Posted by Technoratti-Anuraag
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Friday, February 26, 2010
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The Microsoft wireless Laser Desktop 6000 tries to make computing comfortable with its ergonomic design, and also compliments your need for style with its neat looks and great design.
The Laser Desktop 6000 comprises of a keyboard that is based on Microsoft’s Comfort Curve Design; keys have been placed in an ergonomically approved curvaceous design to give your fingers the perfect position and comfort for long hours of work. The keyboard is Windows Vista Aero inspired, and that is why Microsoft has incorporated a few dedicated Vista Aero shortcut keys. The keyboard has a semi transparent border, much like the Aero windows in Vista.
Apart from the basic keys, the keyboard features loads of shortcut keys, with one-touch access to Windows Flip, Zoom, Mail Client and even 5 programmable keys that you can set according to your preference.
The included wireless mouse uses laser technology, which gives it a more precise control as compared to an optical mouse. The tilt wheel allows it to scroll both horizontally as well as vertically. If you are looking forward to a gaming solution, then this will not disappoint you with its responsive mouse, but you might find the keys to lack tactile feedback.
The Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 operates at 2.4 GHz wireless radio frequency, allowing it to connect and operate smoothly without any interference from other electronic wireless devices connected to your computer.
We found the combo to perform well even over large distances. Microsoft claims the operable limit of the hardware is 40 Feet, and is good enough to give you the freedom to connect it to your HTPC. It worked flawlessly for us at a distance of about 15 feet. Both devices operate on 2 AA batteries each, and Microsoft claims they will last for 4 months.
Posted by Technoratti-Anuraag
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Sunday, October 25, 2009
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One of the most popular humanoid robots, the Einstein-mimicking Albert Hubo, can now boast of a new trick: teaching itself how to make realistic expressions!
“As far as we know, no other research group has used machine learning to teach a robot to make realistic facial expressions,” said researcher Tingfan Wu, the computer science Ph.D. student from the University of California San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.
Automating the process of learning for a robot is an arduous task. Currently, Hubo has about 30 facial muscles, each moved by a tiny servo motor connected to the muscle by a string. A highly trained person must manually set up these kinds of realistic robots so that the servos pull in the right combinations to make specific face expressions.
To simplify this process, Wu’s team looked at the most basic of learning behaviours: babies! Developmental psychologists speculate that infants learn to control their bodies through systematic exploratory movements, including babbling to learn to speak. Initially, these movements appear to be random, as infants learn to control their bodies and reach for objects.
“We applied this same idea to the problem of a robot learning to make realistic facial expressions,” said co-researcher Javier Movellan.
Albert Hubo, the "Einstein robot", tries out a few facial expressions
To begin the learning process, the researchers directed the robot to twist and turn its face in all directions, a process called ‘body babbling’. During this period, Albert Hubo could see itself in a mirror and analyse its own expression using facial expression detection software created at UC San Diego called CERT (Computer Expression Recognition Toolbox). This provided the data necessary for machine learning algorithms to learn a mapping between facial expressions and the movements of the muscle motors.
Once the robot learned the relationship between facial expressions and the muscle movements required to make them, it learned to make facial expressions it had never encountered.
For example, Hubo learned eyebrow narrowing, which requires the inner eyebrows to move together and the upper eyelids to close a bit to narrow the eye aperture.
The success aside, Wu and team acknowledge there is a lot of work still to be done, especially since some of the complex facial expressions are still awkward. The researchers think the ‘body babbling’ model may be too simple to describe the coupled interactions between facial muscles and skin.
While the primary goal of this work was to solve the engineering problem of how to approximate the appearance of human facial muscle movements with motors, the researchers say this kind of work could also lead to insights into how humans learn and develop facial expressions.
The research paper by the scientists can be found here.
