Scientists make artificial skin for robots, taking us one step closer to a world of androids

Source: cnbc

May 2 2020

By Todd Wasserman

• Scientists from around the world are developing robotic skin that helps machines gain the sense of touch.

• The rush is due to the rise of robotics globally. By 2030, Oxford Economics estimates that robots will displace 20 million human workers worldwide.

• Expanding a robot’s ability to feel allows them to detect temperature changes and discern the texture of a surface and the amount of force on contact.

Robots can outthink humans, but can they understand what it is to be human?

Scientists are moving robots along on that continuum by developing robotic skin that helps them gain the sense of touch. Researchers from Munich to Japan to Boston are currently looking into how to give robots tactile sensation and in some cases, feel pain.

The rush to create this technology is in response to the rise in automation. Currently there are about 3 million industrial robots in the world. By 2030, Oxford Economics estimates that robots will displace 20 million human workers worldwide. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for industrial robots is estimated at 9.4% through 2023, according to Allied Market Research.

Expanding a robot’s ability to feel ushers in more practical applications. A sensing robot can discern the texture of a surface and the amount of force on contact. Some robots can also detect temperature changes.

While those sound-like esoteric senses, Elisabeth Smela, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland, points to a more salient example. “It could be useful to back up and feel somebody touching,” she said. Without such awareness, a human worker might become biased against their robot coworker.

Awareness is just one facet of being human that scientists are trying to bring to robots. While some traits — like a sense of morality — seem to be off limits, other traits such as compassion and humor appear to be fair game.

Creating skin for robots

For some, the key to improving robots is to have them experience the world as much like humans as possible. For instance, creating skin for robots is the goal of various researchers around the world. Last year researchers introduced artificial skin developed by the Technical University of Munich. The artificial skin, made up of hexagon-shaped silicone cells about 1 in. in diameter, can detect contact, acceleration, proximity and temperature.

Skin is the human body’s largest organ, and it is full of nerve endings that provide us with instant reports of temperature, pressure and pain.


John Yiannis Aloimonos, a professor with the University of Maryland’s Department of Computer Science, said such artificial skin “enables robots to perceive their surroundings in much greater detail and with more sensitivity. This not only helps them to move safely. It also makes them safer when operating near people and gives them the ability to anticipate and actively avoid accidents.”

Researchers say skin is important because a robot needs to discern the unspoken communication that goes on among humans. Mastering such nonverbal communications would be a quantum leap for robots. It can also be combined with other ‘robotic senses,’ such as sight or hearing.

[Artificial skin] enables robots to perceive their surroundings in much greater detail and with more sensitivity. This not only helps them to move safely. It also makes them safer when operating near people and gives them the ability to anticipate and actively avoid accidents.

-John Yiannis Aloimonos, Professor with the University of Maryland's Department of Computer Science.

Developing the senses is seen as the key to adding functionality to robots. “We use tactile feedback to get more information about our surroundings, and to adjust our actions by receiving continuous input about what we’re touching and interacting with,” said Daniela Rus, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who serves as director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. She said her goal is to “take a first step towards being able to enable robots to have some of the same sorts of capabilities.“

John Dolan, principal systems scientist at Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute, said the talk of robot skin shows is the field of soft robotics, which tries to replicate the human body’s musculature, force and torque. Humans take for granted such “force-sensing,” which is the ability to distinguish a punch from a pat on the back.

The benefits of sensing skin

There are tangible benefits to having robots with sensing skin. For instance, a sensing skin could tell a robot to immediately shut down when it comes in contact with a human. That’s helpful since humans aren’t allowed in the same space as many industrial robots.

But there are also challenges to putting skin on robots in terms of cost and mechanics. “If you want to cover the entire robot, then there are a lot of pieces that need to be wired and a lot of data coming from that,” Smela said. Leif Jentof, co-founder of RightHand Robotics, added that robot skin is very expensive and that will mean creators will likely ``concentrate on areas that are needed for specific tasks.”

Robot skin will not be a uniform solution for every application or industry, especially when a human might be better able to perform a task at a lower cost. Brian Gerkey, the CEO of Open Robotics, said human worker on an assembly line could feel if someone bumped into him, but a robot would not, unless it was programmed to do so.

Scientists have experimented with using living flesh to give robots more of a human feel. Otherwise, they tend to use manmade substances such as rubber. “I know that human or animal skin is the gold standard for these kinds of efforts and it’s basically magic,” said Gerkey. “As far as I know, we’re nowhere close to matching that technology.”

Professor Jong-Oh Park, vice chair of the research committee of the International Federation of Robotics, said flesh is very complicated and re-engineering it eludes us right now. “As well known, living tissue is basically programmed or designed in DNA in every living cell in nanometer scale,” he said.

