On (most) Fridays I post here a roundup of interesting things I’ve read and/or posted on social media since my last roundup, generally stories about emerging technologies, experiential activations, interactive art, advances in scientific research, and other things I find interesting.
Featured Image: Alibaba
Alibaba made a driverless delivery robot called G Plus that runs 9 mph to deliver packages and a facial recognition storage locker called Cainiao that will unlock when it sees your face:
Image: Alibaba
Researchers at UPenn’s ModLab created simple robots that can perform complex tasks by learning to modify their environment:
Image: University of Pennsylvania/ModLab
Australian ‘techno-artist’ Stelarc is growing a web-connected ear on his arm:
Image: Digital Trends
TIME used 958 of Intel’s Shooting Star drones to create its latest cover image:
Image: Jake Stangel for TIME
In Vanuatu, delivery drones will fly vaccines to isolated villages beginning in September:
Image: UNICEF
French scientists have developed bird-like aerial robots called Dubbed Quad-Morphings that can change shape in flight to navigate tight spaces:
Image: CNRS
Apple has added ‘tongue detection’ to its Animoji facial recognition algorithms, so now you can sext with them or whatever:
Image: Mashable via Giphy
A roundup from PSFK’s NYC Retail Guide of 5 inspired, next-level experiential retail destinations in NYC:
Image: PSFK
Japanese researchers created a robot snake that uses steerable jets of water to fly into burning buildings and extinguish fires:
Image: Tohoku University/National Institute of Technology
To see stories like this as I find them, follow me on Twitter: @josiah17