robo-nurse

The Japanese Times wrote that the Japanese government has invested more money (about $20 million) for the 2013 budget alone (I don’t know the figures of how much in total the gov’t has invested in over the years), to develop ‘nursing care robot equipment’ for their aging population.  They’re preparing for the near-term when the number of Japanese over 65 is expected to increase by 30 percent in the next twelve years, requiring an expected 2.32 million to 2.44 million caregivers to look after them. And how much has the U.S. invested in nursing care robot technology?  This is not
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killer apps

“Alex, (as in Trebek as in ‘Jeopardy’), I’ll take, ‘Terms roboticists shouldn’t be using’ for $200, please”.  Yup, Killer Apps is another one on my ‘please do not use in front of the public’. Killer Application (Killer App) used in the robotics industry typically refers to the next big robot application that will be necessary for, or desirable by, all consumers.  Killer app is a commonly understood term in all of technology, but when it is specifically referred to as such in robotics, the public may (again) subconsciously think the ‘Killer’ is threatening, as in, “Oh!  Like the Killer robots used
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pulling me over

Technological similarities utilized for electronic tolling are being applied to the automation of speeding tickets in which high speed cameras supplant being pulled over.  While none of us likes to pay these, we have a choice – we can drive safely, and for those of us who don’t heed the speed limit, we can help support our local, bankrupted governments, and most importantly, leave the understaffed police and traffic officers for more important public safety issues.  This also eliminates all the ‘gawkers’ that slow traffic down. This will one day become a non-issue as sensors in both the roads and
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Fastraking: The tolls for thee

I was having a discussion with a friend of mine who had flown in for the day from LA and was heading back to the airport via the Golden Gate Bridge (GG).  The GG, as of recent, is now 100% electronic tolling; one can prepay via FasTrak, Pay-by-Plate, or wait until a bill is sent to the registered owner via the picture that is taken of the license plate as the car proceeds through the toll.  What is the visitor/tourist supposed to do who has no previous knowledge of this?  In my friend’s case, the rental company will get the
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Boosting My Brain?

Not long ago, I was blogging about a neural boost, not even knowing that the first Global Future 2045 Congress, was about to take place.  Of course, if I had read my 100s of Google Alerts (all contain a variation on topic of ‘robot’/‘robotics’), sitting in my Inbox, perhaps I would have known.  See, I just can’t keep up!  How do some of these people do it?  Are they like a speed scanner?  How much do they scan/read per day, that they remember?  Can you guess what I will say next – like Ray Kurzweil? (Yup, I have brain envy).
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Getting Disruptive With It

‘Disruptive’ is the latest buzz term headlining presentations at robotics’ conferences.  Wikipedia describes Disruptive as ‘an innovation that creates a new market by applying a different set of values, which ultimately (and unexpectedly) overtakes an existing market’, and provides several examples – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_innovation.  Over the next years, many robotic innovations, some of course not yet known, will undoubtedly prove to be ‘disruptive’ as they transform our society and improve our quality of life. However, with all the negative backlash from the recent media about ‘robots taking jobs away from humans’, I’m concerned that the public, not knowing what the economic definition
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(Not) Burning Man

Wildfires are not just a problem in the U.S.; it is a worldwide hazard, and one that could highly benefit from robotics. There are already some excellent robotic technologies being developed for addressing wildfires, residential and commercial fires: A hybrid intelligent wildfire detection system by Insight Robotics LTD of Hong Kong that was successfully tested by the Guangdong Academy of Forestry and will be implemented throughout the Guangdong province in China. The Thermite firefighting robot manufactured by Howe and Howe Technologies FireRob, the MVF-5 Autonomous Firefighting Robotic Vehicle built by the Croatian manufacturer DOK-ING The autonomous OLE robotic firefighting beetle created at the University of Magdeburg-Stendal Firefighting robot
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Mechanical sleep?

I know I seem like an industry pundit (I wish it were true), but I just can’t believe what I read on a daily basis, and how off base people are. Fox News published an article entitled “Will doctors be replaced by robots under Obamacare?” The piece is about Sedasys, an automated anesthesiology system. The author, Dr. Manny Alvarez should know better. Obamacare will change things, but let’s be realistic. Besides, we wouldn’t want to shock the robots. I tweeted Dr. Manning the following in response: @drmannyonFOX Where does it say that Sedasys will ‘replace’ anesthesiologists? Or is this your
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Mariska Hargitay: SVU, and blurred lines

I was reading about Mariska Hargitay (am I the only one who didn’t know she’s the daughter of Jayne Mansfield?) in her nail-biting performance in the season premier of Law and Order SVU, in which she is a victim of rape. “When you’re acting,” she said on the Today Show [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoWVoe-Q4Mo[/youtube], “your body doesn’t know the difference [between] acting or being in reality, and that’s what presented the challenge.” I was struck by Hargitay’s admission. To think that telepresence, virtual reality, and the like, are part of our daily lives already evokes a pressing question. Will these technologies, like a professional
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