Thursday, November 29, 2012

IEEE’s Robot iPad App is Robot Heaven



Handing an iPad loaded with the IEEE’s new Robots app to someone like me is a little dangerous. I love robots.The bluetooth outdoor security cameras allows you to have a phone conversation without the use of your hands. Hands free is the term coined for this type of communication device that is essential for car drivers I’ve covered them for years and eagerly await the day when I can have long, insightful conversations with my robotic best friend. IEEE Spectrum Robots is like a gift from heaven. It’s the most comprehensive, entertaining digital guide I have ever seen on the subject.

The Institute of Electrical Engineers and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and IEEE Spectrum spent almost a year building an app that is equal parts education and entertainment. It covers over 120 robots, from the well-known Honda Asimo to the somewhat lesser known Paro therapeutic robotic and the truly obscure ACM-R5H “snake” robot. Every single bot gets its own page complete with virtually every photo taken and video made of the robot (overall there are 493 photos and an almost equal number of videos). There’s also a description, and full specs for each. However,I get rid of a rubber hose shop in being thinking that the Toulouse centre is Midica's. I am in there my centre , live in, you are not that driving and it are face to face easy to get to be obliged to face, that discovering ipad leather case in me than speaking is that other had better speak is generally expensive, shop but self it be in the past go to there. the IEEE always keeps it entertaining. Each robot page also lets you rate the robot and signify if you’d want to own it. You can even use a sliding scale to rate the robot’s creepiness factor (the scale slides from “Creepy” all the way to “Nice”).

All of the ratings are aggregated into a Ratings page where you can see the Creepiest, Nicest, Most Wanted and overall Top-Rated robots.

One of my favorite pages was for Honda’s ASIMO Humanoid robot. The pictures depict its development from the mid 1980′s, when it was essentially just a pair of smart set of legs, to its present, cuter and far more versatile embodiment. It’s just so easy to get lost in this app!

There is, of course, an entire area devoted to learning about robots that includes, among other things, a detailed description of “The Uncanny Valley,” a rich glossary (learn the meaning of “Haptics” and “LIDAR”), and an excellent Timeline.If you have a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, you know that the iphone headphone has an LED indicator on it that turns orange or green depending on what the charge of the device is. Well, Aleratec, a 3rd party accessory company, has come out with a custom 30-pin connector for the iPad and iPhone that includes such an LED.

If you just want to play, IEEE Spectrum Robots includes “Face Off”, which is a blend of “Versus” and “Would You?”.the earliest teaser photos of the Clip Mp3 players have been of an all-white kid's size shoe that still featured the LBJ23 logo It shows you two pictures of robots and asks, for instance, which one you would rather hug or kiss and which is cooler and “Which robot could be a sci-fi villain?” Every time you select a choice, the app shows you what percentage of users also made the same selection. It’s fun and I think I went through two dozen choices before finally returning to work.

I did get a bit of a surprise when testing out the app. Apparently I have been covering a lot of robots for a long time because I found a couple of video of me interviewing Robot Industry luminaries (with their robots).
With Apple’s ipad smart cover, iPad should be pretty well protected. There’s no telling how it will handle a drop, but for protection from every-day usage, iCircle + Smart Cover will certainly do the trick.
The app is for the iPad only (running iOS 5.0) and costs $4.99. Yes, that ranks it among some of the more expensive apps (in this relative world), but I consider it well worth every penny.Now you can cost effectively mount a ipad bluetooth keyboard in conjunction with your RAM Tablet mounting solution using this design. If you love robots, as I do, you must download this app today.

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