This week on WDD’s HotSpot:
Robot Gets a Job at a Pizza Place
Visitors to a Pizza Hut in Asia will soon be able to place an order, ask about nutrition, and pay for their meal without ever speaking to a human. Instead, customers will interact with SoftBank’s Pepper, a robot said to be able to recognize human emotions and to portray its own.
Tethered Drone Gives Military Round-the-Clock Surveillance
Looking to boost its surveillance capabilities, the US military has begun testing a tethered drone system that hovers in the air and streams continuous aerial views to troops on the ground.
Eyes-Free (and Safe) Smartphone Control While Driving
Fingertips Lab has created a wearable device that offers people a way to operate their phones without the need to look at or reach for the screen. The O6 controller is designed to use touch, voice, and gesture input to control apps and listen or respond to messages eyes-free.
Smart Materials Change Color When Stretched
Researchers from the University of Connecticut have created color and transparency changing materials that alter their properties in response to mechanical force.
Filed Under: M2M (machine to machine)
