Star Wars vs real world robots

Check out CSIRO's line of environmental, autonomous robots.

WHEN it comes to matching Star Wars, real world robotics experts have a bit to go before they can claim that these are the droids we've been looking for.

CSIRO’s Autonomous Systems Lab is making the most of today's May the-fourth-be-with-you Day (May 4), the biggest day on Star Wars fans' calendars, in looking at how advances in information and communications technology will see closer collaboration between robots and people in the future, and not necessarily in a galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars robots, particularly everyone’s favourite droids C-3POand R2D2, were advanced multi-skilled machines, with R2D2 able to do everything from help Luke Skywalker pilot his X-Wing fighter to the odd bit of espionage work.

Jonathan Roberts, director of CSIRO’s Autonomous Systems Lab, says the robots we make today are more focused and less multifunctional, such as the classic industrial robots used on manufacturing production lines.

University of Tokyo researchers made headlines last year when they unveiled a robot that would never lose a game of rock, paper, scissors, while closer to home RMIT University researchers developed the Joggobot, a "quadcopter" which flies alongside a jogger as a robotic training companion.

"The big difference between Star Wars robots and the robots we have today is the Star Wars robots are highly intelligent and can do lots of different tasks," Mr Roberts said.

Protocol droid and Star Wars star C3P0.

"Earth robots today are not so intelligent and are made for much more specific tasks.

"In those factories those robots are not that smart. If the car part didn’t actually turn up, they might still try and weld in that spot."

Mr Roberts, a self-described Star Wars junkie, understands the appeal of the George Lucas’s droids and why people want their robots to be as loyal as R2D2 and as handy as his golden mate, the protocol droid.

"I’m totally inspired by the whole droids in Star Wars thing," he said.

"I was seven when Star Wars came out. It was an inspiration to show that the droids in Star Wars could be used to help people."

Helping people is one of the key motivations in recent advances in robotics.

An elderly care facility in Osaka, Japan, uses a robot based on a three-year-old boy and able to speak 400 words to comfort dementia patients.

Similarly, researchers at the University of Southern California has developed the Bandit-II to guide paraplegics through rehabilitation exercises.

But Mr Roberts said there was a big difference between Honda’s famous Asimo robot, a metallic man which can shake hands or conduct an orchestra, and the intelligence of the fictional C-3PO.

"A lot of the fancy robots they have at these shows are still either pre-programmed to just do a few things, to either get up or run around," he said.

"If they are doing anything very smart, there is a human in a cupboard behind effectively remote controlling them."

View the original article here

Star Wars vs real world robots

Check out CSIRO's line of environmental, autonomous robots.

WHEN it comes to matching Star Wars, real world robotics experts have a bit to go before they can claim that these are the droids we've been looking for.

CSIRO’s Autonomous Systems Lab is making the most of tomorrow's May the-fourth-be-with-you Day (May 4), the biggest day on Star Wars fans' calendars, in looking at how advances in information and communications technology will see closer collaboration between robots and people in the future, and not necessarily in a galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars robots, particularly everyone’s favourite droids C-3POand R2D2, were advanced multi-skilled machines, with R2D2 able to do everything from help Luke Skywalker pilot his X-Wing fighter to the odd bit of espionage work.

Jonathan Roberts, director of CSIRO’s Autonomous Systems Lab, says the robots we make today are more focussed and less multifunctional, such as the classic industrial robots used on manufacturing production lines.

University of Tokyo researchers made headlines last year when they unveiled a robot that would never lose a game of rock, paper, scissors, while closer to home RMIT University researchers developed the Joggobot, a "quadcopter" which flies alongside a jogger as a robotic training companion.

"The big difference between Star Wars robots and the robots we have today is the Star Wars robots are highly intelligent and can do lots of different tasks," Mr Roberts said.

Protocol droid and Star Wars star C3P0.

"Earth robots today are not so intelligent and are made for much more specific tasks.

"In those factories those robots are not that smart. If the car part didn’t actually turn up, they might still try and weld in that spot."

Mr Roberts, a self-described Star Wars junkie, understands the appeal of the George Lucas’s droids and why people want their robots to be as loyal as R2D2 and as handy as his golden mate, the protocol droid.

"I’m totally inspired by the whole droids in Star Wars thing," he said.

"I was seven when Star Wars came out. It was an inspiration to show that the droids in Star Wars could be used to help people."

Helping people is one of the key motivations in recent advances in robotics.

An elderly care facility in Osaka, Japan, uses a robot based on a three-year-old boy and able to speak 400 words to comfort dementia patients.

