Ardanwen - Slashdot User

Giving Avatars Real Bodies 88

Posted by Zonk on Friday December 14, 2007 @07:01PM from the not-sponsored-by-ubisoft dept.

trogador writes "Researchers are working to associate online avatars with physical bodies, connecting virtual reality robots with steel and software counterparts. The unification of software and mobility like this results in the so-called 'Ubibot' (ubiquitous robot), which the researchers predict is the future of interactive robotics. In the future, avatars on your pc/cell/pda screen may be able to bring you your tea or scratch your back. 'Two key components of the interface involve the sensor mapper and behavior mapper. The sensor mapper helps Rity get physical (ultrasound) sensor information from Mybot, enabling the virtual avatar to use physical information. The behavior mapper helps Rity actually perform physical behaviors using Mybot in a real environment, enabling the avatar to interact physically with human beings in real environments.'"

Comment direct link? (Score 1) 693

by Ardanwen on Wednesday July 25, 2007 @08:38PM (#19990447) Attached to: Study Proves Having Fat Friends Makes You Fat

I couldn't find the direct causal link mentioned above in the article.. just that they couldn't figure out what was the link.. and it doesn't seem that hard to dream up some explanations..

example: You work at a company, your friends work at the same company, company goes bankrupt, you all grow fatter at the same time.
exampl2: You go to college, your friends are of your age, and also go to college, you all grow a beer belly.

Ramanujian's Deathbed Problem Cracked 205

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday February 27, 2007 @12:03AM from the mock-theta-soup dept.

Jake's Mom sends word of the serendipitous solution to a decades-old mathematical mystery. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin have unraveled a major number theory puzzle left at the death of one of the twentieth century's greatest mathematicians, Srinivasa Ramanujan. From the press release: "Mathematicians have finally laid to rest the legendary mystery surrounding an elusive group of numerical expressions known as the 'mock theta functions.' Number theorists have struggled to understand the functions ever since... Ramanujan first alluded to them in a letter written [to G. H. Hardy] on his deathbed, in 1920. Now, using mathematical techniques that emerged well after Ramanujan's death, two number theorists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have pieced together an explanatory framework that for the first time illustrates what mock theta functions are, and exactly how to derive them."

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