Webelow Wear

Studies show that with our increased exposure to robots, humans are becoming more empathetic toward this growing technology. Twelve adults, all about 23 years old, were asked to view computer-generated videos of either a humanoid robot or a person reaching out with their right hand to grasp an object. The hand movements in each case were either smooth (human-like) or jerky and mechanical (robot-like). The team found that the MNS – a collection of neurons in various parts of the brain that play a key role in creating empathy – was activated in the 12 adult when the robot performed actions; but only when the actions were robotic, not when the robot’s motion was smooth and human-like.

And here we go…humans start getting soft on robots and before you know it the human race is getting whipped by Ipods and we’re the ones on the gerbil wheel waiting for our next pellet.  Maybe not, but it is interesting. We’re not the Jetsons (yet)  but we are getting used to the idea on a realistic level.

Via [NewScientist.com]

We’re very busy with current and upcoming projects but we still take the time to keep up with our robotics blogs.  Robots.net tipped us off to the latest creation from Boston Dynamics.   The creators of the super scary Big Dog mule bot have done it again with their new PETMAN prototype bipedal robot.

Believe it or not, they’re making this robot to play dress-up.  The plan is to test human wear and tear on life-saving checmical weapons suits. Riiight…

Whatever they use it for, if this robot is anywhere near as cool as Big Dog and Little Dog, we’ll be seeing some classic videos of engineers kicking the crap out of it. The fall avoidance systems on these robots is amazing.

Are those rock climbing shoes? Somebody get this man some Nikes.

Need killer sneakers for your robot? Oh snap.  These “junk art” Nikes were all made of recycled computers.

Today’s Oh Snap Moment is brought to you by Gabriel Dishaw.

This may be too far off the geek end for some but we were browsing the Trossen Robotics forums and found this list of 101 cool robot t-shirts.  If you love t-shirts and robots like we do, be sure to check it out. The list has a nice mix of creative, geeky, and artsy options from all over the web.

We’re particularly fond of these:

Robots + Modern Science by Travis Pitts

Helbotica from www.chopstore.com

This is pretty awesome. Wait…what’s the special bubble made of? Wait…is it just a hole in your shirt? Ok, this is still pretty awesome. But how much awesomer would it be if there were a display on your shirt? An actual removable, bluetooth operated display screen that received messages from your cellphone and with the brightness of an el display your message was seen by the world? Just a design suggestion. We will give one-cool-move-in-the-right-direction-thumbs-up! VIA Craftzine

I'll be back...to DESTROY YOU.

Imagine a soldier being heavily aided by a robot that he can wear during military operations. In US Defense Advance Research Projects (DARPA) program, Dr. Stephen Jacobsen and  the Raytheon Sarcos Team is developing the Exoskeletons for Human Performance Augmentation. This Iron Man like suit enables a user to carry a man on his/her back or lift 200 pounds without breaking a sweat.  Incredible.  Information about the user’s movements are sent to the suit’s computer, then is calculated to determine the optimal movement for the exoskeleton, the computer gives instruction to the 30 actuators (one for each joint in the machine), and finally, enables movement. This all happening almost simultaneously to the user’s movements!

…um. Yeah. Robots will kill you.