Revolutionary Robots: 16 Cool & Crazy Creations

 

Artificial intelligence is getting more advanced by the day, in ways that are both scary and exciting. There are robots that can help make the world a better place – leading schools of fish away from turbines, or helping the disabled regain mobility. Then there are the pole dancers, ketchup squeezers and graffiti sprayers. These 16 robots run the gamut, with functions that delight and amaze.

 

#16 Bear Pillow Tickles Snorers in the Face

(images via: spectrum.ieee.org) Via: weburbanist.com

Does your partner have a snoring problem? Imagine buying them this totally innocent-looking bear pillow and watching their reaction when, prompted by the sound of snoring, it raises its arm and touches their face to make them stop. The Jukusui-Kun Robotic Bear Pillow not only listens to the volume of snoring, but also monitors oxygen levels, making them a great companion for people with sleep apnea.

#15 Autonomous Snow Plow Robot

(images via: geekologie) Via: weburbanist.com

Nobody likes shoveling snow, and in some climates, winter clean-up is an exhausting, never-ending task. Too bad we can’t all have our very own Yuki-taro robots – autonomous snow plows that seek out snow, gobble it up and then excrete compressed blocks of ice which can be stacked and stored until summer, when they can be used for refrigeration or cooling. The researchers that developed it hope that it will be commercially available within five years.

#14 Pole-Dancing Robots

(images via: youtube/giles walker) Via: weburbanist.com

You might find these pole dancers a little stiff. The fully animated robots – along with a DJ – were made by Giles Walker out of raw materials found in scrap yards. Walker controls the robots through a PC using a DMX lighting program.

#13 Twitter Robot Acts Out Your Friends’ Emotions

(images via: dvice) Via: weburbanist.com

Ken Lim’s Guardian Robot from InsideGuardian on Vimeo.

Most people don’t have the time to constantly monitor their Twitter stream for comments that indicate that their friends are either really happy or really sad. Well, there’s a robot for that too. Ken Lim’s ‘Guardian Robot’ will either raise its arm or lower its head in response to your friends’ comments. You can give it a high-five when it’s happy or a hug when it’s sad to return it to its idle state.

#12 Clean Your House Remotely with Kinect-Powered Robot

(image via: spectrum.ieee.org)Via: weburbanist.com

You’re having company tonight, but you haven’t had a chance to clean – you’re stuck at your office job instead, doing busy work. But if you had Yaskawa’s SmartPal VII, you could be cleaning your house remotely – using a robot powered by XBox Kinect. Maybe it won’t scrub the toilet, but it moves well enough to pick some things up off the floor.

#11 Senseless Drawing Bot

(images via: vimeo) Via: weburbanist.com

If you’ve ever felt the need to cover a surface in graffiti but couldn’t be bothered to do it yourself, there’s a robot just for you. TheSenseless Drawing Bot by So Kanno and Takahiro Yamaguchi moves back and forth in a straight line along a wall, its mechanical arm spraying random scribbles in the colors of your choice.

#10 Automated Ketchup-Squirting Robot

(image via: tasteologie) Via: weburbanist.com

It’s a robot that squeezes ketchup, and it’s got its own theme song. The video speaks for itself.

#9 Kazu Terasaki iPad Walking Robot

(image via: engadget) Via: weburbanist.com

iPads and iPhones become walking, googly-eyed robots in the hands of Kazu Terasaki. When watching the video of this unusual modification, you can’t help but cringe waiting for these expensive gadgets to walk right over the edge of the table and crash to the floor.

#8 Fractal Scene Robot Goes On and On Forever

(images via: screamyguy.net) Via: weburbanist.com

It’s not a physical robot, it’s a digital robot, but it’s still pretty cool. Programmer Matt Kozak created a fractal scene of a robot reproducing. Check out Matt’s website to view the scene from various angles and zoom in and out for the full trippy effect.

“Several years ago, I built a robot whose sole purpose in life was to create an even smaller robot just like himself… So much like himself, that this robot endeavoured to create yet another tiny robot, ad infinitum. This continued for a while until an extremely tiny speck of robot tried to endow purpose upon a cloud of molecules with ruinous result.”

