Technology News

Samrt Cane to Help Blind:

A ' Smart' cane has been developed by the students at Central Michigan University that helps the blind in Moving around by themselves easily.

The Cane uses radio frequency indentification (RFID) to detect obstacles and alert the user on where and how to navigate while walking. It is equipped with an ultrasonic sensor and works in tendem with a navigational system inside a bag worn by the user. The cane requires RFID flags mounted along the path to help the user in reaching his destination.

A Speaker on the bag's strap alerts the user of an obstacle coming in his way and tells him where to walk. For people who can't hear, a special glove vibrates different fingertips to provide direction on where to walk.

Robots Assist doctors in life-saving operations:

Robots are helping doctors to treat soldiers in combat zones from faraway locations. In these operations,the robot is mounted with a high-tech camera and controlled from another region via  a laptop and remote joystick. The robot can move easily because of the sensors located on its torso, which help it to identify obstacles. The camera on the robot captures images of the patient from every angle and a zoom oprion allows doctors a close-up view of their distant patients.

THe technology has been incoporated by Dr. Kevin Chung, in-charge of the burn intensive care unit at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, to treat patient.

Robots could Turn Dangerous:

Robots could be dangerous to human beings. A situation which is now limited to only sc-fi films, such as the TErminator series and The Matrix, could become true.

Leading scientists warn that man-kind might lose control over computer-based systems that carry out a growing share war to chatting on the phone, and have already reached a level of indestructibility comparable with a cockroach.

Too much time is being spent on developing artificial intelligence and too little on robot safety.We'ar rapidly approaching the time when new robots should undergo tests, similar to ethical and clinical trials for new drugs, before they can be intruduced. said Alan Winfield, a professor at the University of the West England.