Softer robots use in society

Creating skin is just the beginning. So far, robots have been used mostly for their strength and focused intelligence, but over the next few years there will be an increasing need for robots that instill a sense of humanity.

The United States, whose population of 65-and-older people will nearly double by 2060, appears to be on the same trajectory as other nations like Germany and South Korea with working-age populations projected to shrink.

New elder-care systems, like start-up Intuition Robotics’ ElliQ, which offers seniors digital companion agents that reminds patients to take their meds and exercise, are one such means to provide a sense of companionship for older people.

As such, softer robots could allow for a gentler introduction to the technology. Such robots may not have the human touch, but they do offer a touch of humanity.

Gerkey is dismissive, however, of efforts to build humanoid robots that mimic human beings. “A much less compelling argument is in order to have robots accepted by people in their lives, they should look and behave like people,″ he said. ``I don’t think that’s true at all.”

How Big Tech is dictating the terms of the coronavirus response to national governments

Source: The Verge

April 28 2020

By Casey Newton

Apple’s operating-system policy reportedly forced a change to a German contact-tracing scheme.

On Monday the six Bay Area counties announced that they would extend stay-at-home orders through May, citing ongoing difficulties in preparing for future spikes in new cases. A prominent question as elected officials attempt to govern through the next several months is to what extent they will rely on technology solutions to help them identify possible infections. Over the weekend, we saw a variety of ideas on this subject begin to play out around the world.

First, Apple and Google announced some changes to their collaboration on a system-level API for public health authorities, which will use people’s smartphones to inform them when they have been in the presence of someone who is later diagnosed with COVID-19. The changes are largely meant to address privacy concerns, but to me they’re most notable for a change in terminology. Instead of “contact tracing,” the companies are now referring to their project as an “exposure notification” system. I had previously argued here that Bluetooth-based solutions were unlikely to be effective for real contact tracing, which requires human beings to track down leads. But “exposure notification” seems like something these companies are well suited to do, and I’m glad they’re now thinking about it in those terms.

One country that has been persuaded of the companies’ approach is famously privacy-conscious Germany. Germans were instrumental in devising the (tongue twister alert) Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project, an effort to do exposure notification in a way that protected citizens from their governments. But the project would have required operating system-level changes to Apple’s iOS by making Bluetooth available to public-health apps that sought to process exposure notifications on a central server controlled by the government.

For privacy reasons, Apple said no, and now Germany has signed on with Apple’s system. Here are Douglas Busvine and Andreas Rinke in Reuters:

Germany changed course on Sunday over which type of smartphone technology it wanted to use to trace coronavirus infections, backing an approach supported by Apple and Google along with a growing number of other European countries. [...]

Germany as recently as Friday backed a centralised standard called Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT), which would have needed Apple in particular to change the settings on its iPhones. When Apple refused to budge there was no alternative but to change course, said a senior government source.

(As an aside, the idea that we live in a time where Apple is telling Europe what forms of exposure notification will be permitted is basically the entire thesis behind / pitch for the existence of this newsletter. Not because I believe Apple abused its power, but because the world is still catching up to the idea that Apple and a handful other tech giants have this power.)

England, on the other hand, has said to hell with it. The country’s National Health Service is developing its own contact-tracing app that it says will work even when it is in the background and the screen is off, a limitation that has stymied other such apps. The reason it is developing its own app is so that it can process exposure notifications on its own server — the thing that Apple declined to implement for Germany at the operating system level. Here’s Leo Kellion reporting for the BBC:


“Engineers have met several core challenges for the app to meet public health needs and support detection of contact events sufficiently well, including when the app is in the background, without excessively affecting battery life,” said a spokeswoman for NHSX, the health service’s digital innovation unit. [...]

It has opted for a “centralised model” to achieve this - meaning that the matching process, which works out which phones to send alerts to - happens on a computer server. This contrasts with Apple and Google’s “decentralised” approach - where the matches take place on users’ handsets.

The NHS says it will be easier to notify people believed to be infected using a centralized approach. We’ll see! Meanwhile, Australia says 1 million people have downloaded its own contact-tracing app, COVIDSafe, which also uses a centralized approach. The app is based on Singapore’s open-source TraceTogether app, whose effectiveness at exposure notification is somewhat under dispute. (Not least because only a small minority of the population is using it.)

Western approaches to exposure notification continue to be rooted in privacy fears, but that’s not the case everywhere. Last month, Israel’s internal service, the Shin Bet, was granted emergency powers to track confirmed cases of COVID-19 and analyze patients’ movements to aid in contact tracing. It reportedly marked the first time Israel had used technology built for counterterrorism purposes for civilian uses.

