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SelfieBrush: a brush that is also an iPhone case
Makr Shakr Robot Bartender Goes on a Cruise
Harvard’s Wearable Robot Gets $2.9M in Funding from DARPA

SelfieBrush: a brush that is also an iPhone case

Posted: 12 Sep 2014 07:00 AM PDT

The good thing about selfies is that if you don’t like the picture, you can get another one right away, and with this case, even fix your hair as part of the process.

In order to ensure the perfect hair during selfies, this iPhone case called the SelfieBrush is an iPhone case with both a mirror on the front and a brush behind. At low $20 USD it’s the perfect solution for those selfies that never turn quite right (because screw spontaneity, we aim for perfection here). Now, if only we can stop the duckfaces for ever, we will have taken the first step to revolutionize the revolutionary selfies.

Via Geekologie

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Makr Shakr Robot Bartender Goes on a Cruise

Posted: 11 Sep 2014 01:57 PM PDT

People rich enough to go on a Royal Caribbean Cruise ship should expect to be treated like royals, and as of late, the Makr Shakr robot bartender is part of the treatment.

Bartender robots that can be controlled with a smartphone app are not exactly a novelty, even though you don’t get to see them everyday, either. However, not many of these helpful robots get to go on a cruise. This sets MIT Senseable City Lab’s Makr Shakr robot bartender apart from the rest of the crowd. Last year, it was showcased at the Google I/O conference, and this November, it will set sail aboard the Quantum of the Seas.

Mind you, the Makr Shakr bartending robot is only one of the geeky things found on Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas. One of the things this Norwegian cruise line brand prides in having is more Internet bandwidth than all the rest of the cruise ships in the world combined. Other crazy details include virtual balconies in each cabin, a virtual concierge, and RFID for everything.

Carlo Ratti, director of the MIT Senseable City Lab, pointed out that “Makr Shakr is a great example of how digital technologies are changing the interaction between people and products—a topic that our laboratory has been exploring in great depth.” The makers of the robot emphasized that the robot won’t replace humans entirely, and that it’s more of a social experiment.

The fact that Makr Shakr can be controlled with a smartphone or tablet from (I assume) anywhere on the ship will mean that the robot won’t get any rest. Roberto Bolle, principal dancer with the American Ballet Theater, along with Italian director and choreographer Marco Pelle were involved in the development of this bartender robot, as its moves are programmed from the filmed moves of these artists.

Dutch artist and architect Constant Nieuwenhuys gets quoted in the promotional video for the Makr Shakr robot: “In the worldwide city of the future…a society of total automation, the need to work is replaced by a nomadic life of creative play, a modern return to Eden. The ‘homo ludens’, whom man will become once freed from labor will not have to make art, for he can be creative in the practice of his daily life.”

Here’s a crazy thing, though: a couple of innocent typos could turn this robot bartender into Mark Shark, which is something no one would ever want to see while on a cruise in the Caribbean.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the robot bartender that fills up glasses at a German bar, and the Electrolux bartender drone that mixes drinks and delivers them in flight.

Harvard’s Wearable Robot Gets $2.9M in Funding from DARPA

Posted: 11 Sep 2014 01:21 PM PDT

Harvard University and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Design announced today that they received $2.9M in a funding shot from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

There is still a lot to work on the soft, wearable exoskeleton, but with such important backers, the success is almost guaranteed. New Balance, a Boston-based startup specialized in 3D printed shoes, announced that it will collaborate with Harvard’s Wyss Institute on the wearable robot.

The term “wearable robot” was coined by Conor Walsh, head of the Harvard Biodesign Lab, and lead researcher designing the suit. Walsh described the exoskeleton as such as it can be easily worn under other clothes, and resembles a web that covers the limbs.

ReWalk or Ekso Bionics are two commercially-available exoskeletons, and one could easily think that the Soft Exosuit developed by Harvard competes directly against those. However, this one is entirely flexible, and this feature sets it apart.

Since the wearable robot includes some specially designed footwear (pictured above), one of the first benefits that derives from wearing the Soft Exosuit is the ability to walk longer distances. An increase in strength can also be noticed when being equipped with the exoskeleton. The suit is said to follow the natural movement of the body, and only presents the aforementioned advantages when needed. As Welsh explained, “When the suit is active, the underlying muscles at the ankle and at the hip are doing less work.”

The elastic and non-stretchable materials, along with the cabling that covers the limbs, mimic the way our muscles and tendons work. The device is powered by motors that are attached to the hips of the wearer.

I would very much like to see a football (or soccer, for my American audience) game played with these, but considering DARPA’s interest, it’s almost a certainty that Harvard’s wearable exoskeleton won’t be used for sports. Instead, it will enable soldiers to cover greater distances while consuming less energy.

Welsh stated that a commercially-available version should be available in the next two to five years. This version could help hikers walk more, but it could also prove useful for people with impairments. The project is overall very interesting, and along with the Arizona State University-developed DARPA-commissioned jetpack for faster running, is proof that the military is interested in making soldiers move faster.

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