#7 Robot Fish Leads Schools of the Real Thing

(images via: botjunkie) Via: weburbanist.com

Professor Maurizio Porfiri has produced a robot fish that behaves with such realism, living fish can’t tell that it’s an impostor and will let it lead their school. Porfiri’s fish uses ionic polymers that swell and shrink in response to electrical simulation in order to power its tail for smooth, silent movement. The robot could actually be used to escort schools of fish away from dangers like hydroelectric turbines.

#6 Robot Arm Turned F1 Simulator

(image via: popsci) Via: weburbanist.com

Ever wonder what it’s like to drive a Ferrari at top speeds? A robot by Paolo Robuffo Giordano and colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Germany acts as a simulator to replicate the experience without the actual vehicle. A hot pink robotic arm, of the sort normally seen at amusement parks, holds an elevated seat that whips the rider around in front of a massive screen. While this might just be the world’s coolest simulated driving game, it’s also helping researchers study how the human body reacts to motion.

#5 16 Forms: Programmed Robotic Music Experience

(images via: notcot) Via: weburbanist.com

Displayed at this year’s DesignTokyo Tide, ’16 Forms’ by Daito Manabe and Motoi Ishibashi combines a robot arm, turntable, scans and 3D prints of a dancer to produce a strangely hypnotic audio and visual experience. Watch the video at vision.ameba.jp.

#4 R7 Rideable Robot

(images via: new scientist) Via: weburbanist.com

Korean company Robo3 produced a few amazing robots that were available for sale on the company’s website back in 2005 and 2006. Along with a robot bartender and a dinosaur, Robo3 offered the R7, a rideable robot that could have been yours for $5,250.

#3 Robot Planter Seeks Sun

(images via: the play coalition) Via: weburbanist.com

Fitted with a woven planter basket, the ‘Plant Bot’ by The Play Coalition has four mechanical legs that move the plant around the room to find patches of sunlight. Its legs move something like those of a spider, and though it might help keep your plants alive, its best use might be surprising the hell out of unsuspecting guests.

#2 Giant Robotic Spiders Prowl Yokohama

(images via: pink tentacle) Via: weburbanist.com

French performance artist group La Machine brought two insanely nightmarish robotic spiders to Yokohama, Japan in 2009 for Expo Y150, a 5-month festival in honor of the 150th anniversary of the opening of the city’s port. The spiders crawled along the streets in a spectacle that brought dubious 1960′s B-rated horror movies to life.

#1 You Don’t Control This Robot, It Controls You

(image via: spectrum.ieee.org) Via: weburbanist.com

Sure, you can make robots do all kinds of cool and crazy things, but at least one of them turns the tables by controlling a human limb. The robot sends small electrical currents to electrodes taped to a person’s forearm to hold a ball and then drop it through a hoop. The technology could someday be used to help disabled people regain some of their motor skills.

Revolutionary Robots: 16 Cool & Crazy Creations

Continue

Weird Scientology Facts

#15 L. Ron Hubbard

The founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, was a science fiction novelist who turned to writing self-help books for a living. Hubbard was quoted in 1948 saying, “Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion.”

#14 Evil Xenu

Scientology says that 75 million years ago, some intergalactic overlord named Xenu exiled people to Earth to solve a population issue. When the souls of the humans left the bodies, Xenu captured the souls and implanted them with false images of Christ and other historical events that Hubbard claims to have never existed.

#13 Hubbard’s dea.th

Although Scientology opposes the use of psychiatric dr.ugs, L. Ron Hubbard was using Vistaril when he d.ied.

#12 Operation Snow White

Starting in 1973, the church was responsible for “Operation Snow White”, which planted operatives inside the IRS, FBI, Justice Department, and the American Medical Association. These operatives stole and copied thousands of documents that may be used in silencing Church opponents.

#11 I’m on a boat

In the 1960s, Scientology used to be run from a boat — specifically, a ship called the Apollo that carried Hubbard and his followers. His trusted aides were teenage girls who wore a uniform of platforms and hot pants — and Hubbard was “commodore”.

#10 A billion years

Sea Org members are required to sign a billion-year contract dedicating their life to Scientology. They are paid around $50 a week.

#9 No treatment

Sickness is believed to be the fault of the person who is sick, and Sea Org members are not provided health insurance, sick days, or any medicine.

#8 No complaining

Letters that Sea Org members write to their own families are screened for any negativity or messages of unhappiness. The Sea Org reserves the right to ship family members off to work in different areas or countries, and if families complain, they are punished.

