This AI Can Beat You At Rock-Paper-Scissors

Rock-paper-scissors is usually a game of psychology, reverse psychology, reverse-reverse psychology, and chance. But what if a computer could understand you well enough to win every time? A team at Hokkaido University and the TDK Corporation (of cassette-tape fame), both based in Japan, has designed a chip that can do just that.Okay, the chip does not read your mind. It uses an acceleration sensor placed on your thumb to measure your motion, and learns which motions represent paper, scissors, or rock. The amazing thing is, once it’s trained on your particular gestures, the chip can run the calculation predicting what you’ll do in the time it takes you to say “shoot,” allowing it to d..

Artificial Intelligence

NTT Tests Optical Switching to Manage Data Center Loads

Although fiber optic cables today are fast, converting their photons to electric signals at the internet server level still uses a lot of electricity.Japanese telecom firm NTT and Tokyo-based electronics giant Toshiba are working on new ways around this problem. In November, the duo demoed high-speed factory production via an optical and wireless network that was controlled from a data center 300 kilometers away. They described the demo as an industry first—of the kind that NTT has lately been promoting to convince the tech world that photonics will form a “next-generation information and communications infrastructure.”Is the Internet’s Bottleneck Inside the Server Rack?Optical fiber..

Computing

iRobot’s Co-founder Weighs in on Company’s Bankruptcy

On Sunday evening, legendary robotics company iRobot, manufacturer of the Roomba robotic vacuum, filed for bankruptcy. The company will be handing over all of its assets to its Chinese manufacturing partner, Picea. According to iRobot’s press release, “this agreement represents a critical step toward strengthening iRobot’s financial foundation and positioning the Company for long-term growth and innovation,” which sounds like the sort of thing that you put in a press release when you’re trying your best to put a positive spin on really, really bad news.This whole situation started back in August of 2022, when iRobot announced a US $1.7 billion acquisition by Amazon. Amazon’s inte..

Robotics