Reality Crowd

We have seen robot walkers before, but nothing like this. Watch what happens when the developers try to knock over the Big Dog. It suddenly seems very much alive! This has all sorts of applications, from offroad transport to our soon to be invented robot overlords (pray they have mercy on us!)

Thanks Laughing Squid for the link!

Long the domain of science fiction and futurists, it seems that connecting the human brain to computers is coming sooner than you might think. We recently discussed scientists working on mapping a rat’s brain at the neuron level. They think they will have a working model of a human brain within a decade. On the hardware front, engineer Ted Berger at The University of Southern California has spent the past ten years designing a computer chip that can re-create thoughts. Using a needle hooked into a rat’s brain tissue and attached to a small silicone chip, the team of researchers has been able to send and receive electrical pulses from the brain. The chip is a huge first step toward implantable computers in our brains. Eventually, researchers hope to be able to help patients with all sorts of memory disorders, from Alzheimer’s to absent mindedness.

Some day you should be able to stop forgetting where you put your keys with a simple hardware upgrade. However, don’t get excited quite yet. Berger’s chip currently models about 12,000 neuron connections while the brain has an astounding 100 billion! Not to fear though, Richard H. Granger, Jr., a professor of brain sciences who leads the Neukom Institute for Interdisciplinary Computational Sciences at Dartmouth College states that:

Replicating memory is going to happen in our lifetimes, and that puts us on the edge of being able to understand how thought arises from tissue--in other words, to understand what consciousness really means.

Can’t wait a lifetime? Well, the BrainGate Neural Interface System is currently undergoing clinical FDA trials for approval. The System consists of a sensor that is implanted on the motor cortex of the brain and a device that analyzes brain signals. The principle of operation behind the BrainGate System is that with intact brain function, brain signals are generated even though they are not sent to the arms, hands and legs. The signals are interpreted and translated into cursor movements, offering the user an alternate “BrainGate pathway” to control a computer with thought, just as individuals who have the ability to move their hands use a mouse. Currently aimed at severely disabled people, the product is expected to be quickly ramped up for use on people with lesser disabilities.

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Researchers have successfully taught a computer AI system to play the game Ms Pac Man using evolving rule sets to maximize the success rate. Simply put, the computer plays the game with a set of rules to follow (ie - run away from ghosts, eat ghosts when possible, don’t backtrack, etc) and then prioritizes those rules based on success or failure in the game. After playing several times the computer learns what rules are most effective at achieving the highest score in the game. AI programs using this method were found to be much more effective at coming up with successful strategies than ones where programmers would try to “hand craft” a winning strategy.

While the computer AI eventually developed a strategy that was better than it’s human counterparts, the researchers noted that certain human strategies never developed in the AI:

While the AI agents showed they could hold their own against human players, the researchers noticed that humans sometimes used different tactics. For example, humans sometimes tried to lure the ghosts close to Ms. Pac-Man so that they would all be close by before making them edible, allowing Ms. Pac-Man to quickly eat them. The researchers noted that this strategy didn’t evolve in the AI experiments. Humans also calculated the time remaining in the period for eating ghosts, as well as approximate the future positions of ghosts - both abilities that the AI agents did not demonstrate.

Link to original story on Robot World News
Link to the Boing Boing article about the study

Read on for some videos of robots that have been taught to play games

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