Manipulating Gamers for Data Mining

Actually, this is the second time I came across this topic, and it is very cool.  I had to post on it.  Scientists are using video games to get people to do menial data-related tasks by making it a game!

First Example: Scientists created a computer game called "Planet Hunter" that allowed players to search targeted areas of the night sky - specifically the stars in them.  Those stars had varying luminosity, and when that dipped, it could signal a plant crossing in front.  In their first year, hunters found two planets, and got the titled "Planet Hunter!"

Second Example: Someone came up with an app called "Ghost Hunter" that drove people around to different locations in their neighborhood seeking ghosts.  The people would capture a ghost after finding it, and it would upload a photo of the location.  The article suggested this could be used for creating crowd-sourced 3D maps, for example.  

Third Example: Fitocracy has an app that allows you to track your workout.  But the catch is that it also links to your friends and gives you a level based on the time and activity you complete.  So you get the satisfaction of leveling up, and the thrill of competing with your friends.  In this case, you're data-mining on yourself!

In the first case, they are using our love of games to get us to do menial tasks we wouldn't do if you paid us.  In the second, they are directing your activity by rewarding behaviors that over time provide detailed information about a certain topic.  

What other kinds of things could you push by making it into a game?  Open-source coding efforts?  Electronic filing?  Neighborhood beautification?  Organizing tourist movement at a tourist location?  Reducing traffic congestion?  Getting people to live a greener lifestyle?  Eating right?  Balancing their household expenditures?  Basically, this comes down to another way you can translate a person's need for entertainment into a positive action for whoever sets it up.  

Silence Gun

This one is pretty interesting.  If you'd heard about noise canceling headphones, you might immediately jump to the conclusion that this gun produces the same effect - offsetting sound waves that cancel the entire effect of a sound.  Of course, humans have way more ways to make them silent, and this Silence Gun is a completely different tool.

The silence gun works on the mind.  It takes sound and replays it .2 seconds later.  That causes your mind to hear an echo of your own voice and pay attention to your words.   They sound strange, and BAM!  You quiet down because your brain is really really confused.  The device is a psychological weapon that attacks the way you experience reality through one of your senses.

The idea of attacking (playing with?) how a person experiences reality is nothing new.  Stereograms allow you to focus your eyes and have your brain pick out an image.  I also read about a handy way to reduce the pain of a cut using a telescope or binoculars.  Unfortunately the silence gun can be used as a weapon... Now I have to develop a sound-canceling gun to point directly at the silence gun to prevent my voice from being silenced (1st amendment anyone?).

Learning Technology

I love the idea of learning technology.  A piece of equipment that figures out, over time, how to run optimally make life a bunch easier, right up until it stops working and you have no idea how to live without it.  Enter the Nest Learning Thermostat.

This is a great example of taking the automatic learning processes developed in artificial intelligence and leveraging it for use in a mundane environment.  There are relatively few parameters for the AI to track and respond to, so its not nearly as complicated to create and install as it would have been 20 years ago.  And finally, it allows you to set your thermostat and forget it.  I have no idea how many times I have tinkered with a thermostat over the years after having found my optimal setting because of climate change.  :(

Lots of things could do with a little "learning" capability.  Phone systems could learn how to correct bad signals.  Toilets could learn how much water to use in a flush.  Refrigerators could learn when to turn on their compressors based on the fullness of the fridge.  Chairs could learn the height preferences of their sitters based on weight.

Beware, though.  If you make everything smart, appliances will start talking back to you, like in the Flintstones. "It's a livin'."

Modular Robots

I think I just stumbled across a very cool idea - modular robotics.  I found this article about robot cubes.  They each have different programming and a different action associated with them.  They can be combined in multiple ways and the resulting "robots" do a number of different actions.  

Modular robotics is an interesting concept.  I like the idea that programming is incorporated in the module attached to the machine.  I'm sure that idea can be extended to other types of robots, rather than the cube-shaped educational toys discussed above.  Today it is already being done to some extent with smart camera, being manufactured by Cognex.  Their cameras have complete operating systems with a human-machine interface built in, and the capacity to connect relatively seamlessly with many control systems.  

Now we just need to get other parts manufacturers to manufacture the same type of equipment.  Pre-programmed hands that know the proper grip strength to not crush an egg.  Pre-programmed pumps or bladders to fight fires.  Pre-programmed treads/wheels/feet, for locomotion.  And of course a central processor that allows the linkage of all those.  And those are just based on the human anatomy!  What about chainsaws?  Size-restricted appendages?  Super-alloy materials?  Magnetic systems?  We could have a modular Magneto robot!

