T-HR3 Humanoid Robot
T-HR3. © Toyota Motor Corporation.
Last June, it was rumoured that Toyota was on the verge of acquiring robot-maker Boston Dynamics, which at the time was a subsidiary of Alphabet-Google. SoftBank ended up sealing that deal, but that hasn’t dampened Toyota’s robotic ambitions, as shown by its continued heavy investment in robotics and artificial intelligence. Its robotics division just unveiled its T-HR3, a brand-new, third-generation humanoid robot. It measures 1.5 metres high, weighs 75 kg, and looks at first glance like a high-performer, with fluid movement, excellent balance and good coordination. A human is at the reins, however, and controls the robot by a sophisticated immersion system known as a “Master Maneuvering System,” allowing the robot to serve as a physical substitute for people with mobility issues.
Spectrum magazine’s Evan Ackerman muses that Toyota might be aiming to use the MMS as a learning tool. In this scenario, the robot would gain its experience and knowledge by observing how humans perform a variety of tasks through it, eventually learning how to do the tasks itself, akin to the approach that Peter Abbell is testing out with Embodied Intelligence.
Rather than an actual commercial product that will be available in the future, it seems that the T-HR3 is more of a study in feasibility and know-how. Toyota’s press release addresses this with a very general statement about how the T-HR3 is designed to be “a platform with capabilities that can safely assist humans in a variety of settings, such as the home, medical facilities, construction sites, disaster-stricken areas and even outer space.”
⇨ IEEE Spectrum, “Toyota gets back into humanoid robots with new T-HR3.”
A smart doorbell that’s anything but
Expensive doorbell. © Ring.
Ring, a company that sells smart home accessories, has just unveiled a video doorman that can be yours for the modest sum of $100,000 USD. The standard model of this high-tech doorbell retails for $500 USD, but the souped-up version features a faceplate in 18 karat gold encrusted with 2,077 sapphires and 40 diamonds. Fortunately, thanks to the built-in camera, you’ll be able to watch in crystal-clear HD video as thieves try to remove your doorbell, which won’t really be of much use if they decide to wear Mickey Mouse masks. This limited edition doorbell is only available at Selfridges on Oxford Street, in London.
⇨ The Telegraph, “The sound of excess: is this the world's most expensive doorbell?.”
The Sun is setting on BIOS
IBM Personal Computer. © iStock.
BIOS (the “Basic Input/Output System”) is a small piece of code integrated into the motherboards of PCs, and responsible for initializing and booting up the machine. The BIOS scans your configuration when you start up, checks how much RAM you have installed, performs checks, and lets you know if your keyboard is unplugged. Once it’s finished this work, it starts loading and running the operating system. Once the operating system is running, the BIOS provides certain basic system functions, like input and output management (keyboard, disks, etc.) BIOS was closely linked to Intel’s x86 processors, and was a key component of the first IBM PC in 1981. The first PC clone-makers had to use reverse engineering to duplicate BIOS work as closely as possible and ensure compatibility with software developed for IBM PCs. These days, for the most part, BIOS has been overtaken by UEFI firmware (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), the hardware/OS interface that’s become the standard on the market for computers with Intel processors. As a result, Intel has announced that by 2020, the remaining PC BIOSs will be phased out. The death of BIOS spells the end of DOS, of 32-bit versions of Windows older than Windows 7, and 64-bit versions of Windows older than Windows Vista.
⇨ Ars Technica, “The PC BIOS will be killed off by 2020 as Intel plans move to pure UEFI.”
Facebook builds tool to expose Russian fake news
Menlo Park, California, USA. © iStock.
Facebook just published a blog post announcing the creation of a tool coming in December to show people if they “liked” or followed social media content created by the Russian-based Internet Research Agency between January 2015 and August 2017. The Internet Research Agency created many different social media accounts, including pages called Heart Of Texas, Being Patriotic, and Secured Borders – designed to look like American citizens published them. Facebook has said that up to 126 million Americans saw fake news created by Russian-based agents in the past two years – before, during and after the U.S. elections. Facebook has been criticized for allowing fake news and propaganda on its platforms, and for being slow to address the issue.
⇨ BBC, “Facebook to expose Russian fake news pages.”
Record-setting bid for Robby the Robot
Robby the Robot and the original film poster. Wikipedia.
Robby the Robot, star of the 1956 sci-fi movie Forbidden Planet, just broke the world record as the most expensive movie prop in the world, after clinching a winning bid of $5.37 million USD at auction in New York City. Measuring 7 feet tall, Robby was one of the most memorable robots of his genre; he became that generation’s robot archetype, and inspired many of the toys created in the 1950s-60s. Professor Edward Morbius, who lived on Altair IV (the “Forbidden Planet”), created the robot in the 23rd Century. Robby had metal pincers, a see-through dome head, spoke 188 languages, and brewed whisky… he even knew how to cook. Robby eclipsed the record for most expensive prop, previously held by The Maltese Falcon statue, which sold for $4 million USD, and Marilyn Monroe’s white dress from The Seven-Year Itch, which sold for $4.6 million USD in 2011 – the same price fetched by the original Batmobile from the 1966 TV show. For the price, Robby came with the Jeep he drove on Altair IV, his auxiliary control panel and his original MGM packing crates.
⇨ Cnet, “Robby the Robot sells for record $5.38 million at auction.”