But Israelis have their privacy sensitivities, too. On Sunday, Israel’s top court ruled that if the Shin Bet wishes to continue the practice, it will need to be explicitly permitted in legislation.

It was a weirdly rare reminder that, while so much of the pandemic response has focused on technology — on testing and tracing — lawmakers have a role to play, too.

This Pentagon Paper Explains Why the Trump Administration Is Reining In Tech Trade with China

http://www.nextgov.com/policy/2018/04/pentagon-paper-explains-why-trump-administration-reining-tech-trade-china/147293/

AlterEgo, A Wearable Device That Transmits Internal Speech Through Neuromuscular Facial Signals

https://laughingsquid.com/alterego-wearable-device-transmits-internal-speech/

China’s great leap forward in science

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/feb/18/china-great-leap-forward-science-research-innovation-investment-5g-genetics-quantum-internet

China Innovation Power: Far Out-Ranks U.S. And Japan In New Patent Applications

Πηγή: Forbes
By Rebecca Fannin
April 2 2016

his past week, I heard Chen Xu, CEO of the Bank of China, discuss how important innovation is to drive continued growth of the Chinese economy while state owned enterprises diminish in power. He mentioned the disruptive breakthroughs that are coming from such leading tech leaders as social communications titan Tencent and drone maker DJI. He noted that innovation is being driven returnees with degrees from top U.S. business and tech degrees. And he talked about how tech hubs Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Beijing are vying with one another to attract more up and comers to base headquarters in their turf.

In case you missed it, China far outstripped the U.S. in the number of new patent applications, according to the 2015 edition of the World Intellectual Property Indicators. This is the third year in a row that China’s increase has outranked other leading nations.

China recorded 928,177 patent fillings in 2014, trailed by the U.S. at 578,802, Japan at 325, 989 and Korea at 210,292. Most of the growth in patent filings was due to China’s surge of 12.5% compared with a 1.3% increase for the U.S. and Japan at a decline of .7%. Interestingly, Iran topped growth increases globally with a 18.5% gain in patent applications.

Moreover, China has climbed steadily over the past seven years to rank third worldwide for the number of patents in force, at 1.2 million. The U.S. leads with the number of patents at 2.5 million and Japan at 1.9 million.

Turning to specific technology advancements, Japan leads innovation in robotics, with auto makers Toyota, Nissan, Honda leading. The U.S. comes out on top for the most number of new patent applications in nanotechnology and 3D printing. Looking at a longer time span from 2005, China accounted for more than one-quarter of patents globally in 3D printing and robotics, the highest share among all countries.

A look at the Asian region as a whole underscores a shift in innovation to the East. Asia’s percentage of patent applications has grown from 49 percent in 2004 to 60 percent in 2014. Meanwhile, North America has slid from 25.1 percent to 22.9%.

8 Ways Tech Has Completely Rewired Our Brains

Πηγή: Mashable
By Rebecca Hiscott
March 14 2014

Technology has altered human physiology. It makes us think differently, feel differently, even dream differently. It affects our memory, attention spans and sleep cycles. This is attributed to a scientific phenomenon known as neuroplasticity, or the brain's ability to alter its behavior based on new experiences. In this case, that's the wealth of information offered by the Internet and interactive technologies.

Some cognition experts have praised the effects of tech on the brain, lauding its ability to organize our lives and free our minds for deeper thinking. Others fear tech has crippled our attention spans and made us uncreative and impatient when it comes to anything analog.

Every emerging study and opinion piece is hotly disputed, yet each brings us closer to understanding how tech can fundamentally alter our minds. Below, we list some of the major ways tech has rewired our brains, for better or worse.

1. We dream in color.

Television impacts our psyche so thoroughly, it may even affect our dreams. In 2008, a study conducted at Scotland's Dundee University found that adults over the age of 55 who had grown up in a household with a black and white television set were more likely to dream in black and white. Younger participants, who grew up in the age of Technicolor, nearly always experienced their dreams in color. The American Psychological Assocation seconded these findings in 2011.

Previous dream research, conducted in the early 1900s through the 1950s, has suggested a correlation between exposure to black and white television and dreaming in black and white. In the 1960s, dreams returned to Technicolor with the advent of color film and television.

2. We experience FOMO…




The reports are anecdotal at best, but FOMO (fear of missing out), defined by The New York Times as "the blend of anxiety, inadequacy and irritation that can flare up while skimming social media," seems fairly legit.

