Technabob » recognition

Robot Learns to Recognize Its Own Reflection, Has Great Grasp of Pronouns Too

Lambert Varias — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:00:23 +0000

After using the robot as a gesture-controlled music player, the makers of Qbo have set higher goals for their highly programmable robot. By equipping a Qbo unit with object recognition capabilities, they were able to teach it to recognize its own reflection. I hope no one teaches it to recognize humans as its enemies.

That subtitle was added by Qbo’s makers, but don’t be disappointed. The robot really does say that, among other things.

Amazing. It’s so amazing how a robot that announces everything it thinks and does is somehow adorable, but if a person does the same thing it’s considered annoying. I demand equal treatment! While I decide whether I should call for robots to be treated as badly as humans or humans to be coddled like robots, the folks at Thecorpora Robotic Company are working on making Qbo recognize its own image autonomously. They also left this teaser on their blog: “What would happen if a Qbo sees another Qbo in front of him? The answer will be out there pretty soon!” I predict that scenario will lead to a conversation of epic philosophical and grammatical importance.

[via Engadget]

Flailing Around With Project Natal Not Limited to Xbox: It’S Coming to Windows

Alisha K. — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:00:07 +0000

Fans of Minority Report, the interfaces in Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age, and other future tech freaks take note: in an interview with CNET, Bill Gates says Microsoft hopes to incorporate Project Natal, revealed at this year’s E3 Expo, into Windows. Dedicated Technabob readers and people who’ve seen Microsoft operate over the past, well, forever shouldn’t be surprised.

As someone with a love-hate relationship with the mouse, this could be really exciting to me. I might even switch back to Windows! It might be worth it to be able to really flip through my music and photos when I flip through my music and photos, though the whole idea of manipulating nothingness would probably take some getting used to.

Just as with everything else Project Natal-related, there’s nothing concrete here, just an interview, a remark, and a dream, but it’s something to keep an eye on.

[CNET via Xbox-Scene]

IPhone Recognizes Speech Courtesy of Voicesignal

Technabob — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 04:23:58 +0000

The engineers over at VoiceSignal have put together a prototype voice recognition application for the iPhone that makes it capable what I’ve been dreaming that Apple would add to its iPods for years. The demo application, called “VTunes” shows off voice-based selection of songs.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I’ve always thought that voice-driven song selection would be perfect for those times when you just can’t dig into your pocket or backpack to grab your iPod. Hopefully if Apple and AT&T ever opens up the iPhone for developers, VoiceSignal can commercialize this desirable feature.

[via MobileWhack]

Robot Can Understand Several People Talking at Once

Technabob — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 03:48:27 +0000

Here’s a pretty impressive demonstration of a complex new speech recognition technology. The robot in this video clip is able to listen to three people speaking at the same exact moment, understand exactly what they each said, then process the data dynamically.

Be sure to have your speakers turned on for this video clip or you’ll miss how it works.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The Robot Audition Project is a collaborative effort by Kyoto University and Honda Research Institute Japan. The team has been working on developing these complex voice processing capabilities for several years now, but it’s only recently that they’ve got the system working so well. The application can not only recognize voices in real time, it can determine where they’re coming from using both auditory and visual cues, including face recognition technology.

The engineers who’ve designed the system have honed it enough now that they’ve even got it running on several different robotic platforms, including the Robovie R2 (seen in the video) and the well-known Honda Asimo.

Perhaps once they get these robots working in the real world, they’ll finally get my order right at the Burger King.

Nintendo Wii Gets Voice Recognition

Technabob — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 19:23:55 +0000

Soon you’ll be able to speak to your Nintendo Wii. Heck, you’ll be able to sing to it too. Speech recognition middleware maker Fonix today announced the availability of their VoiceIn voice software for the Wii.

The software will enable developers to add voice command capabilities to games with little impact on CPU or memory usage. In addition, their a special Karaoke edition of the software will enable the Wii to report timing, pitch and accuracy of vocals, opening the gates to a wave of new singing games for the little console that could.

Fonix has previously provided voice recognition capabilities for other consoles such as the Xbox, Xbox 360, Playstation 2 and Playstation 3, so it’s good to see the Wii get the same.

[Press Release]

The Touchless Touchscreen Monitor

Technabob — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 04:31:23 +0000

Sure, everybody is doing touchscreen interfaces these days, but this is the first time I’ve seen a monitor that can respond to gestures without actually having to touch the screen.

The monitor, based on technology from TouchKo was recently demonstrated by White Electronic Designs and Tactyl Services at the CeBIT show. Designed for applications where touch may be difficult, such as for doctors who might be wearing surgical gloves, the display features capacitive sensors that can read movements from up to 15cm away from the screen. Software can then translate gestures into screen commands. Check out the video below for a demonstration:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I suppose that gadgets like Sony’s EyeToy let you remotely control software using hand gestures, but this technology is unique in that it’s self-contained to the monitor itself.

[via TechEBlog]