Computer scientists at Goldsmiths, University of London, have developed Aikon, a robot that can sketch a human face. Aikon, designed by Frederic Fol Leymarie and Patrick Tresset, makes use of an algorithm that allows it to mimic the thought processes of a human artist. Once Aikon’s camera detects a human face, the robot identifies the orientation and looks for shaded regions, then determines how to recreate those regions by flexing its wrist and applying pressure to the pen. However, Leymarie and Tresset hope to eventually incorporate a feedback mechanism into Aikon, which would enable the robot to modify the sketch as it draws. “We hope to incorporate recent research results into the robot in the next two years,” Tresset says. Researchers at Yeshiva University have found that the eyes of an artist move in a much more precise manner when drawing, while a team at Camberwell College of Arts is studying the differences in the cognitive processes used by artists and non-artists. Leymarie and Tresset also want to enable Aikon to develop, and work from, its own critical sense of art.
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University of New South Wales (UNSW) and Bionic Vision Australia (BVA) researchers recently unveiled an advanced prototype of an electronic eyeball that could be used by people with impaired vision. The prototype consists of a glasses-mounted video camera, a pocket-mounted processor, and a wireless electrode chip mounted inside the eyeball. The electrode chip contains electrodes that stimulate cells on the optical nerve. The researchers say the prototype allows for crude shape recognition that, when combined with an advanced image recognition and logical planning processor, should enable a person with vision impairments to navigate many settings without a cane or seeing-eye dog. Currently, the researchers are developing a second generation prototype, which would give patients roughly 20/80 vision, allowing for face recognition and much better object detail.
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Sophisticated numerical simulations of DNA folding have enabled a European research team to gain a better understanding of how genomes work. The GENetic NETworks Emergence and Complexity (GENNETEC) team was able to prove that the regular spacing of the same transcription factor along a chromosome helps determine the structure of the folded or condensed strand of DNA. Moreover, the researchers learned that the final shape is important for gene expression. The GENNETEC team used the new positional predictor with the standard sequence predictor, and was able to find new gene-regulator relationships more efficiently. GENNETEC project coordinator Francois Kepes says consortium partner NorayBio is developing commercial software that employs this approach for deciphering genetic networks, and the consortium plans to make a less sophisticated version available for free. GENNETEC’s research could be used in different fields for designing software and engineering systems, says Kepes.
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A recent U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) workshop discussed the requirements for creating an international digital data preservation standard. “Everybody is doing their own thing to preserve data, but they are not doing it in a common way,” says NIST computer scientist Wo Chang. “This is a huge problem.” Chang says an approved standard is still at least two years away and then it will only address a preliminary set of needs. Any new standard will have to work within existing technology and infrastructure because there is so much data already in existence. Chang envisions adding new metadata about the formatting and metadata contained within the data envelope, which would enable users to identify the data and determine what is usable. “One thing that could help adapt data to a common standard for preservation would be to adopt a common workflow for capturing metadata in a systematic way,” Chang says.
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Japanese scientists worked with robot manufacturer Kokoro to develop a female android that can mimic a person’s facial expression. Geminoid TMF, which uses a motion-capture system and has a rubber face, can imitate a smile, a toothy grin, and a grim look with furrowed eyebrows. Osaka University professor Hiroshi Ishiguro believes the robot, which is modeled after a young Japanese woman, could be used in hospitals and other real-life situations. Geminoid TMF has 12 actuators that are powered by air pressure, and the android’s motion can be synched to imitate those expressed by a human being. Ishiguro, who has developed several human-looking robots, says people tend to realize an android is not human within five to 10 seconds. However, he believes scientists will one day develop robots that are able to fool people into believing they are human.
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A recent University of Southern California (USC) study found that although the number of Latinos earning bachelor’s degrees has increased over the last decade, the growth has been disproportionate in fields other than science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The study found that Hispanic-serving institutions (HSI) produce 40 percent of all Latino bachelor’s degree recipients but only 20 percent of STEM graduates. The discrepancy can be attributed to “the fact that HSIs have been chronically underfunded in the distribution of federal STEM research dollars, which has limited their capacity to offer the undergraduate research opportunities that are known to attract and retain students in the sciences,” the report says. Community colleges are the dominant institution for Latino students: Nearly three in five Hispanic students in postsecondary education attend a two-year college, a far greater proportion than for any other racial or ethnic group. So to the extent that Latinos are underrepresented among bachelor’s degree recipients in STEM fields, increasing the flow of STEM students from community colleges to four-year institutions–and better ensuring the success of those who go on to HSIs–is likely to be the best way to attack that deficit, the report argues.

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