hal
Robots
HAL Robo-Suit Exoskeleton Hits The Streets Of Tokyo
9:15PM Danny Allen | Remember that HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) exoskeleton from the real-life Cyberdyne? Ahead of plans to rent the suit to those with mobility issues (or Iron Man fantasies), it’s now being tested on the streets of Tokyo. Here’s the video. More »
Peripherals
Timbuk2 HAL Backpack Review: Pockets For Laptops, Contraband
4:30AM Wilson Rothman | I’m pretty square, fashion-wise. I own few intentionally ironic t-shirts, and fewer skinny jeans. Buchanan bags on my style choices regularly. That’s why, when he ordered me to ditch my old backpack, I picked Timbuk2’s new HAL. More »
Peripherals
Timbuk2’s Hemlock And Q Backpacks Have Swing Around Easy Access To Your Laptop
11:00PM Matt Buchanan | I haven’t carried a Boy Scout backpack in years, but the laptop feature in Timbuk2’s latest sounds great: The sleeve is sideloading, meaning you can pull out your laptop without busting open your whole bag and spilling crap everywhere. More »
Robots
Cyberdyne’s HAL Exoskeleton Going On Sale For $US4200 a Pop
11:20AM Wilson Rothman | Instead of renting a HAL exoskeleton for $US1000/month, you can now buy one for $US4200. It’s a limited run of 400, though, so that dream of 10X strength may have to wait. [BotJunkie via DVice] More »
Robots
Mass Production Planned For HAL Exoskeleton; Your Personal Iron Man Conversion To Cost $4,200
7:57PM John Herrman | Products like the Human Assistive Limb exoskeleton have a frustrating tendency to remain in the labs and universities that spawned them, usually for reasons of impracticality or cost. But this one is going mainstream. More »
Robots
HAL Robot Exoskeletons Available for Rent
1:10PM Gizmodo US Edition | The day for you to strap yourself into a robotic exoskeleton and fight crime the way your normally flabby limbs would never have let you has come! Cyberdyne, the Japanese company responsible for the HAL (hybrid assistive limb) prototype robot suit, is starting rentals this week. The price for being superhuman: about $US2,200. More »
Robots
New Yorker: Why We Won’t Have Fully Conversational Robots
9:50AM Adrian Covert | John Seabrook wrote a recent feature in The New Yorker about interactive-voice-response systems (I.V.R.) commonly used with customer service and tech support telephone hotlines. Seabrook spent time at B.B.N. Technologies watching these systems transcribe callers’ words and analysing the tone of voice for emotions present. While breaking down the history of automated telephone services and voice recognition innovations, he attempts to tackle the larger question of whether or not we can create a fully conversational, quasi-conscious robot, akin to 2001: A Space Odyssey’s Hal 9000. Judging from the number of experts interviewed for the piece, the answer is a resounding no. More »
Design
2001-inspired Humax HAL TV Set Won’t Leave You Stranded In Space
10:20AM Adrian Covert | Chauhan Studios and Humax had this awesome concept TV on display at the Milan Design Show, which looks straight out of the spaceport in 2001: A Space Odyssey. And being named HAL, it’s likely where the designer drew influence from. The LCD also has an extra set of speakers in the base to add sound depth. And with most design shows, there were no details on pricing for the HAL TV, or even a release date. [MocoLoco via Unplgged] More »
Gadgets
Rent Your Own HAL Exoskeleton For The Low, Low Price of US$1000!
4:30AM Sean Fallon | Are you a feeble, pasty pansy? For the low price of US$1000 a month, you could overcome your physical limitations with a HAL exoskeleton from Cyberdyne. While HAL prototypes have been around for a few years now, Cyberdyne has just begun building a lab that will mass produce 400-500 of the suits per year starting this October. More »
Toys
