Tag Archives: TED

The Now Future: Flying Robot Birds

Forget flying cars (so passé!) – how about some flying robot birds?

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TED: Different ways of knowing

Daniel Tammet has linguistic, numerical and visual synesthesia — meaning that his perception of words, numbers and colors are woven together into a new way of perceiving and understanding the world. The author of “Born on a Blue Day,” Tammet … Continue reading

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The Now Future: a 2000-voice virtual choir

The Now Future is happening in cyberspace as much as in outer space, as evidenced in this presentation. In a moving and madly viral video last year, composer Eric Whitacre led a virtual choir of singers from around the world. … Continue reading

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Puppets always have to try to be alive

I got chills when the horse comes on stage. “Puppets always have to try to be alive,” says Adrian Kohler of the Handspring Puppet Company, a gloriously ambitious troupe of human and wooden actors. Beginning with the tale of a … Continue reading

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The Now Future: Human Exoskeletons

The 21st Century started out pretty bleakly — thanks to the Y2K scare, it had a bad vibe before it got started properly; then in 2001, everything went haywire on 9/11. Since then, wars and other disasters have been coming … Continue reading

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The magic washing machine

I would add the bicycle in there, but it’s hard not to consider the washing machine for the top honor. What was the greatest invention of the industrial revolution? Hans Rosling makes the case for the washing machine. With newly … Continue reading

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TED: Rise of personal robots

TED: “Rise of personal robots” As a grad student, Cynthia Breazeal wondered why we were using robots on Mars, but not in our living rooms. The key, she realized: training robots to interact with people. Now she dreams up and … Continue reading

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