Some 47 per cent of jobs in industrialised nations like Australia are at risk of redundancy as automation outstrips job creation, according to an Australian professor involved in a British study.
Some of you may know that X-craft has been actively involved with Search and Rescue recently. This is being expanded and we are beginning trials with more Emergency Services organisations. We have a series of field simulations with LandSAR planned and next week we will be conducting field trials with the New Zealand Rural Fire Service.
FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL ROBOTICS (ICSR 2014) Conference Theme: Social Intelligence http://icsr2014.org October 27th - 29th, 2014, Sydney Australia
A future where our elderly have faithful robot servants to look after them might be closer than we think, with the Government offering researchers new cash to push the concept forward. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has offered researchers a grant to link up with Japan on smart projects for robotics and "human assistive devices" for elderly care.
Christchurch will become the first city in the world to understand how air quality affects people with lung problems. The second project in the Sensing City initiative will monitor when and where Cantabrians with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) use their inhalers. A smart sensor attached to the inhalers will record the time medication is dispensed and the amount, along with air temperature and the location. Sensors will also be installed around the city to measure air quality.
A government-owned company responsible for settling claims from the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes is using a University of Canterbury (UC) designed rover robot to inspect for damage under building piles. Southern Response/Arrow International has been using the UC rover robot since September and has so far inspected and videoed about 100 damaged houses.
