21 MAY 2013
Park It

New apps help drivers locate parking spots

13 MAY 2013
Spot On

Free Wi-Fi hotspots are emerging in atypical venues

9 MAY 2013
Apps Against Extinction

New mobile campaigns protect and build awareness of endangered species

25 APR 2013
IPSo Facto

Indoor Positioning Systems are the next frontier in mobile navigation

24 APR 2013
Get Psyched

Virtual therapy is bringing emotional healing home

19 APR 2013
Tipping Point

New technologies advance the art of appreciation

17 APR 2013
Make Some Noise

Digital tools simulate aural environments to boost listeners’ productivity

12 APR 2013
Getting Cloudy

The cloud yields a new generation of online organizational tools

29 MAR 2013
Small Gestures

Forthcoming wireless devices control computers through physical movements

21 MAR 2013
Lighten Up

LED light bulbs are getting cheaper, subtler, and more efficient

20 MAR 2013
What’s the Password?

New gadgets help users keep their online passwords secure and organized

18 MAR 2013
Close Encounters of the 3D Kind

New technologies are poised to make 3D printing more accessible

14 MAR 2013
Full Alert

Sensory alert technologies keep users apprised of physical and social stimuli

8 MAR 2013
Whose Vine Is It Anyway?

Novel digital tools illuminate the emergence of Vine

6 MAR 2013
Ain’t No Dummy

High-tech mannequins enliven brick-and-mortar shopping

5 MAR 2013
Crowd Control

New apps help commuters avoid congestion

28 FEB 2013
(Sm)art Galleries

Museum are using apps to enhance the visitor experience

27 FEB 2013
Snap Decision

New digital tools facilitate crowdsourced decision-making

26 FEB 2013
On the Road

Automotive marketing shifts into high gear

22 FEB 2013
Summing Up

Apps use algorithms to distill content into key points

Distant Bots
New robotic technologies are advancing telepresence communication
Tech / 25 Sep 2012
From shopping in one’s pajamas to learning Turkish from home, virtual interaction is standard for Gen Ys. Now, true face-to-face telecommunication is booming, as demonstrated by the ubiquity of FaceTime and Skype. Even holographic conferencing is making a move. However, in keeping with the trend of world-changing artificial intelligence, new robots are making the long distance communication experience increasingly more lifelike and futuristic.
Botiful: The need for services like FaceTime Facelifts represents a new hurdle for video communication. But even with proper lighting and flattering angles, the awkwardness of moving about in one's own space while video chatting remains a challenge. Botiful is a social telepresence robot that allows Skypers to follow faraway pals as they shuffle about their homes. An embedded Android device allows users to control the bot remotely via a companion app. Botiful can also be used to monitor children, entertain pets from afar, attend large social events at a distance, and even to inspect hard-to-access places, such as underneath a car.
Double Robotics: Telecommuters and iPad aficionados rejoice—it's now possible to attend meetings from just about anywhere with Apple's famed tablet. Y Combinator-backed Double Robotics has introduced the Double, a "teleconferencing robot with an iPad for a face" that can be used as a body double. Aside from the device itself, only two iPads are needed for users to communicate remotely—one for each side of the teleconference—and the svelte setup weighs in at just 15 lbs. Priced at a healthy $1,999 for pre-order, the first production run has already sold out, suggesting that there may be a real need for telepresence technology that’s more sophisticated than Google Hangouts.
iRobot Create Telepresence: Gen Y is distinguished by its DIY ethos, as evidenced by everything from pop-up libraries to self-made indie mags. So, it makes sense that when a career move put distance between technologist Johnny Chung Lee (the now-Google employee known for hacking the Wiimote and developing the Kinect) and his fiancée, he created a customized video chat robot. Lee mounted a netbook onto an iRobot Create, then wrote software that allows him to maneuver the device from any laptop. His ingenuity paid off in more ways than just sustaining romance: By building it himself, he saved thousands on the cost of a ready-made telepresence robot.
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