A web-connected smart mattress that includes a Lover Detection System with Wi-Fi wireless connectivity to catch cheating partners has been developed by a Spanish company. Its Wi-Fi-connected "Smarttress" buzzes smartphones when the layer of padding detects that a spouse or lover is being unfaithful.
Tesla is now offering owners of its Model S and Model X electric cars the chance to test its semi-autonomous Autopilot feature. The hardware suite has been included in all its electric vehicles (EVs) produced since October 2014. Tesla's $2,500 package includes features such as automatic highway steering and active cruise control.
Nissan's Leaf electric vehicle (EV) is celebrating its 5th anniversary, which might explain an experiment or project in a video that projects the driver's thoughts onto the road surrounding the car. The drivers wear a headset that converts their cognition into words that are transferred to bubbles that other people can view. A new video features an "electric CARtoon" that features projectors mounted on the car roof that send anime-like thought bubbles beside the car.
Ford has been testing its autonomous vehicles (AVs) in complete darkness, which in the future could make life easier for people who do not like driving in the dark. The self-driving cars' sensors and cameras are not very helpful at nighttime, but lidar sensors work better in the dark than in rain and snow. In a video the American automaker shows how the robot car's lidar sensors help it to find its way on the test track without its headlights switched on.
Hitachi's EMIEW3 is the company's first customer service robot that was built for commercial service. The android was designed to help customers get around retail stores and public facilities. EMIEW3 can switch languages to communicate with tourists, detect when customers need help, and share sales information with other humanoid bots.
Google is selling its company Boston Dynamics after developing bots that look and act like dogs, cheetahs, and fleas, but has developed a new humanoid robot with powerful legs and a wide spectrum of skills. Alphabet's new barbell-carrying and step-climbing humanoid was built by Japanese robotics company SCHAFT that won the 2013 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Robotics Challenge.
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) in the news usually refer to self-driving cars including those from tech giants such as Google, and automakers such as Mercedes and Toyota. However, a cross-continental demo in Europe of semi-autonomous trucks wrapped up on April 6, Wednesday. The European Truck Platooning Challenge was organized by the Netherlands government and included trucks from six European truck manufacturers including Volvo and Daimler.
Volvo's self-driving cars will be tested in China as it sends a fleet of 100 autonomous vehicles (AVs) there for road tests. Human drivers will test the robotic cars on China's roads. The Swedish automaker claims that if the tests are successful it will be a big step forward that will allow drivers and passengers to sit back and enjoy rides in driverless cars.
Facebook introduced a new artificial intelligence tool on April 5, Tuesday that provides detailed descriptions of photos for the social network's blind and very visually impaired users. The goal of the new tech is to provide them with the same experience as other Facebook users as the social media giant becomes more visual. It uses object recognition technology to automatically create text about an image.
