If I had a nickel for every time I have wished for a wand to just zap the house chores done! We are all guilty of postponing the vacuuming. I, for one, try to avoid it altogether by not cutting paper near the carpet or getting my shoes on the rug. But now we needn’t try to escape the chore; with Samsung’s new fully automated robot vacuum cleaner, we can sit back n let the cleaning begin.

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The only thing that was missing from our dream future home was a robo. But now it can come true or a cool and irresistible android is up for sale. The name is Mazinger Z. Well, if you are Japanese or have spent considerable time in that country, this name will not be new to you. And for the uninitiated, let us tell you that this was a popular animation tele show created by Go Nagai way back in 1970s.

So, you can safely assume tat this one is the original super robo that later inspired other series and toy lines in the same brand as well as in others. By the way, Mazinger Z is your Tranzor Z in the US. Okay coming back to the ‘for sale’ bit, well, the robo made in titanium and other advanced materials is expected to fetch $20,400.

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Whoever said that fiction is stranger than life is so much mistaken because this is one creation that will convince you that real life is, and will always be, the strangest of all. Humans, crazed with the idea of becoming immortal turn towards science once again in the hope of living forever.

When it comes to strange things, perhaps the creation of the strangest comes from the Japanese. Their reptile monsters are only second to their creation of weirdly life-like robots and this time they take the words ‘life-like’ further than possible. Oboe is a robot made with the intention of carrying human thoughts. All of you Harry Potter fans thinking of the Penseive would be most disappointed to know that this is nothing of that sort. The Oboe was designed by Arnaud Deloustal as a robot that would ‘hang-out’ with the elderly and carry memories of them. Oboe would store within it all the information that is to be gained about the certain individual.

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If you were wondering, why robots usually dealt with boring issues like washing dishes and cleaning tables and not being a bar tender and gett8ing you drunk without you moving an inch, the BaR2D2 come as an answer. BaR2D2 is a stylish robot that can be controlled by robot and doubles up as a mobile bar that has a motorized beer elevator.

It even comes with ice/mixer drawer that is motorized and contains a six bottle shot dispenser. Sound will activate the neon lighting. Surprisingly, the robot can be driven which means you can take your drunkenness to the street and beyond. The maker created the robot using spare parts and materials in his garage.

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For those who believe that technology and robotics will make their life a lot easier than at any time in the past, this is probably something that would not really surprise you. But for those conspiracy-theory experts who believe that one day all the robots will turn on us and try and eliminate us from the face of the earth (ala Terminator), this is another sign towards the impending doom. Korean company Yujin Robot has been showing off a coffee barista robot that delivers your coffee with precision and with complete politeness.
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Robots will one day overtake human beings, so say the Science Fiction writers. We have been laughing at them for ages but their prophesies have been coming true time and again. At Tokyo’s CEATEC conference, the new age Ms. Robot, MechaDroid Type C3 has been launched. MechaDroid is the robot receptionist that claims to be more effective, punctual, careful and pleasant than her human counterpart.
Receptionsts typically meet hundreds of new faces everyday, so much so that, it becomes difficult to recognize each and every person. But MechaDroid has been inbuilt with a unique face recognition technology. It has a number of other useful features that makes it truly worth spending $28,000.

This news reminds me of my University days when I played the role of Sulla, the receptionist in a production of Karel Capek’s RUR. It amazes me how the Czech writer predicted a future nearly 100 years forward as he wrote the play in 1921! And What scares me is that the play ended with a rebellion by the Robots. I wonder if MechaDroid also demands worker’s right in times to come! Chuckle!
Via techfresh

Ever heard of your chair knowing your mind, following your brainpower? The researchers at MIT are designing a wheelchair that responds to verbal commands. This user-friendly system can learn all about the locations in a given building, and then take its occupant to a given place in response to a vocal order. Just by saying “take me to the cafeteria” or “go to my room,” the wheelchair user would be able to avoid the need for controlling every twist and turn of the route and could simply sit back and relax as the chair moves from one place to another based on a map stored in its memory.
Unlike other attempts to program wheelchairs or other mobile devices, which rely on an intensive process of manually capturing a detailed map of a building, the MIT system can learn about its environment in much the same way as a person would: By being taken around once on a guided tour, with important places identified along the way. Outdoors in the open, such systems can rely on GPS receivers to figure out where they are, but inside buildings the wheelchair prototype relies on a WiFi system to make its maps and then navigate through them, which requires setting up a network of WiFi nodes around the facility in advance.

The research which has been funded by Nokia and Microsoft will especially be a boom to the patients who have partial or substantial loss of muscle control. As the research progresses, Nicholas Roy, assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics and the one behind the machine, says he’d like to add a collision-avoidance system using detectors to prevent the chair from bumping into other wheelchairs, walls or other obstacles besides including a wide number of other applications, such as automated forklifts that can learn where to take a crate and repeat that process.
So, this one is sure to take you places!!
Via MIT / BoingBoing

And this time the elite/coolest gadget of the week nominated by savvy readers of Coolestgadget is Rovio Wi-Fi Robot featured at Gaj-it.

This resourceful piece of gadgetry rivulets video and audio through an integrated camera, and can be monitored from anywhere. You can easily track the activities happening in your living room by scheming Rovio via the internet. On days, when you are enjoying vacations, the Rovio Wi-Fi Robot comes as a great security measure to make you stay near to your home albeit virtually.

To know more hit here.

Months ago, we witnessed the unveiling of Shadow Caddy, whose presence is enough to invite the entire gold club robotically. And here stands another similar furniture accessory with an appeal similar to that of a lounge chair complimented by an added feature of offering comfort to your tired feet. Called the RoboStool Footstool, the comforting mechanism devised by Steve is accessible via Parallax Propeller chip and cruise mount kit and sports three modes i.e. universal remote, beacon navigation, and thermal sensor that puts it in a “FollowMe” mode.

Those you are skilled enough to practice the DIY know-how for developing their own can visit their site to get an insight about the schematics.

Check out the video

Via GadgetsNGizmos / MakeZine

The Seascout aquatic rescue robot can be witnessed as a weapon for specialized and errant tourists in unbolted waters. If any fine day, you feel the possibility of getting caught in such panicky moment then all you need to do is to activate a GPS tracker and the ‘bot’ would slither out to scrape them into its drudgery bay, transporting them back to shelter. Accessibly physically or preprogrammed, and features a domestic lighting, a sun-shade and a radio system so as to keep you away from that claustrophobic feel.

All it needs is a duo of frickin’ laser beams to scuffle off shark to evolve as a marine hero or rather a successful villain. Designed and developed by Andre Harley, a student at the Designskolen Kolding University in Denmark, the Seascout is truly a revolutionary form of recue.



Via Dvice / Gizmodo/ Corofolt