Adorable smartphone robot RoBoHoN is our new BFF (Tomorrow Daily 254)
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Greetings citizens of the internet, welcome to Tomorrow Daily the best geek talk show in the known universe.
I know, it's not a talk show yet, these are our mini-episodes until we get our fabulous new set built I just have to remind you guys of this every day, just in case somebody hasn't been here in a month.
But enough of that, let's do the headlines.
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Honestly, I don't think Think this is the greatest idea in the world, but Autonomous Systems Lab in Sweden is doing a project where they actually have robots help each other out.
Fortunately, they're not learning to help each other hunt down humans, and the video's actually pretty tame.
The robot in question takes slow navigation cues from a hexacopter drone so the process goes a little something like this.
The drone maps out a space, sends the data to the robot, the robot calculates the most efficient path toward an end goal, and then starts heading towards it.
It's a small scale experiment and the drone isn't exactly taking a jog through rocky terrain like some of the Super terrifying DARPA robots we've been keeping an eye on, so I guess we'll allow it.
But I got my eye on you robots, helping robots.
All right, from robots to biomedical, this is a really cool concept heart from Cornell University.
Now, one of the problems with artificial hearts is that they have a lot of moving parts.
Which means, there's an increased chance that one of those parts will fail at some point.
Cornell decided to build a simplified artificial heart out of a single piece of porous elastic foam.
Which sort of mimics blood vessels because you can pump water through the whole thing.
There are only two chambers instead of four on this artificial heart so it's not a fully realised model, but, pumping air into the device pumped water between the chambers well enough that the Cornell team believes that some day They may be able to develop a fully functional artificial heart.
And not only is this excellent research, it also gives me hope that some day before I die, my consciousness will be able to be transferred into an artificial robot body.
So [UNKNOWN] go now!
Going from artificial hearts to actual robots again, we have to talk about, pretty much the cutest robot I've ever seen in my life.
This is Robohan.
Look at how cute it is.
I'll try to calm down a little so I can tell you about it.
Robohan is actually a cell phone which is kind of amazing.
It's made by Sharp and apparently they think Japanese consumers want to carry a little robot around with them everywhere they go.
Talk to it when they get a call and throw dance parties so it can get down and boogie with you.
The smart phone is Android powered with 3G LTE, a voice-enabled camera between his eyes and a pico projector on his forehead for showing off your pictures.
In a promo video, RoboHon also interacts with you like a super-friendly companion reminding you of calendar events and notifications in an adorably conversational tone.
It'll go on sale next year in Japan and literally make zero sense to own as a functional, easy to pocket smartphone.
But I don't care because I want one so bad, and why doesn't it exist in the US and please producer Logan, go to Mod Squad before I cry.
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Normally, I like to focus on smaller builds.
Things done by individual people.
But Lexus put together this origami car that we have got to take a look at.
Lexus recreated its IS sedan with over 1,700 pieces of cardboard.
Cardboard, and you can actually drive the thing which is pretty remarkable.
The car even has seats and cup holders inside so it's an interesting little project.
It was cooked up not only by Lexus but also in conjunction with UK design firms Laser Cutworks And scale the models.
But to fair, this is not fully cardboard, it has a steel and aluminum frame to keep it from falling apart.
Plus an electric engine that powers it.
Sadly though, you will not be seeing this out and about while you go to the grocery store or run errands, because it is not street legal.
And it was made to be a piece of art, hence the name origami car.
But hey, kudos to the Lexus team for crushing it this year on unrealistic prototypes and weird promotional videos.
Yes, I'm still cranky about that hover board Lexus.
And I will not forgive you until you deliver a real working hover board that does not require a specialized skate park or magnets to work.
Honestly guys, you know what makes me less cranky?
Your pictures.
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Today's Phonetographer of the day is Dylan, who took this picture with his iPhone 6 Plus.
He writes to us and says, Greetings everyone at Tomorrow Daily.
I took this with my iPhone 6 Plus during the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche Art Festival in Toronto, Ontario Canada.
It is a picture of the financial district in Toronto.
And I of course give you permission to use the picture on Tomorrow Daily, love watching the show and I'm looking forward to the new set with the new co-host.
Well that make's three of us Dylan cuz me and producer Logan are also excited about the new set and you guys should be too.
But until then you can submit your phonetography to featured on the show at Tomorrow@cnet.com.
Make sure you send us your picture, what device you took it on, permission to use it on the show, and tell us a little story about it because we like your stories.
That is it for today's show, guys.
You can find us online at TomorrowDaily on some of your favorite large social media sites.
You can also find me and Producer Logan, respectively, on Twitter @AshleyEsqueda and @LoganMoy.
We will back tomorrow the brand new docket of weird wild science facts meeting science fiction blown up in your face.
But until then, be good humans we'll see you guys next time.
Bye.
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