 16 smaller images of the same kidney.
The images give Smith the opportunity to look at how the patient's kidney has changed over the past year. And all it took was a few seconds on the computer.
Children's Hospital Central California is now using the multimillion-dollar Picture Archiving Communication System, or PACS. The system, put in place in December, will eventually phase out the way doctors have dealt with X-rays, CT scans and other ways to peek inside their patient's bodies. The old system required doctors to hold up huge sheets of X-ray film to a light for scrutiny. That system is being replaced by computerized imaging.
Now, instead of the images being on film, digital versions are collected and stored in the computer. These digital images can be accessed in an instant by the physicians. And they can be accessed by multiple doctors simultaneously, even doctors who happen to be on vacation at other points on the globe.
Keith Pipes, director of Imaging Services, says that the new system is better for the doctors, the patients, the hospital and even the environment.
"In the past, a patient would have an X-ray made. The film would have to be processed. That would take a few minutes. How much detail was in the image depended on the technician," Pipes says. "We now use what is called computerized radiography. There is no more film; it is like an Etch A Sketch. A special plate is used. You make the exposure with X-rays, but instead of going to the darkroom, you enter the plate into the computer, and it pops up on the screen immediately."
Under the old system, once the image was made, it had to be shipped around the hospital, depending on the patient's needs. If the X-ray got lost or misfiled, the doctors had no history of the patient's condition. With PACS, the images are available to be seen as soon the information can be loaded into the computer.
Another plus is the additional information available through the digital images. Film X-rays have only one contrast. Because the image is collected digitally, the doctor can change the contrast on the image to see as much or little detail as necessary.
"You could not do that with film." Pipes says. "This is considerably higher resolution than you can get from a view box."
A huge bonus for doctors is that the images can be shared. It is possible for the X-ray to be seen at the same time by a doctor doing an operation, a specialist in another part of the hospital and by the patient's doctor who is at home. Those doctors would have had to be in the same room to simultaneously view an X-ray under the old system.
Smith is a big supporter of the new system.
"In the past I would have had to look at large stacks of X-rays of the patient. To get those X-rays I would have to order them from the files. Sometimes they got lost. Now all I have to do is call up the images on the computer screen," Smith says.
PACS is designed to allow doctors to examine one image or multiple images taken over an extended period of time. The computers feature terabytes of storage and make it possible for the doctors to look at the patient's medical reports at the same time.
In the past, patients were given the large film X-rays when they left the hospital. Depending on how long the patient was under a doctor's care, that could end up being a hefty stack. Now, the patient is sent home with the images stored on a CD.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
