Gadgets ! What's Next

 

 BAE Systems will lead a team of scientists that will develop miniature robots to improve military situational awareness. The company signed a $38 million agreement with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to lead an alliance of researchers and scientists from the Army, academia and industry.

The Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Collaborative Technology Alliance will research and develop advanced robotic equipment for use in urban environments and complex terrain, such as mountains and caves. The alliance will create an autonomous, multifunctional collection of miniature intelligence-gathering robots that can operate in places too inaccessible or dangerous for humans.

 

At May 13 Honda’s humanoid robot ASIMO will be conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as it performs “Impossible Dream” to open a special concert performance with renowned cellist Yo-Yo.

 

Honda hopes ASIMO’s appearance will draw attention to the DSO’s nationally acclaimed youth music programs, and particularly DSO’s effort to encourage and support involvement of children in Detroit.

In addition, ASIMO will demonstrate its unique capabilities for hundreds of area school children at 10:45 a.m., May 14, prior to a specially arranged master class at the DSO, where a select group of music students will receive personal music instruction from Yo-Yo Ma. Students from the Detroit School of Arts (DSA) will participate in the master class on-stage in front of the audience of area children, which will include a group of young students from neighboring Windsor, Canada.

Read more about the event in the official press release from Honda. 

 

A Japanese-made therapeutic animal robot, named "Paro," is set to make its debut in the United States. The cuddly harp seal, certified by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2002 as the world's most therapeutic robot, is believed to have curative effects on patients with depression and dementia. Paro shows various responses to people when they stroke or talk to it. The robot made its debut in Japan in 2005, and cumulative sales have exceeded 1,000 units.

In Japan, the therapeutic robot paro is used mainly at nursing care facilities. It is also rented for research purposes at medial and welfare institutions in Europe. The therapeutic animal robot will be priced at 5,000 dollars per unit in the U.S. market.

NAC conductor Pinchas Zukerman, counted among the world's leading violinists, recently had the honour of playing the world's most expensive musical instrument.

The violin is a 1741 instrument made by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu, for which Russian lawyer and businessman Maxim Viktorov paid a reported $3.9 million U.S. in a private sale brokered by Sotheby's last month. The previous most expensive instrument had been a 1708 Stradivari violin sold by Christie's for $3.54 million in 2006.