Robot 'Skin' Built With Touch Superior to Humans

By Stephanie Mlot

Robots may not have a sense of emotional feeling, but thanks to researchers at the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering, they may soon have the gift of physical feeling.

With the right sensors, actuators, and software, robots can be given the ability to feel, or at least identify materials by touch, the school said.

Researchers today published a study in Frontiers in Neurorobotics said said a specially designed robot built to mimic the human fingertip can actually outperform a living person in identifying a wide range of materials, based on textures.

Biomedical Engineering Professor Gerald Loeb and recently graduated doctoral student Jeremy Fishel created the BioTac, a biologically inspired tactile sensor. With their new technology, the researchers explored the robot hand's ability to distinguish 117 common materials gathered from fabric, stationary, and hardware stores. The robot's 99.6 percent performance rate in correctly discriminating pairs of similar textures was better than most humans would test, according to researchers.

While the machine is good at identifying which textures are similar to each other, Loeb and Fishel said it still can't tell what textures people will prefer. Instead, success in the realm of touch-sensitive robotics could pave the way for advancements in prostheses, personal assistive robots, and consumer product testing, the university's press release said.

More than a one-trick robot, the machine is capable of other human sensations, like discerning where and in which direction forces are applied to the fingertip, and even the thermal properties of an object. Fingerprints on the surface of the BioTac sensor's soft, flexible "skin" enhance its sensitivity to vibration.

What's next —robot tear ducts? Or bionic ear drums?

In 2010, a team of researchers from Cornell University, the University of Chicago, and iRobot discovered a "universal gripper," built out of a balloon and coffee grinds. The basic-science concept enhanced the area of robotics, a University of Chicago physicist said at the time.

Microsoft Dives Head-First Into Mobile Hardware With Two 10.6-Inch Tablets

By Jon Phillips

LOS ANGELES — Forget about operating systems. Forget about mice, keyboards and snoozy computer accessories. Microsoft is now a full-fledged, no-excuses mobile computing manufacturer. On Monday a team of excited executives showed off Microsoft Surface — a pair of Windows tablets accompanied by clever keyboard covers that aspire to true innovation in the mobile space.

“It’s a PC that is a great tablet, and a tablet that is a great PC,” said Steven Sinofsky, President of the Windows and Windows Live Division.

Sounds simple enough, right? No, most decidedly not. Surface is much, much more than a new tablet platform. It’s also Microsoft’s first fully branded computing device — an ambitious new development direction after years of making only simple computer peripherals. And Surface is also a challenge to every hardware partner in Microsoft’s OEM stable.

“Its a bold move on the part of Microsoft,” says Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg. “This is a real change in strategy for them, and it’s certainly a vote of no confidence for their partners. This shows how high the stakes are. There is competitive pressure from Apple that is clearly a threat to their business. Steve Ballmer seemed to be channeling Steve Jobs on stage, saying hardware and software have to be designed to together.”

We covered the new Surface tablets in exacting detail in our live blog of Monday afternoon’s event. But here’s the cheat sheet if you just want the quick, hard facts.

Microsoft Surface comes in two iterations: One running Windows 8 Pro on top of Intel Silicon (an Ivy Bridge chip with yet-to-be-defined specs), and one running Windows RT on top of Nvidia silicon (perhaps the next iteration of Nvidia’s Tegra family — neither nVidia nor Microsoft is currently sharing specifics). The two tablets share a common industrial design language, including bezeled edges angled at 22 degrees, and physical chassis made of “VaporMG,” a fancy-schmancy new material that aims for a tactile finish worthy of a high-end, luxury watch.

“When you put it in your hands, it feels elegant,” said Panos Panay, the general manager of the newly announced Surface division. “When you touch it, you’re going to want to hold it, I promise you.” VaporMG can be molded down to a thickness of 0.65mm — thinner than a credit card and comparable to a hotel room key, as Panay demonstrated at the event.

The two tablets also share 10.6-inch screens, front- and back-mounted cameras, integrated kickstands (also made of VaporMG), full-sized USB ports, and dual Wi-Fi antennas to ensure seamless media streaming. But beyond that, the specs diverge significantly between the two models.

The Windows RT device is the thinner of the two tablets at 9.3mm (and it’s also exactly 0.1mm thinner than Apple’s new iPad). Surface for Windows RT is also the lighter of the two Surface tablets at 676 grams, and runs a “ClearType HD” display of an unreported resolution. Data I/O is supported by microSD, USB 2.0, and Micro HD Video ports. Storage can be configured to 32GB and 64GB.

Surface for Windows 8 Pro is beefier all around. Aside from its Intel Ivy Bridge processor, the tablet is thicker at 13.5mm, and heavier at 903 grams. But it also comes with a ClearType “Full HD” display capable of 1080p video playback. Data I/O is also gussied up — you’ll get microSDXC, USB 3.0, and a Mini DisplayPort video connector. Storage can be configured to 64GB and 128GB.

Oh, and how’s this for productivity options: The Windows 8 Pro version comes with a stylus that lets you write in digital ink with 600dpi precision. All told, Microsoft is pitching the Windows 8 Pro tablet as a no-excuses productivity machine (that DisplayPort lets you hook it up to desktop monitors). The Pro version was even demoed with Adobe Lightroom at the Monday event.

Everything described above is certainly exciting for Microsoft, but it’s not an earth-shatteringly new assortment of hardware. Microsoft’s new tablet covers, however, look truly innovative, and we’re excited to learn more about them.

First there’s the Touch Cover, a 3mm, magnetically attaching cover that includes an integrated pressure-sensitive keyboard. Microsoft says each keystroke is an individual gesture, and the resulting performance is faster than anything we currently experience with on-screen, virtual keyboards. If the Touch Cover isn’t quite snazzy enough for you, you can opt for the Type Cover. It’s 5mm thick, and includes (get this) physical keys. Each key includes 1.5mm of travel, and the Type Cover even boasts a full multi-touch trackpad.

So what about pricing and availability? We don’t know much, save that Surface for Windows RT will launch when Windows 8 launches, which we expect to happen in the third quarter of this year. Surface for Windows 8 Pro should launch three months after the RT iteration. As for pricing, Microsoft isn’t saying, but Gartenberg weighs in:

“I’m guessing somewhere between $600 and $1000 — Microsoft was very vague. This the problem you encounter when you launch something so far ahead of delivery,” he said. “For a launch like this, it’s all about the details. Everything about this event, the mysterious invitations, the presentation — Microsoft is trying to be Apple. But the only company that has successfully been like Apple, is Apple.”