Facebook has launched a tool that describes photographs to visually impaired users. However, it seems to be keeping expectations low. The tool is the work of Facebook engineer Matt King, who lost his sight through a medical condition. He wanted to deal with the way screen readers currently “speak” the name of the person who […]
It’s April Fools’ Day and once again the tech world has provided many of the spoof stories. Perennial pranksters Google have got a weird one: a bogus addition to a genuine service that itself started out as a prank. Several years ago the company made a joke post on April 1 about Gmail being able […]
Today, we’re offering you the “NASA Tech Briefs” magazine (monthly) for free! Authored by the engineers or scientists who did the work, the briefs span a wide array of fields, including electronics, physical sciences, materials, computer software, mechanics, machinery/automation, manufacturing/fabrication, mathematics/information sciences, and life sciences. NASA Tech Briefs also contains feature articles on successful NASA […]
Yesterday Microsoft released a sweet, innocent chatbot designed to speak like a “millennial.” Today that chatbot is a corrupt foul-mouthed racist that has to be censored. The experiment and the outcome are perhaps a perfect example of how any attempt to give human elements to machines and software are undermined by the fact that some […]
This robot was present at the SXSW festival and took the liberty to express her desire to destroy humanity. Robotics is finally reaching the mainstream and androids – humanlike robots – are everywhere at SXSW Experts believe humanlike robots are the key to smoothing communication between humans and computers, and realizing a dream of compassionate […]
When you hear the word “drone,” you probably think of something either very useful or very scary. But could they have aesthetic value? Autonomous systems expert Raffaello D’Andrea develops flying machines, and his latest projects are pushing the boundaries of autonomous flight — from a flying wing that can hover and recover from disturbance to […]
Since childhood, most geeks have been attracted to the Spirograph. Simple enough in execution, but exquisite in detail, they are science, math, art, and geometric magic, all merged in one. Joe Freedman of Leaf may have taken that appreciation of the Spirograph even further with his remarkable Cycloid Drawing Machine. So what is a Cycloid […]
If you’ve got an idea for turning a household appliance into a weapon, it’s normally best to keep it to yourself. But now the US military might pay you a six-figure sum for the idea. Regular readers will no doubt have guessed the bounty comes from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is […]
Leading Go player Lee Sedol says that despite losing four games to one to a Google algorithm, humanity isn’t necessarily outmatched by computers when it comes to reasoning and tactics in the game. Lee believes his defeat may have been because of other human limitations, namely emotion and fatigue that affect concentration. He says it’s […]
Microsoft is to let researchers use Minecraft to test artificial intelligence technologies. It believes using the game offers a useful mix of realism and affordability. The open source program will initially involve researchers operating their software only on their own machines and in what’s effectively a walled garden within Minecraft. In the long run Microsoft […]