IBM Says Future Computers Will Be Constant Learners
IDG News Service
Tomorrow’s computers will constantly improve their understanding of the data they work with, which will help them provide users with more appropriate information, predicts IBM fellow David Ferrucci, who led the development of IBM’s Watson artificial intelligence technology. Computers in the future “will not necessarily require us to sit down and explicitly program them, but through continuous interaction with humans they will start to understand the kind of data and the kind of computation we need,” according to Ferrucci. He says the key to the Watson technology is that it queries both itself and its users for feedback on its answers. “As you use the system, it will follow up with you and ask you questions that will help improve its confidence of its answer,” Ferrucci notes. IBM is now working with Columbia University researchers to adapt Watson so it can offer medical diagnosis and treatment. Watson could serve as a diagnostic assistant and offer treatment plans, says Columbia professor Herbert Chase. Watson also could find clinical trials for the patient to participate in. “Watson has bridged the information gap, and its potential for improving health care and reducing costs is immense,” Chase says.
From “IBM Says Future Computers Will Be Constant Learners”
IDG News Service (02/17/12) Joab Jackson
Georgia Tech Develops Braille-Like Texting App
Georgia Tech News
Georgia Tech researchers have developed BrailleTouch, an iPhone application based on the Braille writing system that could enable people to text without looking at the device’s screen. “Research has shown that chorded, or gesture-based, texting is a viable solution for eyes-free written communication in the future, making obsolete the need for users to look at their devices while inputting text on them,” says Georgia Tech’s Mario Romero. During testing, BrailleTouch users entered up to 32 words a minute with 92 percent accuracy. “We are currently designing a study to formally evaluate BrailleTouch through both quantitative and qualitative methods,” says Georgia Tech graduate student Caleb Southern. “We will measure the typing speed and accuracy of visually impaired users and capture the feedback from study participants in areas such as comfort, ease of use, and perceived value.” The researchers also are exploring how BrailleTouch could be used with a universal eyes-free mobile texting app that replaces soft QWERTY keyboards and other texting technologies for sighted users. The researchers designed BrailleTouch to overcome the limitations of soft keyboards, which do not provide tactile feedback, as well as physical keyboards, which often use small and numerous fixed buttons.
From “Georgia Tech Develops Braille-Like Texting App”
Georgia Tech News (02/17/12) Michaelanne Dye
Georgia Tech Develops Braille-Like Texting App
Georgia Tech News
Georgia Tech researchers have developed BrailleTouch, an iPhone application based on the Braille writing system that could enable people to text without looking at the device’s screen. “Research has shown that chorded, or gesture-based, texting is a viable solution for eyes-free written communication in the future, making obsolete the need for users to look at their devices while inputting text on them,” says Georgia Tech’s Mario Romero. During testing, BrailleTouch users entered up to 32 words a minute with 92 percent accuracy. “We are currently designing a study to formally evaluate BrailleTouch through both quantitative and qualitative methods,” says Georgia Tech graduate student Caleb Southern. “We will measure the typing speed and accuracy of visually impaired users and capture the feedback from study participants in areas such as comfort, ease of use, and perceived value.” The researchers also are exploring how BrailleTouch could be used with a universal eyes-free mobile texting app that replaces soft QWERTY keyboards and other texting technologies for sighted users. The researchers designed BrailleTouch to overcome the limitations of soft keyboards, which do not provide tactile feedback, as well as physical keyboards, which often use small and numerous fixed buttons.
From “Georgia Tech Develops Braille-Like Texting App”
Georgia Tech News (02/17/12) Michaelanne Dye
EU Wants Europe to Be Supercomputing Power
ITPro
The European Commission (EC) wants to double its investment in supercomputing and pursue exascale computing machines. To reverse a relative decline in high-performance computing use and capabilities, the European Union plans to increase investment in the industry from about $ 828 million to about $ 1.57 billion. The EC also wants to see centers of excellence established for software in scientific fields such as energy, life sciences, and climate. Kroes says high-performance computing has the potential to deliver innovations that can ultimately improve daily life. The EC also wants industry players and small and medium-sized enterprises to make greater use of high-performance systems and services. “High-performance computing is a crucial enabler for European industry and for more jobs in Europe,” Kroes says. “We’ve got to invest smartly in this field because we cannot afford to leave it to our competitors.”
From “EU Wants Europe to Be Supercomputing Power”
ITPro (02/15/12) Tom Brewster
The Industrial Robot Revolution
Network World
A dramatic shift in how robots are made and perceived is leading to their widespread adoption and use. “Today’s robots are cheaper, lighter, agile, and equipped with sensors to make them safer so they can work alongside humans,” says the Robot Report’s Frank Tobe. For example, Carnegie Mellon University researchers are developing robots to use in plant and tree nurseries that will automatically move containers around based on their optimal environments. Columbia University researchers are developing robots to improve medicine and surgical procedures. “You’re soon going to see a whole class of small, disposable, inexpensive systems that will do simple surgeries such as gall bladder and kidney removal, and hysterectomies,” says Columbia professor Peter Allen. Meanwhile, Microsoft researchers are developing a comprehensive robotics platform. “Although there are a lot of developers writing robotics applications, they are not experts in that domain,” says Microsoft’s Stathis Papaefstathiou. “So we want to provide the robotics development infrastructure that they will need.” However, the widespread use of robots still faces several obstacles, such as the need for better batteries. “Five years from now robots will be far more ubiquitous and we’ll depend on them in a much more fundamental way,” says FIRST national adviser Woodie Flowers.
