Optical technologies that can be used to modulate neuronal activity are opening up exciting possibilities for research in neuroscience and biology. Optical tools allow neuroscientists to excite and inhibit neurons or areas of the brain at will. They can thus be used...
Microscopic sensors that can detect small changes in pressure have numerous useful applications, particularly for the development of robots and health-monitoring wearable devices. Most existing capacitive and transistor-based pressure sensors, however, have a number...
Researchers at Keio University and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Japan have recently introduced a new design for a terahertz wave radar based on a technique known as leaky-wave coherence tomography. Their paper,...
Self-reconfigurable robots (SRRs) that can automatically change shape and adapt to their surrounding environment have recently attracted a lot of interest within the robotics research community. These robots could have several useful applications, as they can acquire...
Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are tools that can connect the human brain with an electronic device, typically using electroencephalography (EEG). In recent years, advances in machine learning (ML) have enabled the development of more advanced BCI spellers, devices...
In recent years, researchers worldwide have been trying to develop computational techniques that reproduce behaviors of humans or animals in robots and machines. This includes, for instance, the structure and functioning of the human brain, the swarm communication...
Today, countless electronic devices have touchscreens, including smart phones, tablets and smart home appliances. Touchscreen interfaces have become some of the most common means for users to communicate with and browse through their devices.
With more robots now making their way into a number of settings, researchers are trying to make their interactions with humans as smooth and natural as possible. Training robots to respond immediately to spoken instructions, such as "pick up the glass, move it to the...
Large-scale interfaces that change shape could be used to create interactive displays or environments that can be adapted to meet the needs human users. Despite their potential, creating these systems has so far proved challenging, as they can be expensive to build...
Researchers worldwide are now training robotic agents to assist humans in a variety of manual tasks, including cooking and moving objects. While many of these robots have achieved promising results, most of them are still unable to complete the tasks assigned to them...