#7 FBI investigation

The church has been investigated by the FBI since December 2009, with a focus on “human trafficking” within the Sea Org at the Gold Base in California.

#6 Spy on mommy and daddy

When it’s time to be audited, children are encouraged to spy on their parents and tell the church their findings.

#5 Raising kids

The birth and upbringing of children is strictly controlled; there are strict rules surrounding their upbringing — including diets and no contact with anyone outside of the religion. Good luck to Tom Cruise with that.

#4 Rupert Murdoch

The media mogul has been outspoken on Twitter about his feelings towards Scientology.

#3 Nonbelievers

Scientologists refer to non-Scientologists as “wogs”, which is a copyrighted term.

#2 Leader’s wife

Since 2006, Michele Diane “Shelly” Miscavige, the wife of the church’s leader, has not been seen in public. She reportedly disappeared after she had filled job vacancies without her husband’s permission.

#1 Abuse from the top

David Miscavige, the leader of the Church of Scientology, has been involved in scandals concerning illegal or unethical practices — including beating his aides and humiliating staff members.

[Via:]

Weird Scientology Facts

Continue

The Largest Ice and Snow Hotel in the World

Every winter, artists from around the world gather in Jukkasjärvi, northern Sweden, for an art project that has become known as ICEHOTEL. It is the world’s first and largest hotel built of snow and ice. Jukkasjärvi is a small village in northern Sweden with a population of 900 residents and about 1000 dogs.

Each winter, some 50 000 visitors from all over the world come to see ICEHOTEL to experience the tranquility, the northern lights and all of the activities offered in a wilderness 200 km from the Arctic Circle. The development covers 5,500 square metres (59,200 sq. ft) and is constructed from 2,000 tonnes of Torne River ice and 30,000 tonnes of snice, a mixture of snow and ice that strengthens the structure. Some 100 people are involved in the construction of ICEHOTEL, half of which are artists especially invited to design particular areas of the hotel.

Building the hotel is a year-round process. In March and April, 4,000 tonnes of ice is harvested from the Torne River and kept in cold storage over the summer. Construction takes place in November and December and the entire ICEHOTEL is then open between December and mid-April, when the structure begins to slowly melt and return to the Torne River.

Below you will find highlights from this season’s designs and creations from artists around the world. Additional information about the hotel and how it began can also be found throughout the gallery.

http://icehotel.com/

1. Entrance

Photograph by Ben Nilsson/Big Ben Productions

 

 

2. Blue Marine Suite

Photograph Paulina Holmgren | Artists: William Blomstrand & Andrew Winch

 

3. Absinthe Minded Suite

Photograph by Paulina Holmgren | Artists: Tjåsa Gusfors & Ulrika Tallving

 

 

4. Cold and Crazy Suite

Photograph by Paulina Holmgren | Artists: Jonas Gencevicius & Jurgita Genceviciene

 

5. The Flower Suite

Photograph by Paulina Holmgren | Artists: Natsuki Saito & Shingo Saito

 

 

6. Rain of Memories Suite

Photograph by Paulina Holmgren | Artists: Alessandro Canu & Jose Carlos Cabello Millan

 

The History of ICEHOTEL

During the 1980s the company Jukkas, now ICEHOTEL, conducted tourism activities during the summer months and became, as an innovator and leader in its niche, the first tourism operator in Europe to offer organized whitewater rafting. Business was quiet during the winter months, however, and no one thought it could be otherwise. “Who would want to travel here to the cold, snow and darkness?” locals reasoned. But Yngve Bergqvist, founder of ICEHOTEL, had a different idea.

Inspired by Japanese ice sculpture, he invited artists from Norrbotten to participate in a workshop in 1989. Two sculptors from Hokkaido, Japan, were instructors and the first ice sculptures were created on the shore of the Torne River in Jukkasjärvi. An igloo, built using a mould-forming technique, was the first specially designed ice-and-snow structure to be erected here. The 60-square-metre igloo was named ARTic Hall, and many curious visitors came to Jukkasjärvi to see art exhibited in the igloo. The following year, the technique was refined and the new version of ARTic Hall covered 250 square metres. The construction technique was patented in both Sweden and Norway.

Next, Yngve Bergqvist and his associates held evening church services, showed films, opened a bar and even tried sleeping in subzero temperatures inside the igloo. Needless to say, the igloo attracted considerable attention. Sweden’s king first visited the igloo in March 1992. Since then, he and the royal family have guested ICEHOTEL several times.

