Japanese company Neurowear is creating a range of fashion items that are operated using brainwaves, including a pair of moveable cat ears.
The cat ear product, called "necomimi" is a novelty hair band that is worn in the normal way but features sensors that pick up on brain signals and convert them into visible actions -- in this case by wiggling the cat ears.
The ears twitch through a range of different positions, which correspond to different brain activity. So when you concentrate, the ears point upwards and when you relax the ears flop down and forwards.
A friend of mine gave me a beanie wit cat ears... the ears had flaps where you could put in boards so they'd be stiff. Its all where you can manually change the ears. The fact that this one could respond to brain activity is awesome!!!!!!!!!! Kiiiiitttyy!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWearable Robotic Suit Could Help Disabled to Walk
ReplyDeleteA Japanese company has created a robotic exoskeleton that is designed to help make disabled people mobile again, enabling them to stand up, walk and even climb stairs.
How the Robot Suit Works
Manufacturing robots and realistic humanoid robots are just two of the numerous kinds of robots that are already in use. A robot suit is a wearable device that dramatically increases the strength of the wearer. Robot Suit HAL is worn over the arms and legs and assists body movement through eight electric motors attached to shoulders, elbows, knees, and the waist.
As it supports the wearer's own limb movements, the robot suit must detect how the wearer is trying to move his or her arms and legs and quickly respond. Most of the robots that have been developed so far in this field rely on sensors to detect motion and then activate motors.
This method, however, has some drawbacks. First, there is a slight time lag from when the wearer moves a muscle to when the robot responds. Second, people who are unable to move their arms and legs can't use such a robot at all. These issues had been viewed as obstacles to a wide commercialization of robot suits. Robot Suit HAL, however, has overcome these limitations using a unique method that senses bioelectric signals sent from brain, rather than detecting muscle movements.
When you want to move your body, your brain sends out an electric signal that is received by your muscles, which then contract, thus producing motion. This electric signal travels to the muscles via the body's nerves, generating a slight voltage of electricity on the surface of the skin. This is known as a bioelectric signal, and Robot Suit HAL detects them using the sensors placed around the wearer's body. Depending on the voltage running the surface of the skin, the computer inside Robot Suit HAL analyzes the signal and sets the appropriate motors in motion.
A Variety of Potential Uses
This unique method of operation means that a person can control Robot Suit HAL by his or her own will, even if he or she is unable to actually move. And as the suit detects the signal sent from the brain even before it gets to the muscle, it can move an instant before the muscle does.
When a person wearing Robot Suit HAL picks up an object that weighs 40 kg, he/she feels as if it weighed only a few kilograms. Robot Suit HAL is therefore expected to have a wide range of applications, such as assisting carers, helping people with physical disabilities to move, and assisting people performing jobs that require a great deal of physical strength. In order to facilitate the commercialization process, Professor Sankai and others formed Cyberdyne Inc. in 2004. In October 2008, the company moved into a factory currently under construction that will allow them to manufacture up to 500 suits a year.
Several other types of robot suits are also under development in Japan. Toyama Shigeki, a Professor of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, leads a team that is currently developing a power-assist suit, which will be used to help agricultural work. Their goal is to place the product on the market within the next few years. In addition, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. has set up Activelink Co., a venture business, to work to develop power-assist suits.
more info
www.cyberdyne.jp
Heres a youtube link =)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w06zvM2x_lw
the robot is cool but the ears i feel would belong more to the anime culture and weird kids alike, but mostly weird kids cause truth be told i watch anime and i wouldn't be caught dead with those things on.
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