Look out! The robots are coming to take your job away

From Times Online:

For as long as anyone can remember, the Tokyo International Robot Exhibition has been a showcase for Japan at its wackiest: stern industrial machines lurked backstage as waltzing, noodle-making or ping-pong playing humanoids stole the limelight.

In recessionary 2009, however, with Japanese industry writhing in pain, the national robot obsession has turned deadly serious. For the first time, the show explains exactly how the machines are going to take over.

A new mood is in the air: the downturn, says a Tsukuba University engineer, has honed Japanese robotics research and forced it to be more practical. Companies and universities once given unlimited budgets to push the boundaries of robotics are being told to come up quickly with something usable and commercial.

Read more

Mind And Machine

As brain to computer interfacing inches towards becoming an everyday consumer reality, especially in the gaming market, breakthroughs in design and aesthetics will surely become an important consideration for manufacturers.

There have no doubt been significant gains made in usability of non-invasive hardware for people with disabilities and neurological conditions over the last few years, but the point where the general populace becomes as conversant with BCI technology as they are with mobile phones or portable media players may be just around the corner. And what then on the software front?... social networking powered by thought alone?, fully immersive online experiences?... digital meditation?

It may have seemed like slow progress so far but the direct translation of thought into action may well be the next major technological consumer concept in the not too distant future, with all the usual suspects competing to sell you their own branded vision of the perfect digital lifestyle.

XC69FBF9XBGU