Japanese Crazy Fake Mirror

Whoa, this crazy fake mirror is awesome!  I'm not sure exactly how it works, but it seems to video the person on the other side through video, tracks their movement, and maps it to a character.  Then it displays the pre-made character on the other side of the mirror, as if the character is actually the reflection of the individual!

Outside of pranking people, which is in itself immensely satisfying, you could do a number of other things.  Use the motion-tracked people and environments to test ergonomics.  The one-way mirror technology be the way walls become computer consoles.  Even the motion-capture technology must have been used in movies, though the video didn't use special suits.

I like this use of technology, because it is a novel way to bring together several technologies.  Japanese television in particular loves to bring new and innovative (and sometimes crazy) new products to the market.  I love Japan.  :)

Microsoft Surface

I'm changing the layout of my blog a little, and making it a bit more structured.  I'm devoting Wednesdays to technology.  In the world today, the pace of technological innovation is increasingly rapid.  I know this and it scare me a little.  But I also know that if I stay abreast of it, I will not be left behind.  To that end, I'm going to explore some of the innovative technologies out there. 

Today's topic: the Microsoft Surface!  It is basically a touch screen computer, but it is so much more than that!  Each pixel in the screen is able to "see" what is above it.  And the pixels together can form images and figure out how to react. 

It can interact with physical objects, such as credit cards, if it is linked to a cashier system.  The video suggests that it can also figure out that you just put a cell phone down and make the pictures explode onto the table for quick sharing.  It looks like they are already marketing the surface system for bar/restaurant tops and point-of-sale displays, which are my first two thoughts. 

I'd like to get one, but I have a few reservations about the system.  First, the screen is integrated into a computer, which means that the computer is likely not capable of upgrades.  That means that, despite it's cutting edge nature, you'd have to get rid of the system in a 5-6 years.  I think a screen with a connection to a box that could run the software on it would be a good product to sell to early-adopters of the technology.  It's also missing a text-specific input device.  I'm sure that with vision sensors under your fingers, you could come up with some pretty interesting vision input methods, but I'm sure that hasn't been explored yet.  

Ballbot

Well, here is something very interesting that I figured I'd share - Ballbot!  This gentleman came on a Ted and chose to discuss his new robot.  The interesting thing about it is how it moves.  It has a single ball under it, rather than a set of wheels.  To control itself, it has three wheels that turn to move the ball underneath it.  The control wheels are in turn driven by a control box, that compares the robot's upright posture with its current equilibrium.  With all of that, it stands upright without seeming to do anything (aside from the 100+ adjustments per second).  It also has some interesting modes that allow it to act as a bit of a toy.

Off the top of my head, I want to get three of those with bumpers on them and use them for juggling.  There are a lot more uses, though, than that.  Mobile serving trays?  Chairs that run up to you when you're ready to sit down?  Drives for equipment in a warehouse?  You could change the ball to be more grippy and durable, and have an outdoor version.  Single-wheel high-speed vehicles?  Positioning is important.  It could be a geeky new toy, or a badge of honor for the super-rich, or the next big elderly conveyance.  It could end up representing the decadence and decline of the American way of life, if its image isn't actively managed.  :(

What I'm trying to say is that the dancing robot routine at the end is cute, but definitely not all that can be done with it - especially if it has some programming already built in.  I can't wait to see one that can take rough surfaces.  That one looked like it couldn't function effectively off of a smooth surface like a wood or concrete floor.  Also, maybe there is some way to make it generate its own electricity from solar, so it can be used as a pack robot outside?  Possibilities are quite numerous.

3D Printers

3D printing is super awesome!  It allows you to repeatedly deposit layers of material, eventually creating a full three dimensaional object.  They run off CAD designs, and can create an enormous number of different objects.  Additionally, it can also create those objects using a crazy big number of different materials.  Reading today, I found out that there are 3D printers that can work with many different types of metals, plastics, food (such as frosting), and even human tissue (printered bladders are real).  You can hear about a printed human kidney here.

I've been thinking of the application possibilities for this type of technology.  The most blatant is to replace traditional manufacturing, specifically fabricating a part out of a single material.  That would likely be with single-material printers, but could become more robust with multi-material heads based on the sophistication of the system.  You could also sell items to people over the internet that are able to be printed on a 3D printer.  This one is more problematic until the technology become pervasive in the consumer home.  That said, you can certainly use it for artwork and small through-the-internet sales of artsy or specialty products.

I'm very excited about this technology, and am thinking about investing in a 3D printer of my own.  To do so, I'd need to overcome a couple barriers - the biggest one is that I don't know how to design 3D objects in CAD software.  Not impossible, but something I'd have to learn.