Market trends and business perspectives
A new synthetic material created by a scientist at Cornell University is said to give robots a “softer touch”.
Developed by PhD student Patricia Xu, at Cornell’s Organic Robotics Lab, the “sensory network” – also dubbed “optical lace” – is said to be similar to the human biological nervous system.
The lab’s paper, Optical Lace for Synthetic Afferent Neural Networks, was published in Science Robotics. [Read more…] about Cornell scientists develop new material to give robots more sensitive touch
Smart homes are predicted to drive the demand for consumer robotics to 39 million shipments a year by 2024, according to analysis by ABI Research.
But a “disconnect between smart home and home robotics offerings has been a factor limiting home robotics adoption”. says ABI.
Pricing, availability, and consumer awareness have been factors too, but a new study finds that robot vendors increasingly see value in supporting the integration of their devices into smart home functionality. [Read more…] about Smart homes to drive consumer robotics demand to 39 million shipments a year by 2024
By William Downhill, MoltenSoft
Every computer gets there at some point. Everything is running slower, the fans are turning at ten thousand rpm, and every so often the screen just freezes arbitrarily, even if there isn’t anything running.
Regular users immediately think “I must have a virus!”
But that’s not always right. Often times, the only thing making your computer run like a turtle through a vat of cold honey is just that your computer needs to be cleaned up. [Read more…] about PC running slow? Speed up your computer by cleaning it with CCleaner
Charles Deguire, president and co-founder of Kinova Robotics, explained the benefits of robotics in the health sector before the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology.
The Committee invited Deguire to testify as senators study the role of automation in the health care system, particularly robotics, artificial intelligence and 3D printing, in direct and indirect care to patients and home care.
Charles Deguire, CEO of Kinova, said: “It is clear to us that the future of medicine depends on robotics and its great ability to empower humanity. People cannot imagine how many technological advances in medical robotics have been made in recent years.
“The scalpel and the hand have not changed in the past 100 years, it’s time for medicine to evolve. Kinova is actively working with surgeons to develop better tools for them and their patients.” [Read more…] about Kinova Robotics explains role of automation in health care to Senate committee
Company launches exoskeletons and personal care robots, and calls for ‘smiling faces and laughter’ from old people
Panasonic has shown off a range of newly developed exoskeletons and personal care robots. Some are designed to be worn by industrial workers to help them lift objects with less effort. Others are programmed to make old people laugh, says the company.
The “power assist suits”, as the company calls them, were developed by Activelink, one of Panasonic’s in-house venture companies, and are aimed at industrial workers.
Hiromichi Fujimoto, president of Activelink, suggests the suits could help people become more like robots, which, he implies, would make the world a better place. [Read more…] about Panasonic to turn industrial workers and elderly into robots
Customer care – from the traditional call center to webchat to social media options – is being transformed almost daily by machine learning and smarter technology, according to a survey of 6,000 consumers by Xerox.
In its report, The State of Customer Service, Xerox concludes that customer care is getting more personal but the leading trends emerging in 2016 indicate that smart machines may be key in driving the pursuit of individualized service.
“It’s clear that the relationships between consumers and brands will change radically over the next five years,” said Tim Joyce, chief innovation officer, Xerox Customer Care. “Customers expect a high quality of service and technology is maturing to the point where brands can efficiently meet those needs.”