The first party of overnight guests to stay at ICEHOTEL was a Swedish Armed Forces survival group. The first conference group came from Vesatel, an international space satellite company. Lars Byström and 15 guests slept in sleeping bags on reindeer hides. The indoor temperature was minus five Celsius, and they awoke thrilled and exhilarated. ICEHOTEL was born.

7. ICEBAR

Photograph by Ben Nilsson/photobigben.com | Artists: Åke Larsson, Mats Nilsson and Jens Thoms

 

 

8. ICEBAR

Photograph by Ben Nilsson/photobigben.com

 

9. ICEBAR

Photograph by Ben Nilsson/photobigben.com | Artists: Åke Larsson, Mats Nilsson and Jens Thoms

 

 

10. ICEBAR

Photograph by Paulina Holmgren | Artists: Sofi Ruotsalainen, Mikael

 

11. ICEBAR

Photograph by Ben Nilsson/photobigben.com | Artists: Åke Larsson, Mats Nilsson and Jens Thoms

 

 

12. ICEBAR

Photograph by Ben Nilsson/Big Ben Productions | Artists: Anders Rönnlund & Anders Eriksson

 

The ICEHOTEL Experience

Turning in for the night involves slipping into thermal underwear, pulling a woolly hat over your ears, and then climbing into a sleeping bag atop reindeer hides and a mattress covering a block of ice. After your morning wake-up call (a cup of hot lingonberry juice), it’s time for a sauna, followed by breakfast from a well-stocked buffet and a day of activity.

Most guests sleep one night ’on ice’ and a few nights in the warm accommodation also on premise. Among other activities, ICEHOTEL arranges guided Northern Lights tours by snowmobile or bus, dog-sledding and reindeer-sledding excursions, horseback riding to watch moose, ice sculpting, and Raidú – an encounter with the Sami culture.

 

13. Beam Me Up Suite

Photograph by Paulina Holmgren | Artists: Karl-Johan Ekeroth & Christian Strömqvist

 

 

14. Dragon Residence Suite

Photograph by Paulina Holmgren | Artists: Dorjsuren Lkhagvadorj & Bazarsad Bayarsaikhan

 

15. Eternity Suite

Photograph by Paulina Holmgren | Artists: Fernando Inçaurgarat & Alfredo Juan Diez

 

 

16. Cube Suite

Photograph by Paulina Holmgren | Artists: Marie Deblocq & Luc Voisin

 

17. Nest Suite

Photograph by Paulina Holmgren

 

ICEHOTEL is open to the public as an art exhibition. Those who wish can join on a guided tour of the Main Hall, Art Suites and Ice Rooms. ICEHOTEL 2012/2013 will have 65 guest rooms and will be open from 7 December. They close in mid-April, when ICEHOTEL slowly begins to melt and becomes the world’s most modern ruin.

 

18. ICEBAR

Photograph by Ben Nilsson/Big Ben Productions | Artists: Mark Armstrong & Lena Kriström

 

19. Church

Photograph by Paulina Holmgren | Artists: Javier Opazo, Ethan Friedman & Rob Harding

 

 

20. Reception

Photograph by Paulina Holmgren | Artists: Lena Kriström & Susan Christianen

 

21.

Photograph by Ben Nilsson/Big Ben Productions

 

The ice chapel that is right next to ICEHOTEL is opened every year on December 25th, whereby it is formally handed over to the Swedish Church. Couples from all over the world come to Jukkasjärvi to vow each other eternal fidelity. Children from far and near are baptized here. Already married couples can renew their vows in the chapel. Every year there are about 140 weddings and 20 baptisms at the ice church.

 

22. Illuminated Suite

Photograph by Paulina Holmgren | Artists: Eszter Sziksz & Nikkila Carroll

 

23. Iceberg Suite

Photograph by Paulina Holmgren | Artists: Wouter Biegelaar & Margot Eggenhuizen

 

 

24. Whitewater Suite

Photograph by Paulina Holmgren | Artists: Elin Julin & Ida Mangsbo

 

25. Virgin in Space Suite

Photograph by Paulina Holmgren | Artists: Monica Popescu, Romania & Petros Dermatas

The Largest Ice and Snow Hotel in the World

Continue