Similarly, researchers at the University of Southern California has developed the Bandit-II to guide paraplegics through rehabilitation exercises.

But Mr Roberts said there was a big difference between Honda’s famous Asimo robot, a metallic man which can shake hands or conduct an orchestra, and the intelligence of the fictional C-3PO.

"A lot of the fancy robots they have at these shows are still either pre-programmed to just do a few things, to either get up or run around," he said.

"If they are doing anything very smart, there is a human in a cupboard behind effectively remote controlling them."

View the original article here

Star Wars vs real world robots

Check out CSIRO's line of environmental, autonomous robots.

WHEN it comes to matching Star Wars, real world robotics experts have a bit to go before they can claim that these are the droids we've been looking for.

CSIRO’s Autonomous Systems Lab is making the most of tomorrow's May the-fourth-be-with-you Day (May 4), the biggest day on Star Wars fans' calendars, in looking at how advances in information and communications technology will see closer collaboration between robots and people in the future, and not necessarily in a galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars robots, particularly everyone’s favourite droids C-3POand R2D2, were advanced multi-skilled machines, with R2D2 able to do everything from help Luke Skywalker pilot his X-Wing fighter to the odd bit of espionage work.

Jonathan Roberts, director of CSIRO’s Autonomous Systems Lab, says the robots we make today are more focussed and less multifunctional, such as the classic industrial robots used on manufacturing production lines.

University of Tokyo researchers made headlines last year when they unveiled a robot that would never lose a game of rock, paper, scissors, while closer to home RMIT University researchers developed the Joggobot, a "quadcopter" which flies alongside a jogger as a robotic training companion.

"The big difference between Star Wars robots and the robots we have today is the Star Wars robots are highly intelligent and can do lots of different tasks," Mr Roberts said.

Protocol droid and Star Wars star C3P0.

"Earth robots today are not so intelligent and are made for much more specific tasks.

"In those factories those robots are not that smart. If the car part didn’t actually turn up, they might still try and weld in that spot."

Mr Roberts, a self-described Star Wars junkie, understands the appeal of the George Lucas’s droids and why people want their robots to be as loyal as R2D2 and as handy as his golden mate, the protocol droid.

"I’m totally inspired by the whole droids in Star Wars thing," he said.

"I was seven when Star Wars came out. It was an inspiration to show that the droids in Star Wars could be used to help people."

Helping people is one of the key motivations in recent advances in robotics.

An elderly care facility in Osaka, Japan, uses a robot based on a three-year-old boy and able to speak 400 words to comfort dementia patients.

Similarly, researchers at the University of Southern California has developed the Bandit-II to guide paraplegics through rehabilitation exercises.

But Mr Roberts said there was a big difference between Honda’s famous Asimo robot, a metallic man which can shake hands or conduct an orchestra, and the intelligence of the fictional C-3PO.

"A lot of the fancy robots they have at these shows are still either pre-programmed to just do a few things, to either get up or run around," he said.

"If they are doing anything very smart, there is a human in a cupboard behind effectively remote controlling them."

View the original article here

Wayne's World stars 'to end feud'

Dana Carvey and Mike Myers starred in two Wayne's World movies together before reportedly falling out.

THE creators of Wayne's World are ready to party on again at a reunion event 20 years after falling out with one another.

Stars Mike Myers and Dana Carvey and director Penelope Spheeris are set to appear at a panel together at the Academy's Wilshire Boulevard headquarters in Los Angeles, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The reunion comes two decades after Carvey, who played Garth in two Wayne's World movies, reportedly fell out with Myers, who played Wayne. The feud was said to have been caused by the Dr. Evil impression from Austin Powers, which Carvey felt Myers had stolen from him. 

Spheeri, who directed the first Wayne's World, also fell out with Myers when he stopped her directing the 1993 sequel because she ignored his edit suggestions on the original. 

The Hollywood panel will be hosted by Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, reportedly the inspiration for Carvey's original Dr. Evil skit.

"We're all getting too old to be pissed," said Spheeris. "Wayne's World has such a beautiful, uplifting spirit about it. Why should there be a dark cloud? This is going to be cathartic. Everyone's going to walk out of there high - sort of like they did when they watched the movie."

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Gatsby, Prada get fashion world roaring

Carey Mulligan - in Miuccia Prada's stunning flapper dress - and Joel Edgerton in The Great Gatsby. The dress was featured in Prada's 2010 collection. Source: Supplied

American model Karlie Kloss embodies the style of Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby in Vogue Australia's May edition. Source: Supplied

IT'S the film that may have us wearing drop-waisted dresses and spats this year.

