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Dextrous robotic hands copy human actions exactly
Adrian Weinbrecht/plainpicture
Technology Dextrous robotic hands copy human actions exactly
cambrian intelligence
THERE’S nothing quite like the human touch. Nimble-fingered robots that mimic the movements of a human hand could soon be used to help decommission nuclear power stations. Remote-controlled robots with hand-like manipulators are often used in difficult or dangerous situations, such as bomb disposal. However, their movements are typically controlled by human operators via joysticks, which limits their dexterity. So Miika Perä and Hamid Reza Zaheri at London firm Cambrian Intelligence have built a system that lets robotic hands emulate human ones exactly. A human carries out the desired actions either in front of a video camera or while wearing a glove that captures movement. The robot copies the recorded movements as the human makes them. The first to benefit may be the nuclear industry. Cambrian Intelligence has received funding from Sellafield, a British company that decommissions nuclear power stations. “We just can’t handle certain facilities and materials with human beings,” says Sellafield researcher Tom Robinson. A human operator wearing a virtual reality headset could move the robot arm as if it were their own, says Perä. The company is now working on a system that goes beyond merely mimicking humans, to using its dexterity in novel situations. Chris Baraniuk n
–Quieter, please–
Tone up your conversation Wearable tech can help us chat, finds Anna Nowogrodzki
LEARNING a tonal language like Fourteen autistic adults Chinese is notoriously difficult – tested the system. Four used it’s easy to end up calling your SayWAT to talk with non-autistic mother a horse. But soon there volunteers, and 10 used it at an could be a wearable headset that employee training session. The can help. simple feedback seemed to help The system was created for the users modulate their volume, people with autism who want as they crossed the threshold help with social interactions, that triggered feedback less often. but it could be adapted to help But the pitch feedback didn’t with speech or anxiety problems – have the same effect. Boyd says or even language learning, says this could be because pitch is LouAnne Boyd at the University more complicated and might of California at Irvine, part of the need more specific feedback – team that designed it. something one of the volunteers Called SayWAT, it gives live “The device gives real-time feedback via Google Glass to the feedback to the wearer if wearer when they are speaking too loudly or in a flat tone – things they are speaking too loudly or in a flat tone” that can lead to autistic people unintentionally appearing bored or abrasive in conversation. requested. Her team will present SayWAT uses Glass’s microphone the work at the conference for to record speech, then displays Human-Computer Interaction real-time guidance on volume in San Jose, California, next week. and tone. It shows a volume icon The technology could be if the user’s voice is too loud and adapted to work on other devices, flashes the word “flat” if the user’s says Boyd. A smartphone or watch –Got to hand it to them– voice does not vary in pitch. could give haptic feedback to
24 | NewScientist | 7 May 2016
guide speech, for example. Live speech feedback could help other groups too. “It would certainly be applicable to anyone who had a speech disorder, any sort of anxiety disorder,” says Julie Kientz, a computer scientist at the University of Washington. Real-time feedback when speaking a foreign language is also possible – but hard, says Boyd. Giving live feedback takes a lot of computational power, so the device could only focus on a few aspects of speech at once. But language learners could be alerted when they mess up a specific sound, like tones in Chinese or the Rs in French, for example. Some autistic people don’t wish to change the way they interact, but for others, the technology seems to fill a need. In the corridor after the experiment, one autistic man told Boyd, “I really, really want to be social, so if there are tools out there that can help me, I want to try them.” n
Technology Dextrous robotic hands copy human actions exactly
cambrian intelligence
THERE’S nothing quite like the human touch. Nimble-fingered robots that mimic the movements of a human hand could soon be used to help decommission nuclear power stations. Remote-controlled robots with hand-like manipulators are often used in difficult or dangerous situations, such as bomb disposal. However, their movements are typically controlled by human operators via joysticks, which limits their dexterity. So Miika Perä and Hamid Reza Zaheri at London firm Cambrian Intelligence have built a system that lets robotic hands emulate human ones exactly. A human carries out the desired actions either in front of a video camera or while wearing a glove that captures movement. The robot copies the recorded movements as the human makes them. The first to benefit may be the nuclear industry. Cambrian Intelligence has received funding from Sellafield, a British company that decommissions nuclear power stations. “We just can’t handle certain facilities and materials with human beings,” says Sellafield researcher Tom Robinson. A human operator wearing a virtual reality headset could move the robot arm as if it were their own, says Perä. The company is now working on a system that goes beyond merely mimicking humans, to using its dexterity in novel situations. Chris Baraniuk n
–Quieter, please–
Tone up your conversation Wearable tech can help us chat, finds Anna Nowogrodzki
LEARNING a tonal language like Fourteen autistic adults Chinese is notoriously difficult – tested the system. Four used it’s easy to end up calling your SayWAT to talk with non-autistic mother a horse. But soon there volunteers, and 10 used it at an could be a wearable headset that employee training session. The can help. simple feedback seemed to help The system was created for the users modulate their volume, people with autism who want as they crossed the threshold help with social interactions, that triggered feedback less often. but it could be adapted to help But the pitch feedback didn’t with speech or anxiety problems – have the same effect. Boyd says or even language learning, says this could be because pitch is LouAnne Boyd at the University more complicated and might of California at Irvine, part of the need more specific feedback – team that designed it. something one of the volunteers Called SayWAT, it gives live “The device gives real-time feedback via Google Glass to the feedback to the wearer if wearer when they are speaking too loudly or in a flat tone – things they are speaking too loudly or in a flat tone” that can lead to autistic people unintentionally appearing bored or abrasive in conversation. requested. Her team will present SayWAT uses Glass’s microphone the work at the conference for to record speech, then displays Human-Computer Interaction real-time guidance on volume in San Jose, California, next week. and tone. It shows a volume icon The technology could be if the user’s voice is too loud and adapted to work on other devices, flashes the word “flat” if the user’s says Boyd. A smartphone or watch –Got to hand it to them– voice does not vary in pitch. could give haptic feedback to
24 | NewScientist | 7 May 2016
guide speech, for example. Live speech feedback could help other groups too. “It would certainly be applicable to anyone who had a speech disorder, any sort of anxiety disorder,” says Julie Kientz, a computer scientist at the University of Washington. Real-time feedback when speaking a foreign language is also possible – but hard, says Boyd. Giving live feedback takes a lot of computational power, so the device could only focus on a few aspects of speech at once. But language learners could be alerted when they mess up a specific sound, like tones in Chinese or the Rs in French, for example. Some autistic people don’t wish to change the way they interact, but for others, the technology seems to fill a need. In the corridor after the experiment, one autistic man told Boyd, “I really, really want to be social, so if there are tools out there that can help me, I want to try them.” n