Organic architecture – Woodland Home, Wales

By Damir Beciri
One Comment17 October 2011

woodland-home-wales-1Woodland Home in Wales, UK, is an inspirational project that doesn’t rely on modern materials and it was literally built from green materials. The house was built with maximum regard for the environment and by reciprocation provides a unique opportunity to live close to nature. Unlike the Earth House Estate in Switzerland, the Woodland Home in… »

Student develops a touchscreen Braille writer software for tablets

By Damir Beciri
2 Comments15 October 2011

touchscreen-braille-writerEach summer, the Army High-Performance Computing Research Center (AHPCRC) invites a selected group of undergraduates from across the country to gather for a two-month competition where they are assigned mentors and tasked with a challenge. This summer’s winner developed a touchscreen Braille writer which is more affordable than modern Braille writers. “AHPCRC is an excellent… »

Questionable Observer Detector spots repetitive crime scene observers

By Damir Beciri
14 October 2011

nd-questionable-observer-detector-biometrics-systemIf you are fond of crime solving TV series or movies, you probably heard that criminals always return to the scene of the crime. Led by that theory, a team of biometrics experts from the University of Notre Dame is developing a crime-fighting tool that can help law enforcement officials identify individuals who are found… »

Wildcat autonomous robot car doesn’t need GPS to operate

By Damir Beciri
One Comment14 October 2011

oxford-wildcat-robot-carResearchers from the University of Oxford are developing a robotic car technology which is set to remove the dependence on GPS, improve navigation precision, lower emissions, interpret local traffic conditions, track risks, and above all offer a hands-free experience to the driver. All this by interpreting a flood of data from sensors such as cameras,… »

Future smart power grids could be run by thinking machines

By Damir Beciri
13 October 2011

venayagamoorthy-smart-gridDr. Ganesh Kumar Venayagamoorthy, a power engineering expert at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T), has recently published an article in the latest issue of IEEE’s Smart Grid newsletter where he wrote about plans to develop a smart grid which could autonomously learn and adapt to new situations, from power outages along the… »

R-one swarm robot – low-cost platform for robotics enthusiast and students

By Damir Beciri
2 Comments11 October 2011

rice-university-mclurkin-r-oneR-one robot is a part James McLurkin’s aspiration to create an inexpensive and sophisticated robot which could be affordable by everyone. McLurkin, who is the director of Rice University robotics lab, decided to improve the robotic platform used by university and lower its cost in order to enable its usage among his students and other… »

Green architecture – Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation campus

By Damir Beciri
2 Comments9 October 2011

bill-and-melinda-gates-foundation-building-1Completed in the spring of 2011, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation campus is located in downtown Seattle across the street from the Space Needle. It has been recently awarded with LEED-NC (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for New Construction) Platinum certification – making it the largest, non-profit LEED-NC Platinum building in the world…. »

Monkeys with Brain Machine Brain Interface move and feel virtual objects

By Damir Beciri
7 October 2011

monkey-uses-bmbiTwo monkeys trained at the Duke University Center for Neuroengineering learned to employ brain activity in order to move an avatar hand and identify the texture of virtual objects. Unlike a research where a monkey used its brain to move a robotic arm, this is a first demonstration of the two-way interaction between a primate… »