Earthquake rescue robots

I know my past few blogs haven't been too much about art but I just can't get enough of these crazy robots that are being invented over in Japan. The newest thing is a machine that saves survivors of earthquakes by dragging them inside it and carrying them to a medical area. It's still being tested but if it turns out to save lives it will be a huge advancement.

Link: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-03/six-robots-could-shape-future-earthquake-search-and-rescue

Pop-up stores

With how rediculously fast Apple comes up with new products or changes existing ones you might think that they have a problem getting these new products to their customers. Well apparently they have a way to deal with that, it's called a pop-up store. It's a temporary store that goes up in a place where people don't have access to new Apple products and sells them. The first store will be open in Austin Texas for two weeks starting on March 11 to sell the Ipad 2. It seems that Pop-Up stores have been a growing phenomenon among retailers for a while and companies like Apple are just starting to get into it.

here's a link: http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=3264664

Human-powered robot suit.

This is a pretty interesting thing I found, it's basically an exoskeleton that is very flexible and doesn't need an engine to make it move. It only needs a human to strap in and start walking around and it can go. It's very silly looking right now but I think it's pretty amazing for a student project.

http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2011-03/video-diy-human-powered-exoskeleton-makes-you-bigger-stronger-funnier

It's Keepon!

Keepon may be old news by now but it's still a testament to the huge leaps that have been achieved in robotics. It looks like two tennisballs taped to eachother but it's actually a very complicated robot that is able to understand and react to human facial expressions and emotion. It can also dance to music which is pretty amazing.

Here's a link and a video.

http://beatbots.net/research/

Oh my god how horrifying.

Oh wow you guys need to see this thing. It's apparently the most realistic robot or android or whatever they're called that's ever been made. Watch the video too, if you want to be creeped out.

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-03/video-goateed-geminoid-robot-guaranteed-freak-you-out