From “The Industrial Robot Revolution”
Network World (02/20/12) Sandra Gittlen
Kindle Fire Makes Amazon Appstore Cozy for Devs
Some developers are making more money by showcasing their wares in Amazon’s Appstore instead of Google’s Android Market, according to research from Distimo. The mobile analytics firm looked at the 110 apps available in both online stores that generated at least $ 200 per day in revenue during the last week of January. Of those, 42 earned more money sitting in the Amazon Appstore than they did in the larger Android Market. The Appstore also accounted for 28 percent of the total revenue from the top 110 sellers.
Google to Sell Heads-Up Display Glasses by Year’s End
New York Times
Google is developing experimental glasses that will stream information to the wearer’s eyes in real time, and the technology should be available to the public by the end of the year. The glasses will be Android-based, will have a 3G or 4G data connection, and include sensors for motion and global positioning systems. The glasses also will have a unique navigation system. “The navigation system currently used is a head tilting to scroll and click,” says Google blogger Seth Weintraub. “It is very quick to learn and once the user is adept at navigation, it becomes second nature and almost indistinguishable to outside users.” The glasses also will have a low-resolution built-in camera that will be able to monitor events in real time and overlay information about locations, surrounding buildings, and nearby friends. The project is being developed by Google X, a secretive laboratory that works on futuristic projects. The glasses will utilize several Google programs, including Google Latitude, Google Goggles, and Google Maps, according to a company employee. “You will be able to check into locations with your friends through the glasses,” according to a Google employee.
From “Google to Sell Heads-Up Display Glasses by Year’s End”
New York Times (02/21/12) Nick Bilton
Will Microsoft Open a Branch Office in iPad Land?
A sighting “in the wild” of Microsoft Office for the iPad set speculative tongues wagging Tuesday, even as the Redmond crew denied the existence of the app. The software’s interface contained elements of Microsoft’s only app for the iPad, OneNote, and its Metro interface found in the company’s mobile operating system Windows Phone 7 and its upcoming Windows 8 OS, according to the report. Microsoft said the report was based on inaccurate info.
Single-Atom Transistor Is “Perfect”
University of New South Wales
University of New South Wales (UNSW) researchers have developed a transistor from a single phosphorus atom placed in a silicon crystal. The researchers say the breakthrough could lead to a future quantum computer with superior computing efficiency. “This is the first time anyone has shown control of a single atom in a substrate with this level of precise accuracy,” says UNSW professor Michelle Simmons. The device has tiny markers etched onto its surface so metal contacts can be connected to apply a voltage. “Our group has proved that it is really possible to position one phosphorus atom in a silicon environment–exactly as we need it–with near-atomic precision, and at the same time register gates,” Simmons says. The researchers used a scanning tunneling microscope to manipulate atoms at the surface of the crystal inside an ultra-high-vacuum chamber. The researchers patterned phosphorus atoms into functional devices on the crystal and then covered them with a non-reactive layer of hydrogen, using a lithographic process. Finally, the device was surrounded by a silicon layer, and it contacted electrically using a system of markers on the silicon chip to align metallic connects.
From “Single-Atom Transistor Is “Perfect”"
University of New South Wales (02/20/12) Bob Beale
Researchers Defeat Video CAPTCHA Antispam Tests
IDG News Service
Stanford University researchers have developed DeCAPTCHA, a tool that uses specialized algorithms to defeat image-based Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA) implementations, such as NuCAPTCHA, which uses animation techniques to make it harder for spambots to decipher the characters. “The most difficult part of this research turned out not to be breaking NuCAPTCHA, which I’ve known how to do since December 2010, but rather to come up with the right abstraction to explain why video CAPTCHAs might offer better security than image CAPTCHAs and to synthesize where the extra security comes from,” says Stanford’s Elie Bursztein. The researchers also want to identify the best methods of improving video CAPTCHA security. Bursztein notes that although animating the individual CAPTCHA letters, as well as adding confusing backgrounds, can be defeated, it is possible to make the isolation of the correct moving object very difficult. This technique, known as track resistance, involves adding decoy objects that have the same properties as the CAPTCHA string to confuse the tracking algorithm. “When successfully implemented, tracking resistance makes video CAPTCHA secure against vision/machine-learning attacks and more secure than standard text-based CAPTCHAs,” Bursztein says.
From “Researchers Defeat Video CAPTCHA Antispam Tests”
IDG News Service (02/21/12) Lucian Constantin
