After first unveiling a fully autonomous electric street sweeper last year, Finland’s Trombia Technologies has taken to the streets of Helsinki as part of the Jätkäsaari Mobility Lab. This saw the Trombia Free begin operations along the Helsinki Baana bicycle lane as well as night-time street cleaning elsewhere in the city. The Trombia Free has the look of an oversized […]

Although there are rigs that allow gamers to walk on the spot while their avatar walks in a VR environment, such setups tend to be large and complex. A new system, however, simulates walking simply by buzzing the seated user’s feet. The experimental setup is being developed by scientists from Japan’s Toyohashi University of Technology, and the University of Tokyo. […]

We’re now in the decade of ambient computing — and if you didn’t notice, that’s part of the plan. Ambient computing is all about A.I. decisions made without human involvement, and it has big implications for the world of technology. Here’s everything you need to know about this exciting new field of computing. Ambient computing history and definition Ambient computing […]

The global pandemic has seen many business people and students working from home. As lockdowns ease, offices and schools are starting to reopen and LG is readying two projectors for release to help make boardroom and classroom presentations pop. Both ProBeam models are reported capable of use during daylight hours thanks to peak brightness of 6,000 ANSI lumens and 3,000,000:1 […]

If you misplace your iPhone, or someone makes off with it, Apple’s Find My network can help zero in on its location so you can retrieve it. Now the application has been opened up to third-party products, and among the first are ebikes from VanMoof. The Find My network leverages the reach of hundreds of millions of active Apple devices […]

From slow-moving machines inspired by sloths to others that burst from the water and soar through the air like flying fish, robots that mimic the behavior of real-world creatures have exciting potential when it comes to environmental monitoring. A new creation out of Duke University is yet another interesting example, taking after a dragonfly to skim across water and check […]

Europe is getting into the space manufacturing race as the European Commission awards Airbus a €3-million (US$3.5-million) contract to prepare a low-Earth orbit demonstration project. Currently an A/B1 phase study contract, the PERIOD (PERASPERA (short for Per Ardua ad Astra) In-Orbit Demonstration) project will spend two years developing a concept to manufacture and assemble satellites in space. With a cost […]

Taking inspiration from the way sea cucumbers can strengthen their exterior when in danger, scientists in Germany have developed a novel wafer-thin paper material that can transition from firm to soft via an electrical switch. The researchers envisage a number of uses for their creation, including adaptive damping materials that harden when subjected to heavy loads. The material was developed […]

Although an increasing number of countries are switching to sturdier, harder-to-copy polymer banknotes, the things still are being counterfeited. A new technology could help weed those fakes out, by taking their fingerprints. During the production of polymer banknotes, the application of a layer known as the opacity coating leaves a random dispersion of impurities in the ink. The resulting pattern […]

Driven by advances in artificial intelligence, doctored video content known as deepfakespresent a serious and growing danger when it comes to the spread of misinformation. As these altered clips become more and more convincing, there is a pressing need for tools that can help distinguish them from real ones. Computer scientists at the University of Buffalo have just offered a […]