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The Meccanoid, a 'build-your-own robot' for kids by Meccano, launches today
For more than a century, children have been building trains, cars and cranes with Meccano. Now the model construction set has been given a technological makeover for the smartphone generation.
This year, kids are going to be able to build their own robots out of the re-usable strips, plates, angle girders, wheels, axles and gears.
Meccano will unveil its build-it-yourself robotic kit, the Meccanoid G15 KS, at the Toy Show in London's Kensington Olympia today.
The Meccanoid is a walking, talking companion that is capable of responding to instructions and mirroring movements.
Roughly 4ft tall when constructed, the Meccanoid looks like a biped version of Johnny Five from the cult eighties film Short Circuit, with huge eyes inspired by Disney Pixar's animated creation, WALL-E.
The parts are made from polycarbonate rather than metal to keep the gadget lightweight.
The erector set toy is designed to teach young tinkerers the basics of programming, with simple buttons for accessing its functions.
According to Ben Varadi, EVP and chief creative officer for Meccano owner, Spin Master, the toy could help create a new generation of gifted young engineers.
"Steve Jobs said that his Meccano set influenced his whole career, getting him excited about all the possibilities of what you can build," he told the Telegraph. "This will get kids from eight years and up building and programming. The Meccanoid is designed to be complex or easy to play with, you go as you grow.
"Importantly, this is a toy that will appeal to girls and boys equally," he added.
WALL-E has huge eyes too, but the Meccanoid's can change between 500 different colours
The Meccanoid uses voice recognition to respond to voice commands such as “walk forward" but can also be taught to recognise custom commands. Its memory - or "Mecca Brain" - can store an hour's worth of five-minute recordings.
It is also pre-programmed with thousands of phrases and, when asked, will announce the time. "It can tell jokes, offer fun facts, play games, initiate conversations and even remember your name and birthday," said Mr Varadi.
You can watch a sneak preview of the Meccanoid's range of features in the video below.
The Meccanoid's movements are limited. It only has motors in its arms and neck, and its wheels are not multi-directional.
However, the robot can, like all Meccano sets, be reconfigured in a number of ways, allowing children to turn it into a dog, an "eight-legged monster" or a dinosaur - or create an entirely new hybrid using other classic Meccano parts.
Meccano was founded by Frank Hornby, also known for his eponymous train sets, in 1908. Originally a British firm, Meccano changed hands several times over the years and was bought by Canadian corporation SpinMaster in 2013.
The Meccanoid has been in development for two years and will go on sale in the UK in August for around £265.
"This is the first of many toys like this," Mr Varadi said. "We're already working on the next generation."
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/11356944/DRAFT-The-Meccanoid-a-build-your-own-robot-for-kids-unveiled-today.html
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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