Electronix Express Newsletter

August 2009 Issue

Welcome to the August 2009 Issue of the Electronix Express Newsletter

STORIES

Toyota Unveils Wheelchair Propelled by Thoughts Alone?

Smart Machines: What's the Worst That Could Happen?

Intel Talks Up Our Wire-Free, Robot-Ruled Future

IBM, Academics Seek to Create a Computer That's More Like Us

Panasonic Unveils Robotic Drug Dispenser

Robots and the Law: Will the Real Inventor Please Stand Up?

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1. Toyota Unveils Wheelchair Propelled by Thoughts Alone?

Researchers at Toyota have unveiled an advanced brain sensing system that controls the movement of a wheelchair by reading a user's thoughts alone. Developed by researchers at BSI-Toyota Collaboration Center, the brain machine interface technology can return a response from a thought stimulus in just 125 milliseconds, whole seconds faster than existing technology, in effect creating real-time responsiveness. Five electroencephalography sensors stationed above the regions of the brain that deal with motor movement interpret patterns in the signals generated by the user. By processing patterns in brain waves, the system can propel a wheelchair forward, as well as make turns, with virtually no discernable delay between thought and movement. Further, the software interpreting the signals adapts to a particular user's patterns of thinking, achieving 95% accuracy after just one week of three-hour training sessions.

The potential applications for BMI technology extend far beyond the wheelchair, but Toyota's immediate focus will be to help those with mobility issues regain their freedom of movement, as well as to improve nursing care for the elderly. In that pursuit, Toyota is far from alone, as an aging population has Japan forecasting a shortage of health-care workers in the future. Rival automaker Honda is experimenting with a similar technology that allows its Asimo robot to be manipulated via brain signals, the idea being that humanoid robots could replace home care nurses in coming years.

The technology could also revolutionize prosthetics. Segway inventor Dean Kamen's DEKA Labs has developed a highly advanced prosthetic arm that responds to muscle commands in the remaining tissue of an amputated limb. BMI technology could bridge the link between brain and prosthesis, eliminating the lengthy rehabilitation process and restoring real time use of the limb. As for commercial applications, the sky is the limit, though no one has announced any plans to roll the technology into a product for sale any time soon. Toyota plans to explore the technology more thoroughly first, tapping not only motor signals, but also brain waves tied to emotions and other mental states.

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2. Smart Machines: What's the Worst That Could Happen?

An invasion led by artificially intelligent machines. Conscious computers. A smartphone virus so smart that it can start mimicking you. You might think that such scenarios are laughably futuristic, but some of the world's leading artificial intelligence (AI) researchers are concerned enough about the potential impact of advances in artificial intelligence that they have been discussing the risks over the past year. Now, for the first time, a panel of 25 AI scientists, roboticists, and ethical and legal scholars has been convened to address these issues, under the auspices of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) in Menlo Park, California. It looked at the feasibility and ramifications of seemingly far-fetched ideas, such as the possibility of the internet becoming self-aware.

Until now, research in artificial intelligence has been mainly occupied by myriad basic challenges that have turned out to be very complex, such as teaching machines to distinguish between everyday objects. Human-level artificial intelligence or self-evolving machines were seen as long-term, abstract goals not yet ready for serious consideration. AI is already out in the world. Robots like Roombas and Scoobas help with the mundane chores of vacuuming and mopping, while decision-making devices are assisting in complex, sometimes life-and-death situations. For example, Poseidon Technologies, sells AI systems that help lifeguards identify when a person is drowning in a swimming pool, and Microsoft's Clearflow system helps drivers pick the best route by analysing traffic behaviour.

At the moment such systems only advise or assist humans, but the AAAI panel warns that the day is not far off when machines could have far greater ability to make and execute decisions on their own, albeit within a narrow range of expertise. The panel discussed at length the idea of an AI "singularity" - a runaway chain reaction of machines capable of building ever-better machines. While admitting that it was theoretically possible, most members were skeptical that such an exponential AI explosion would occur in the foreseeable future, given the lack of projects today that could lead to systems capable of improving upon themselves. As such AI systems become more commonplace, what breakthroughs can we reasonably expect, and what effects will they have on society? What's more, what precautions should we be taking? These are among the many questions that the panel tackled. At least for now we can rest easy on one score. The panel concluded that the internet is not about to become self-aware.

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3. Intel Talks Up Our Wire-Free, Robot-Ruled Future

Wires have no place in Intel's vision of the future. The company on Thursday showed off developments in wire-free power transmission using a Wireless Resonant Energy Link -- technology that transmits power without cords. It also shared its vision of coming decades full of robots, rapidly accelerating technology, and morphing gadgets that are whatever you want them to be. In his keynote address Justin Rattner, Intel's chief technology officer, spoke about and demonstrated several technologies he said would be part of an evolution that closes the gap between humans and machines by 2050. Key concepts demoed during Rattner's talk included a wireless power source for recharging devices, shape-shifting devices made with so-called programmable matter, and personal robot prototypes that could one day lead to more human-like versions of the machines.

