Frontiers | Science News

Science News post list

56 news posts in Robotics and AI

Robotics and AI

07 Jul 2022

Bees’ ‘waggle dance’ may revolutionize how robots talk to each other in disaster zones

By Conn Hastings, science writer Image credit: rtbilder / Shutterstock.com Honeybees use a sophisticated dance to tell their sisters about the location of nearby flowers. This phenomenon forms the inspiration for a form of robot-robot communication that does not rely on digital networks. A recent study presents a simple technique whereby robots view and interpret each other’s movements or a gesture from a human to communicate a geographical location. This approach could prove invaluable when network coverage is unreliable or absent, such as in disaster zones.   Where are those flowers and how far away are they? This is the crux of the ‘waggle dance’ performed by honeybees to alert others to the location of nectar-rich flowers. A new study in Frontiers in Robotics and AI has taken inspiration from this technique to devise a way for robots to communicate. The first robot traces a shape on the floor, and the shape’s orientation and the time it takes to trace it tell the second robot the required direction and distance of travel. The technique could prove invaluable in situations where robot labor is required but network communications are unreliable, such as in a disaster zone or in space. Honeybees excel at […]

Robotics and AI

17 May 2022

Frontiers in Virtual Reality Seminar Series 2: striving for social harmony in XR

Image: Shutterstock.com Online Seminar Series 25th May – 22nd June 2022 This seminar series is presented by field chief editor of the Frontiers in Virtual Reality journal, Prof Mel Slater and members of the GuestXR European Project.  By now we are likely to have come across horror stories from ‘the metaverse‘ about how easy it is to encounter abuse, racism, misogyny, and have an overall unpleasant experience. On the other hand, social virtual environments have been studied for many years and there is evidence about how people behave in virtual meetings. GuestXR is carrying out research towards how to make immersive virtual meetings realize the goals of the participants. Normally virtual meetings have a purpose, even if that is entertainment, and GuestXR has the ambitious aim of intervening in such meetings to make them fit for their purpose. In this seminar series, partners from the GuestXR project will speak about their early work on these issues, covering a review of virtual meetings (‘collaborative virtual environments’), the utility of agent based models for social modeling, what we can learn from the neuroscience of interpersonal interaction, the role of deep learning for virtual humans, and reflections on the ethical aspects. Scheduled seminars TitleSpeakerDateTimeRegisterThe Affordances and Problems of Meeting in Virtual RealityMel […]

Robotics and AI

27 Jan 2022

AI breakthrough could revolutionize how we research dinosaur fossils

By Peter Rejcek, science writer Image credit: Natalia van D / Shutterstock.com The use of x-ray computed tomography has greatly improved the ability of paleontologists to study the morphology of dinosaur fossils. Now, thanks to innovations in artificial intelligence, machines may soon be able to tackle the labor-intensive job of  segmentation, a process for classifying similar sections of an image for analysis. Researchers tested different deep neural networks on more than 10,000 CT scans of embryonic skulls with encouraging results. One of the most promising applications of artificial intelligence technologies is the identification of tumors from high-resolution medical imagery. Can the same techniques be used to help paleontologists more quickly analyze similar scans of dinosaur fossils? Researchers reported some of the early answers — and remaining challenges — in a new paper published in Frontiers in Earth Science. Much of what scientists can glean from the fossil record of dinosaurs relies on the morphology of the preserved remains of the animals. To study the interior structure of a specimen generally requires cutting thin sections, effectively destroying the sample in the process. That changed with the introduction of high-resolution scanning technologies like x-ray computed tomography (CT), which basically reconstructs internal structures […]

Robotics and AI

29 Sep 2021

Scientists develop revolutionary AI system to find music you’ll like

By Mr Khalil Damak (graduate student, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Louisville), Dr Olfa Nasraoui (professor, Department of Computer Engineering and Computer Science, University of Louisville), and Dr William Scott Sanders (assistant professor, Department of Communication, University of Louisville) Image credit: Tada Images / Shutterstock.com Recommendation systems are intelligent online user interfaces like Amazon, Youtube, or Netflix, where the system identify music, films, or books you might like based on your previous interaction with the system. Such systems use so-called ‘Deep Learning‘, a branch of artificial intelligence (AI). In a recent paper in Frontiers in Big Data, scientists from the University of Louisville, KY, USA, use Deep Learning to propose a more accurate and personalized recommendation system for finding songs online. Here, the authors explain how their novel system works, and what makes it different. What are recommender systems and why are they important? Recommender systems are computational engines whose goal is to learn the users’ preferences in order to personalize their experiences online. These systems have become prevalent in various fields, and have become especially essential on e-commerce websites, streaming platforms, and other internet-based platforms that offer millions of products or options for users to choose […]

Robotics and AI

17 Sep 2021

Why is Covid-19 more severe in some patients? Using AI, we found a likely answer

By Dr Emmanuelle Logette, EPFL Blue Brain Project Dr Emmanuelle Logette of the EPFL Blue Brain Project Why does Covid-19 present itself more severe in some patients but not in others? The question has puzzled researchers and clinicians since the start of the pandemic, but recent research from the EPFL Blue Brain Project may have found a major clue to solving the mystery thanks to machine learning. Now, one of those leading the breakthrough research, Dr Emmanuelle Logette, reveals as part of the Frontier Scientists series how even at a very young age she knew she wanted to be a researcher in the fascinating world of genetics. Dr Emmanuelle Logette studied molecular biology and biochemistry at the University of Burgundy in France and, in 2002, received her PhD, for her work on the transcriptional regulation of caspase-2, a not very well known member of the caspase family of enzymes involved in apoptosis. In 2006 she joined the laboratory of Dr Jürg Tschopp at the University of Lausanne as a postdoctoral fellow focusing on the signaling pathways involved in DNA repair and apoptosis during tumorigenesis, again trying to better understand the role of caspase-2. Having mainly worked on the oncogenesis field, […]

Robotics and AI

21 Apr 2021

Researchers’ VR walking simulator feels surprisingly close to the real thing

By Colm Gorey, Frontiers science writer Image: wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock.com Researchers in Japan have developed a virtual reality platform that mimics the sensation of walking by stimulating their feet, all while sitting motionlessly. During testing, participants experiencing a digital world through a first-person perspective found it enhanced the simulation of walking. However, those who saw themselves from a third-person perspective felt it impaired the sensation of movement. Despite virtual reality (VR) technology being more affordable than ever, developers have yet to achieve a sense of full immersion in a digital world. Among the greatest challenges is making the user feel as if they are walking.   Now, researchers from the Toyohashi University of Technology and The University of Tokyo in Japan have published a paper to the journal Frontiers in Virtual Reality describing a custom-built platform that aims to replicate the sensation of walking in VR, all while sitting motionlessly in a chair. “Walking is a fundamental and fun activity for human in everyday life. Therefore, it is very worthy to provide a high-quality walking experience in a VR space,” says Yusuke Matsuda. Matsuda is a project assistant professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the Toyohashi University of […]