Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Space Robot Knows Your Mood
The "space robot" is the result of research done at SGI Japan, Ltd., a Tokyo provider of visualization solutions and high-end workstations. They've been thinking about the rest of the office.
The idea of the space robot is that the room itself is the robot.
"But we believe that we definitely need different types of robot in terms of their shapes and their roles in our life. Hints can be found in films such as 'Knight Rider,' 'Star Wars' and '2001: A Space Odyssey.' "
For example, in a meeting room, if a user says "Let's start a presentation," the room adjusts the lighting, lowers the window blinds and sets up the screen for the presentation.
"When people hear the term 'robot,' they often think of those such as ASIMO, a humanoid robot developed by Honda Motor Co., or robots in Japanese animations," said Hiroshi Otsuka, SGI Japan's vice president for strategic business development.
(The "space robot" cools things down)
Using its sensibility technology (ST), the room can analyze the tone and rhythm of the voices of the people in the room to understand their feelings. It is capable of identifying six basic human feelings: laughter, calmness, sorrow, anger, joy and excitement -- and the degree of each emotion.
If it can tell that the discussion has become to heated, it can alter conditions in the room to cool things down. The walls of the meeting room glows peaceful blue, and just a hint of scent (in this case, lavender) and a bit of soft jazz background help to smooth over ruffled feelings.
Science fiction fans (and most students in US schools) remember the Happylife Home from Ray Bradbury's 1951 classic The Illustrated Man. The house itself was a kind of "robot;" it watched its human occupants and adjusted conditions in the house to benefit the people:
They walked down the hall of their soundproofed Happylife Home, which had cost them thirty thousand dollars installed, this house which clothed and fed and rocked them to sleep and played and sang and was good to them.
(Read more about Bradbury's Happylife Home)
Perhaps SGI Japan's Otsuka is right in saying "In the 20th century, people associated high technology with great big machines. But in the 21st century, maybe they will see that the space itself can be the high-tech system without there being anything in particular in the room -- no big machines or computers or anything."
The "space robot" is one version of an emerging technology; take a look at several other examples in RoomRender Futuristic Smart Room and A Smart Home With Cyber Crumbs. Also, read a bit more about the space robot.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/18/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
Artificial Skin For Robots Is Coming Right Along
'... an elastic, tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.' - Harl Vincent (1934)
Robot Guard Dog On Duty
I might also be thinking of K-9 from Doctor Who.
Wearable Artificial Fabric Muscles
'It is remarkable that the long leverages of their machines are in most cases actuated by a sort of sham musculature...' HG Wells, 1898.
Dancing Robots Taught Dance Moves
'A clockwork figure would be the thing for you...' Jerome K. Jerome, 1893.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
The Zapata Air Scooter Would Be Great In A Science Fiction Story
'Betty's slapdash style.'
Thermostabilized Wet Meat Product (NASA Prototype)
There are no orbiting Michelin stars. Yet.
Could Crystal Batteries Generate Power For Centuries?
'Power could be compressed thus into an inch-square cube of what looked like blue-white ice'
India Ponders Always-On Smartphone Location Tracking
'It is necessary... for your own protection.'
Amazon Will Send You Heinlein's Knockdown Cabin
'It's so light that you can set it up in five minutes by yourself...'
Is It Time To Forbid Human Driving?
'Heavy penalties... were to be applied to any one found driving manually-controlled machines.'
Replace The Smartphone With A Connected Edge Node For AI Inference
'Buy a Little Dingbat... electropen, wrist watch, pocketphone, pocket radio, billfold ... all in one.'
Artificial Skin For Robots Is Coming Right Along
'... an elastic, tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
Robot Guard Dog On Duty
I might also be thinking of K-9 from Doctor Who.
Wearable Artificial Fabric Muscles
'It is remarkable that the long leverages of their machines are in most cases actuated by a sort of sham musculature...'
BrainBridge Concept Transplant Of Human Head Proposed
'Briquet’s head seemed to think that to find and attach a new body to her head was as easy as to fit and sew a new dress.'
Google's Nano Banana Pro Presents Handwritten Math Solutions
'...copy was turned out in a charming and entirely feminine handwriting.'
Edible Meat-Like Fungus Like Barbara Hambly's Slunch?
'It was almost unheard of for slunch to spread that fast...'
Sunday Robotics 'Memo' Bot Has Unique Training Glove
'He then started hand movements of definite pattern...'
Woman Marries Computer, Vonnegut's Dream Comes True
'Men are made of protoplasm... Lasts forever.'
Natural Gait With Prosthetic Connected To Nervous System
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain...'
