Top TechTop Tech #77: Ultraviolet robot sanitizers, Bug eyes, thinner AR glasses
Promising products and interesting innovations
By Paul Worthington
Tuesday’s Top Tech:
• Robot sanitizes your kitchen with ultraviolet
• Bug eyes for robots
• Advanced optics allow thinner AR glasses
Robot sanitizes your kitchen with ultraviolet
Pointing out that most detergents and disinfectants aren’t exactly all that healthy for you themselves, developers are touting a robotic kitchen appliance that will instead keep things spic-and-span with ultraviolet light.
The UVe ’bot “is a self-driving countertop companion that uses UV light to disinfect surfaces while you’re away, taking the work off your hands and leaving harsh chemicals out of the equation entirely,” the developers say. “UVe is fully automated – just turn it on and get on with your day! UVe gets to work the moment it leaves its charging dock, bathing your counter in trail of cleansing light. As it explores its surroundings, UVe records its path and the obstacles it encounters along the way. Naturally, it knows when it’s reached the edge of the countertop, too. As it learns the terrain, it calculates new, more efficient routes to cover the maximum area as many times as possible before the end of its cleaning cycle.”
Ultraviolet light reportedly kills 99.999 percent of all surface bacteria and protozoan cysts. “UV light is used as a disinfectant in hospitals, laboratories, and drinking water treatment facilities around the world – anywhere sanitation is critical, and little mistakes can lead to big problems,” say the developers, That! “It’s safe, industrial-grade disinfection without the complications and side-effects of chemical treatments.”
Bug eyes for robots
Algorithms based on insect vision may improve the vision systems in robots.
Researchers at the University of Adelaide says they’re combing neuroscience, computer science, and mechanical engineering, and “learnings from both insects and humans can be applied in a model virtual reality simulation, enabling an artificial intelligence system to ‘pursue’ an object.”
That’s right, robots will be able to chase you down more accurately. Thanks, scientists.
The Australian researchers note dragonflies chase prey at speeds up to 60 km/h, capturing them with a success rate over 97 percent — despite having relatively little computing power in their tiny brains. They’ve developed “an unusual algorithm to help emulate this visual tracking.”
Advanced optics allow thinner AR glasses
Even the very latest glasses and goggles for augmented and virtual reality are big and unwieldy. But new optics developed in Germany may yield more comfortably wearable displays in the near future.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering say their slim design uses a simple, elongated rectangular sheet of glass as both a wave guide and as the support for a small, transparent display of 8 by 15 millimeters near the eye. It is currently limited to a resolution of about 800x600 pixels.
Spectrum has the full story here.
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