Four short links: 24 August 2017
Social Robotics, Reconstructing 3D, Electronic Skin, and Rules of Buyouts
- Blossom: Social Robotics (IEEE) — Blossom is made out of soft, handcrafted materials, so its external shape is neither sleek nor smooth. The robot’s shape is not even well-defined, and instead folds, creases, and shifts as the robot moves. The materials are warm and natural, including wool, cotton, and wood. When you look at Blossom and touch it, you are met with organic textures and even the scents of natural materials.
- Hierarchical Surface Prediction for 3D Object Reconstruction — turning a 2d photo into a 3d CAD diagram with neural networks. (via TechCrunch)
- Electronic Skin Patch Wearable — The patch is designed more like a mattress or creeping vine than a conventional electronic device. It contains about 50 components connected by a network of 250 tiny flexible wire coils embedded in protective silicone. Unlike flat sensors, the tiny helical wire coils, made of gold, chromium and phosphate, are firmly connected to the base only at one end and can stretch and contract like a spring without breaking.
- The Rules of Buyouts — a Hacker News comment that seemed particularly spot-on. The first rule of buyouts is that the promises always come from someone who isn’t in a position to back them up (like the old owner, or your boss’s boss, who only have a single seat on the board between them).