The Great Gatsby is tipped to kick off a fashion renaissance that harks back to the Roaring Twenties, the era in which the book, and soon movie, is set.

Australian director Baz Luhrmann called in a favour from a 16-year-old friendship when he tapped Miuccia Prada, of the famous fashion house, to collaborate with himself and his designer wife Catherine Martin for the costumes in the sumptuous production.

In an exclusive interview in Vogue Australia's May issue out tomorrow, Prada discusses the results, including an incredible dress designed for Carey Mulligan - playing Daisy Buchanan - which is covered in crystal chandelier drops.

Leonardo DiCaprio with Carey Mulligan in The Great Gatsby. Mulligan's incredible dress, says Miuccia Prada, was used by director Baz Luhrmann to "show the distance between old money and new money". Source: Supplied

"Baz wanted to show the distance between old money and new money and show the wife (Daisy) to be both a lover and a kind of trophy, so she dresses like a chandelier!," she said.

The dress featured in Prada's 2010 collection.

"In the (Prada) show, that dress was about light, and in the film it's about money," Prada said.

American model Karlie Kloss wears Prada in Vogue Australia's May edition. Source: Supplied

Luhrmann and Prada first worked together on Luhrmann's breakthrough hit Romeo + Juliet 16 years ago, when Prada designed star Leonardo DiCaprio's suit.

The magazine also features portraits of eight of the film's stars, including lead actor DiCaprio, playing Jay Gatsby.

The Great Gatsby opens in Australia on May 30 and has its world premiere in New York on May 1 and is the opening night film at the Cannes Film Festival on May 15.
 

View the original article here

Brad Pitt v zombies in World War Z

A U.N. employee is racing against time and fate, as he travels the world trying to stop the outbreak of a deadly Zombie pandemic.

Brad Pitt stars in the new World War Z. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

THE new trailer for Brad Pitt's upcoming film has hit the web, but we've got to ask - zombies, an apocalypse? What was he thinking?

The second clip for World War Z reveals Pitt adopting his usual role of the doting father and husband (think Tree of Life, Babel) but with one difference: he's a UN representative on a race around the world to stop the plague of zombies.

That's not the only thing plaguing the film. From the moment the cameras started rolling, there were problems. Hungarian police raided the set for unlicensed firearms, the release was pushed back six months, heavyweight screenwriters were brought in for re-writes, Pitt and director Marc Forster even reportedly stopped talking at one point.

The first trailer also received a lukewarm reaction - in particular some iffy special effects on its signature moment were questioned: the moment where a literal mountain of zombies attempt to scale each other to make it over a wall.

Based on the post-apocalyptic novel by Max Brooks, former Bond director Marc Foster is in the director's chair so fans are expecting big things. The big test will be if Pitt can pull off the hero role and prevent the end of humanity.

World War Z opens in Australia on June 20.

View the original article here

World in tune to Aussie sounds

Australian social media sensations the Janoskians have signed a US deal. Picture: Sony Music Source: The Daily Telegraph

FROM social media sensation The Janoskians to overnight next big things Atlas Genius, a new generation of artists are leading an Aussie invasion of the world's charts and stages.

Basking in the spotlight generated by Gotye's success, dozens of bands and singers are winning fans internationally, some without having to wait to crack it here first.

Police shut down a fan meet-and-greet for The Janoskians in London's Hyde Park when about 10,000 screaming girls turned up after the lads tweeted news of their visit. The online pranksters and now recording artists, who have also been signed to British hitmaker Jay Sean's entertainment company, were trapped in their London hotel by the female fan frenzy greeting their promotional trip recently.

They have just finished recording their second single in Los Angeles and hope to have it out by mid-year.

"Not in a million years did we think this would happen, just lads mucking around with a camera and now we're organising a world tour," member Beau Brooks said.

Adelaide band Atlas Genius have raced up the US charts with their single Trogans.

Rave reviews at the influential South By South West festival also led to a booking on the Tonight Show and sold-out shows through America.

Their debut record When It Was Now has just been released and album track So snapped up for the sound track of the latest FIFA video game.

Another Australian band, Sheppard, are making waves on the American college scene with their song Let Me Down Easy being played by more than 200 US stations.

That success, and lobbying from champion David Campbell, finally led to the band being played on Nova stations in Australia after months of knockbacks.

Another pop rock trio At Sunset have released a new single Rush here but are winning fans throughout Asia with their debut track This is Who I Am.

The song has been signed by a Philippines TV network to be the theme of a teen drama.

The lads will head to Asia after they finish their Teen Rush tour of Australia next month.

The Rush video has already had more than 175,000 hits

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