Before Instagram and Facebook, people who chose to spend a quiet Saturday night at home with a glass of wine and a copy of Anchorman might have felt a little guilty or sad they weren't out whooping it up. But thanks to social media, that feeling is compounded by pictures and posts of scrumptious dinners and raging parties, plus endless videos of friends chugging beer. Even if none of these activities are your idea of fun, you'll definitely recognize that pang: "Should I be doing something else right now?" That's FOMO.

There's even evidence that looking at pictures of friends' meals on Instagram and Pinterest makes your own meal taste bland by comparison.

3. … And "phantom vibration syndrome."

We are now hard-wired to assume our phones are ringing, even when they're not. In a 2012 study published in the journal Computers and Human Behavior, researchers found that 89% of the 290 undergraduates surveyed reported feeling "phantom vibrations," the physical sensation that their phone was vibrating, even when it wasn't, once every two weeks. A survey of hospital workers found similar results.

A research psychologist speaking on NPR suggested that physical sensations, such as an itch, may now be misinterpreted by our brains as a vibrating phone. "Something in your brain is being triggered that's different than what was triggered just a few short years ago," he said.

Since nobody is especially bothered by phantom vibrations, the sensation is more of a nuisance than a physiological problem. Still, it's pretty freaky.

4. We can't sleep.




We technophiles are accustomed to falling asleep with laptops glowing softly by our beds, playing a soothing Futurama episode to lull us into sleep. Others might end the day by reading a chapter of The Hunger Games on their iPad. But those comforting nighttime routines may actually be screwing with our sleep patterns.

Neuroscientists suspect the glowing lights emitted by laptop, tablet and smartphone screens mess with your body's internal light cues and sleep-inducing hormones. Exposure to bright lights can fool the brain into thinking it's still daytime, and can potentially have lasting effects on the body's circadian rhythms (your internal sleep clock). Our eyes are especially sensitive to the blue light emitted by screens. This makes it harder to fall asleep, especially for those who already struggle with insomnia.

5. Our memory isn't great, and neither is our attention span.

Back in the old, old, old days, learning by rote was a prized skill. So prized, in fact, that students were often expected to recite entire books from memory. In a Google-happy world, when virtually any scrap of information is instantly at our fingertips, we don't bother retaining facts, let alone whole book passages. Who needs to memorize the capital of Mozambique when you can just ask Siri?

In 2007, a neuroscientist polled 3,000 people and found that the younger respondents were less likely to remember standard personal information, such as a relative's birthday or even their own phone number. Similarly, studies have shown that calculators may decrease simple mathematical skills. Some people are unable to navigate their own cities without the help of GPS.

Social media and the Internet have also been shown to shorten our attention spans. Individuals immersed in digital media find it difficult to read books for long periods of time, and often skim articles online rather than reading every word. This phenomenon can be particularly troubling for youth, whose brains are more malleable and, therefore, may fail to develop concentration skills.

6. We have better visual skills…




A 2013 study found that first-person shooter video games, such as Halo and Call of Duty, boost decision-making and visual skills. These immersive games force players to make snap decisions based on visual cues, which enhances visuospatial attention skills, or the ability to parse details of your physical environment. Gamers are also better at detecting contrast between objects in dim environments.

Meanwhile, complex, strategy-based games like Starcraft may improve the brain's "cognitive flexibility," or the ability to switch between tasks, thus enhancing the much-disputed ability to multitask. This was particularly true among older study participants.

7. ...But poorer impulse control.

Unfortunately, that same 2013 study found video games like Halo can inhibit players' ability to rein in impulsive or aggressive behavior. Researchers concluded that forcing players to make snap decisions in violent situations inhibited "proactive executive control" over knee-jerk reactions and impulses, meaning they were more likely to react with immediate, unchecked hostility or aggression in real life.

Other studies have substantiated the idea of a link between violent video games (and other violent forms of media) and aggression and attention problems.
8. We create more.





Ending on a high note, tech makes it easier for artists and non-artists alike to engage with creative media. Author Clay Shirkey argues that the Internet enhances what he calls "cognitive surplus," the excess hours and brain power we can devote to pursuing activities and goals we enjoy. Social media, according to Shirkey, prompts users to engage with texts, images and videos in a way that simply watching television doesn't. As social media promotes a culture of sharing, users feel more inclined to create and share something of their own, be it a Flickr album, a book review, a contribution to Wikipedia or a DIY project.

"We do things because they're interesting, because they're engaging, because they're the right things to do, because they contribute to the world," said Daniel Pink, author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, in a conversation with Wired and Shirkey.

"Once we stop thinking of all that time as individual minutes to be whiled away and start thinking of it as a social asset than can be harnessed, it all looks very different," said Shirkey. "The buildup of free time among the world's educated population — maybe a trillion hours per year — is a new resource."