NARAS

Order Roomba around by pointing with Kinect

If you ever feel like robots are getting the upper hand on humanity, consider using your own hands to put them in their place.

Researcher Akihiro Nakamura from the Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) in Japan has developed a motion controller for iRobot's Roomba vacuum bots that recognizes his gestures and posture.

The system is yet another Microsoft Kinect hack using the OpenNI API. The gestural interface eliminates the need to bend over and push Roomba's buttons. It also allows you to lord it over the overgrown hockey puck.

First, to calibrate the Kinect you have to assume a hands-up stance (either humiliating or all-powerful, depending on your perspective). Then the system starts recognizing gestures, as seen in the demo above. To make Roomba clean a spot on the floor that it missed, assume a scolding stance: left hand on your hip, and right hand pointing at the offending dirt. Roomba scoots over to the spot and does a thorough hoovering. … Read more

Vevo's Grammys channel misses the mark

I missed the live Grammy Awards telecast this year, but Monday at the office, one of my colleagues remarked about Pink's Cirque du Soleil-style performance, wondering if she'd been trained as a circus performer. Then, I saw several of my Facebook friends commenting that Taylor Swift should have learned how to sing before sharing the stage with Stevie Nicks. Much to my surprise, there were suddenly two Grammys videos I wanted to see.

I turned first to YouTube, but the first video I found of the Pink performance was appallingly low quality, like somebody had shot a video … Read more

Herbie Hancock?

OK, OK, I was totally wrong about the Beatles, as a mere minute of research would have shown me. I think my confusion stemmed from the fact that they never won record of the year, which is considered the top award. But still, look at the records, albums, and songs that have won over the last fifty years. Do you see a lot of innovation? A lot of music that's stood the test of time? I don't.

I know it's piling on, shooting fish in a barrel, whatever metaphor you choose, but I have never cared about … Read more

A cartoon clock to make you perennially late

Apparently taking a cue from wristwatches that are impossible to read, clock makers are increasingly devising timepieces for the wall and table alike whose most notable feature is their indecipherability.

But Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara has taken a less sadistic approach in designing his non-numeric clock, creating 84 drawings that correspond to particular times, Luxist says. Well, at least it's appears less sadistic with its whimsical figures; it could indeed prove even more maddening than other unreadable clocks in the long run, depending on how well one remembers what each illustration indicates. And that would undoubtedly add considerable insult … Read more