Elizabeth Fish

Everyone has days where, as much as you love your friends, you’d rather have some alone time. Everyone also has days where, as much as you enjoy your alone time, you'd much rather be with your friends (who went out and saw a movie without inviting you--sigh). Of course, with something like Yamagata University’s shoulder robot, it doesn’t mean you have to be totally alone.

The MH-2 telepresence robot sits on your shoulder, and can be controlled by another person at any time. Once a friend has control, it will become an avatar of sorts for them. The shoulder bot has two flexible arms, along with a head and body, and it can even simulate a person's breathing to make it as realistic as possible (although I don't know how realistic a shoulder-mounted bot can be). It also has small cameras on either side of its head.

Ever wished there was a way of playing your favorite NES titles on a present-day device, like your smartphone? If you still happen to have your old NES console handy, then now there is a way.

Dustin Evans figured out a way of connecting an old NES console to his phone using Bluetooth modem, BlueSMiRF, and Arduino. An Arduino Mega inside the NES console, will connect to the BlueSMiRF chip. Once switched on, the Bluetooth board works by searching and paring with something like a phone or tablet--it basically gives non-Bluetooth devices that capability. Your phone and console are then paired.

[Credit: Adafruit]You have to admire Lego Cuusoo: The website does a great job at bringing a community of Lego fans together to create interesting designs for future sets. Who wouldn't encourage people of all ages to get creative? Lego and the geek community go hand-in-hand though, so when Ladyada's workshop is pitched as a set, you can't help but get a little excited.

Adafruit Industries makes and sells hardware that is easy to use (like specific Arduino kits) in order to inspire people of all ages and experience levels to work with electronics Naturally, this makes Ladyada and her company worthy contestants to be a Lego set.

If you need to do a project for school, and also happen to have a lot of spare time on your hands, maybe you should give stop-motion a go. Seriously--because you can re-create something like Mario levels in paper, and it will look almost like the real thing.

That's exactly what Connor Wilson did for his computer class in high school. He put together his own Mario level--made entirely out of paper--using iStopMotion, a piece of software that makes it easier to create and edit stop-motion video. Think of all those different objects that would need drawing and cutting! He finished the project off using iMovie and Ableton Live.

It's fairly well established now that QR codes, well, kind of suck. Although lots of people own a smartphone or gadget with a scanner now, no-one really bothers to scan them--that's if they know how to at all. Still, that doesn't mean smart uses of the technology should go unnoticed, just like Korean Emart's big 3D QR code.

If you walk past a Emart store during 23 hours of the day, you'll just see a pretty strange art installation. But visit when the sun is shining between 12 and 1 in the afternoon and you'll be presented with a giant QR discount code.

[Photo: Element 14]If you're anything like me, everything around you can distract you from cooking--something I'm not particulalrly good at. While something is simmering, you may float away to do something on your computer, only to come back later and find you've ruined the food. If you have an Android phone or tablet though, Ben Heck's latest hack gives you an assistant to help save your meal.

This hack focuses on an app, which uses Bluetooth to control a pot-stirring gadget. The laser-cut wooden hardware consists of an actutor arm, chip clip (for gripping the spoon) and trapezoid timing belt. Servomotors allow the cooking assistant to rotate the spoon to and fro in the pot. The height and spoon positioning can be adjusted too, depending on pot size. An Arduino Uno helps keep the stirrer moving once the app connects.

[Credit: BMT Group]The next time you go scuba diving in a coral reef somewhere while on vacation, make sure all those fish you're swimming with are actually real. You may actually find yourself swimming with an intelligent robotic fish.

Researchers from the EU-funded SHOAL project (put on by BMT Group) are busy testing robotic fish that can detect and identify polluted water in a matter of seconds. The project took three years to fully develop, from AI and design aspects to chemical analysis and hydrodynamics. In other words, the robot has to look and act like a fish, not just transmit data.

Kids' parties sometimes have entertainers geared at doing all sorts to keep children occupied: magic tricks, juggling and so on. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather have this awesome Japanese robot doing the entertainment at parties than the typical human act.

The folks over at Chinba University demonstrated how one of its hand-arm systems can juggle two balls at once--single-handedly and extremely fast--at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. The research is inspired by the way humans have the ability and skill to juggle balls, and hopes to transfer this sort of talent to robots.

[Credit: One International]The 2012 G8 Summit is underway, with leading politicians from eight of the wealthiest countries discussing a number of economic issues. One such issue is how these nations can tackle hunger in developing countries, particularly ones in Africa. Naturally, Twitter is bustling with tweets encouraging leaders to think of those less fortunate, but there is a more visual way to get those tweets aired.

Tweet the Street by One International comprises of a small robot pulled along by a truck. It may look like a fancy grass cutter, but actually there are a number of ink jets underneath, which can print messages on a road surface, sort of like a giant printer.

For 12-year-old Zachary Thompson, attending school like a normal kid his age is pretty difficult. This is due to his rare condition, X-linked myotubular myopathy, an illness affecting only males that leaves him bed-bound and dependent on a ventilator. Fortunately, a new remote presence robot may be able to help Zachary at least attend school.

The VGo telepresence robot not only allows for a video link from one place to another, but it can also move around. The remote person (in this case, Zachary) can control the robot’s movements from their computer, while people in the same room treat it like a person on wheels.

[Credit: Cornell University]For up to two million deaf Americans, signing is like a first language--in fact, it's noted as the sixth most used language in the country. Sadly, not many people who aren't deaf can sign, making communication sometimes difficult. Fortunately, a group of students are trying to bridge the gap with a translator, housed in a glove.

The Sign Language Translator Glove, made by a trio of students at Cornell University, uses a variety of sensors to translate different finger and hand movements into spoken English language. From there, a "base station" will pronounce and show the letter being signed. That translation can then be sent on to a computer, where you could use the information to test people's ability to sign--quite the learning tool!

[Credit: ADR Studio]Love it or hate it, Instagram is a pretty ubiquitous. Instagram photos are all over the place on social networks, and Facebook just laid down $1 billion on the app. The folks at Facebook aren't the only company to see the photography app's worth, either, judging by this surprisingly cool Instagram camera concept.

The Socialmatic Camera is a concept by ADR Studio, and it turns Instagram into a camera that all hipsters would love to own. Naturally, the conceptualized camera resembles the little square icon of the app, and it also features two different lenses, an LED flash, a touchscreen, and optical zoom.