Perhaps the most practical of the concept products Intel debuted yesterday, the Tesla-esque Wireless Resonant Energy Link (WREL) could enable users to recharge their laptops or mobile handsets simply by being in proximity of a transmitter. Intel researchers are also looking at the uses of programmable matter, or "catoms" -- micro-robots that can be used to build shape-shifting devices. Developed by research at Carnegie Mellon University, catoms, short for "claytronics atoms," are designed to form large-scale machines and mechanisms. They can be programmed from many different devices. For instance, millions of the ultra-tiny machines could be used to build a mobile computer small enough to fit in a pocket that morphs into a laptop with a keyboard and display or into an earpiece for use as a mobile phone. "The industry has taken much greater strides than anyone ever imagined 40 years ago. There is speculation that we may be approaching an inflection point where the rate of technology advancements is accelerating at an exponential rate, and machines could even overtake humans in their ability to reason, in the not-so-distant future," Rattner said.

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4. IBM, Academics Seek to Create a Computer That's More Like Us

Computers can calculate at speeds and scales that far outstrip what an ordinary person can manage, but they still aren't anywhere near as complex as a human brain. IBM and five major universities plan to change that through a DARPA-funded initiative designed to build a computer that can mimic the way the mind works. IBM and top researchers from Stanford University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cornell University, Columbia University Medical Center and University of California-Merced have received US$4.9 million in funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for the first phase of DARPA's Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics, or SyNAPSE, initiative.

The research will build on the IBM cognitive computing team's recent work with the BlueGene supercomputer: the near-real-time simulation of a brain the size of a small mammal, using cognitive computing algorithms to develop mathematical hypotheses of brain function and structure. The goal of cognitive computing is to engineer holistic intelligent machines that can connect huge amounts of sensory data. Real world applications might include a computer that can assemble and digest the massive volumes of information from the global financial system -- and then make decisions based on that input. It is virtually impossible for a human to make that kind of calculation. "There are no computers today that can even remotely approach the robust and versatile functionality of the brain," said Dharmendra Modha, manager of cognitive computing at IBM Research. Cognitive computing, explained Modha, is the quest to engineer mind-like intelligent business machines by reverse engineering the computational function of the brain and packaging it in a small, low-power chip.

Fundamentally, the issue is that this is a very different way of designing a computer from the current structure of binary 0s and 1s. The brain's structure allows it to form new connections among switches on the fly and is connected to many other elements, as opposed to a step-by-step linear progression. In short, new computing designs and materials will be needed. Applications such as these are at least 10 years away, though, and the team must solve a few practical issues first.

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5. Panasonic Unveils Robotic Drug Dispenser

Panasonic has developed a medical robot that dispenses drugs to patients, the Japanese electronics giant's first step into robotics. Panasonic did not develop the robot to look like a humanoid. Rather it more resembles a cabinet with drawers, according to a company spokesperson. The robot functions this way-a Pharmacist put drugs in, and the machine sorts and distributes them to patients based on stored medical data.

Panasonic will first market the robot to Japanese hospitals and then afterwards in the United States and Europe later. Panasonic spokesperson Akira Kadota said that the robot will cost several tens of millions of yen (hundreds of thousands of US dollars). According to Kadota, "This robot is the first in our robotics project. It sorts out injection drugs to patients, saving time for pharmacists". Osaka-based Panasonic hopes annual revenue from the robot and other medical robotics will reach 30 billion yen ($315 million) in the financial year to March 2016.

Interestingly, Japan boasts one of the leading robotics industries in the world, and the government is pushing to develop the industry as a road to growth. Automaker Honda Motor has developed the child-sized Asimo, which can walk and talk. Earlier this year, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, a government-backed organization, revealed a walking, talking robot with a female face. However, it hasn't cleared safety standards and cannot yet help humans with daily chores.

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6. Robots and the Law: Will the Real Inventor Please Stand Up?

Earlier this month, the journal Science published a report about a robot that could formulate hypotheses, perform experiments to test those hypotheses, and thereby contribute to scientific knowledge. The idea that robots might be capable of independent thought processes raises a lot of interesting possibilities, not the least of which is the problem of how such robots and their work products would be regarded under the law. A robot that invents something entirely on its own, for example, could conceivably be the appropriate patentholder, based on current U.S. law.

Currently, there are many areas of technology in which automated machines or robots are involved in the process of invention. For example, electronic circuit design relies on Monte Carlo analysis using Spice, but this involves human inputs and human analysis of the results. There are numerous similar examples. In contrast, the robots discussed in the report in Science seem to have an independent ability to generate and verify hypotheses, perhaps leading, in patent parlance, to independent "invention" by the robot, not the human. American patent law (35 U.S.C. Section 101) limits what is considered patentable subject matter, and limits the invention to the discoverer: "Whoever invents . . . may obtain a patent . . . ." Section 101 uses "whoever" -- not "whatever." In addition, 35 U.S.C. Section 102 says that "a person shall be entitled to a patent unless . . ." (emphasis added), and proceeds to set forth a number of exceptions to patentability.

That preamble to section 102 limits the ability to patent to a person -- probably not extending it to a machine. Thus, a person using a robot that might make an invention may face some serious statutory impediments to patent protection.

Of course, there is the possibility that the programmer of the robot could be the inventor if the robot were given the hypotheses to test and parameters to evaluate, in which case the human would probably be the inventor on the theory that the robot was simply the "hands of the inventor." But that does not seem to be the case with the robot reported in the Science article. If a robot were to be or become an "inventor" under the laws of the U.S. or Europe, it would seem that the owner or lessee of the robot would probably be the owner of the "invention" rather as employers are generally the owners of employees' inventions. However, owners or lessees of such robots should do something akin to what employers do with employees: still get solid written contracts from the developers of the robots to make sure robot inventions are owned by the owner or lessee.

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