Octopus Robot With Ultra-Fast Propulsion

Scientists have developed an octopus-like robot, which can zoom through water with ultra-fast propulsion and acceleration never before seen in human-made underwater vehicles. Most fast aquatic animals are sleek and slender to help them move easily through the water but cephalopods, such as the octopus, are capable of high-speed escapes by filling their bodies with water and then quickly expelling it to dart away. Inspired by this, scientists from the University of Southampton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology built a deformable octopus-like robot with a 3D printed skeleton with no moving parts and no energy storage device, other than a thin elastic outer hull. The 30cm long self-propelling robot is inflated with water and then rapidly deflates by shooting the water out through its base to power its outstanding propulsion and acceleration, despite starting from a non-streamlined shape.

As the rocket contracts, it can achieve more than 2.6 times the thrust of a rigid rocket doing the same manoeuvre. It works like blowing up a balloon and then releasing it to fly around the room. However, the 3D printed polycarbonate skeleton inside keeps the balloon tight and the final shape streamlined, while fins on the back keep it going straight. The robot is capable of accelerating up to ten body lengths in less than a second. In recent laboratory tests, the robot accelerated a one kilogram payload up to 6mph in less than a second. This is comparable to a mini-cooper carrying an additional 350kg of weight (bringing the total weight of the car to 1,000kg) accelerating from a standstill to 60mph in one second -- underwater. This performance is unprecedented in human-made underwater vehicles. The researchers calculate that making the robot bigger would improve its fast-starting performance, which could have applications in the development of artificial underwater vehicles that can match the speed, manoeuvrability and efficiency of their biological inspirations.

More information:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150205083036.htm

High Resolution Moving Holograms

Three-dimensional (3D) movies, which require viewers to wear stereoscopic (i.e. related to the technique of creating an impression of depth by showing two slightly offset flat images to each eye) glasses, have become very popular in recent years. However, the 3D effect produced by the glasses cannot provide perfect depth cues. Furthermore, it is not possible to move one's head and observe that objects appear different from different angles, a real-life effect known as motion parallax. Now, A*STAR researchers have developed a new way of generating high-resolution, full-color, 3D videos that uses holographic technology.

Holograms are considered to be truly 3D, because they allow the viewer to see different perspectives of a reconstructed 3D object from different angles and locations. Like a photograph, a hologram contains information about the size, shape and color of an object. Where holograms differ from photographs is that they are created using lasers, which can produce the complex light interference patterns. However, generating high-resolution, moving holograms to replace current 3D imaging technology has proved difficult. To enhance the resolution of their holographic videos, researchers at the Data Storage Institute in Singapore used an array of spatial light modulators (SLMs).

More information:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150204090101.htm

Entertainment Computing Paper

Last month, my latest research paper entitled ‘Comparing interaction techniques for serious games through brain-computer interfaces: A user perception evaluation study’ was published at the journal of ‘Entertainment Computing’. The paper is co-authored with colleagues from Warwick University, University of Madeira and Coventry University. It examines the application of commercial and non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG)-based brain–computer (BCIs) interfaces with serious games. Two different EEG-based BCI devices were used to fully control the same serious game. The first device (NeuroSky MindSet) uses only a single dry electrode and requires no calibration.

The second device (Emotiv EPOC) uses 14 wet sensors requiring additional training of a classifier. User testing was performed on both devices with sixty-two participants measuring the player experience as well as key aspects of serious games, primarily learnability, satisfaction, performance and effort. Recorded feedback indicates that the current state of BCIs can be used in the future as alternative game interfaces after familiarisation and in some cases calibration. Comparative analysis showed significant differences between the two devices. The first device provides more satisfaction to the players whereas the second device is more effective in terms of adaptation and interaction with the serious game.

More information:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875952114000391

3D Greenland Ice Sheet

Scientists using ice-penetrating radar data collected by NASA's Operation IceBridge and earlier airborne campaigns have built the first comprehensive map of layers deep inside the Greenland Ice Sheet, opening a window on past climate conditions and the ice sheet's potentially perilous future. This new map allows scientists to determine the age of large swaths of the second largest mass of ice on Earth, an area containing enough water to raise ocean levels by about 20 feet. Greenland's ice sheet has been losing mass during the past two decades, a phenomenon accelerated by warming temperatures. Scientists are studying ice from different climate periods in the past to better understand how the ice sheet might respond in the future. These cylinders of ice drilled from the ice sheet hold evidence of past snow accumulation and temperature and contain impurities such as dust and volcanic ash compacted over hundreds of thousands of years. These layers are visible in ice cores and can be detected with ice-penetrating radar. Ice-penetrating radar works by sending radar signals into the ice and recording the strength and return time of reflected signals. From those signals, scientists can detect the ice surface, sub-ice bedrock and layers within the ice. New techniques used in this study allowed scientists to efficiently pick out these layers in radar data.

 

Prior studies had mapped internal layers, but not at the scale made possible by these newer, faster methods. Another major factor in this study was the scope of Operation IceBridge's measurements across Greenland, which included flights that covered distances of tens of thousands of kilometers across the ice sheet. IceBridge's flight lines often intersect ice core sites where other scientists have analyzed the ice's chemical composition to map and date layers in the ice. These core data provide a reference for radar measurements and provide a way to calculate how much ice from a given climate period exists across the ice sheet, something known as an age volume. Scientists are interested in knowing more about ice from the Eemian period, a time from 115,000 to 130,000 years ago that was about as warm as today. This new age volume provides the first data-driven estimate of where Eemian ice may remain. Comparing this age volume to simple computer models helped the study's team better understand the ice sheet's history. Differences in the mapped and modeled age volumes point to past changes in ice flow or processes such as melting at the ice sheet's base. This information will be helpful for evaluating the more sophisticated ice sheet models that are crucial for projecting Greenland's future contribution to sea-level rise.

More information:

http://phys.org/news/2015-01-d-view-greenland-ice-sheet.html#jCp

HoloLens - Microsoft’s Holographic Goggles

Microsoft has revealed their new HoloLens computer, the headset contains a CPU, GPU, and a new Holographic Processing Unit. The unit allows for wire free/wireless use and is built with Windows 10. In the concept demonstration, Microsoft showed a designer applying a virtual motorcycle body kit to a real motorcycle. They showed people playing in 'Minecraft' in their living room just like a table sized Lego set. Microsoft also showed how holograms created in the new Holo Studio could become 3D printed items. Build 3D in 3D was with the word, but holographic 'Minecraft,' holographic 'Skype,' and holographic NASA were the show.

Not only is the HoloLens its own independent hologra, producing computing platform, but to make what the user is seeing interactive, the HoloLens also tracks hands and voice. The visual overlay and interactivity is supplemented by surround sound in a 3D sound field. The HoloLens was demonstrated as a finished looking/preproduction unit, which is to say that it's way past the concept stage. MS even said that it has had content developers working on holographic content for years while the tech has been being developed beneath the Microsoft Vistor Center. Microsoft has promised that Windows 10 will come later this year, while HoloLens will be elaborated on in April.

More information:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/games/windows-10/prototype/Minecraft/ar/Augmented_Reality/Surround_Sound/microsoft-unveils-the-hololens-a-headset-that-allows-holographic-computing-video-games/20689