1. T4 TECHNOLOGY NEWS
T U E S D A Y , M A Y 3 , 2 0 0 5 S O U T H C H I N A M O R N I N G P O S T
INTERSTELLAR RIDE FOR
THE SCI-FI BUFFS
Slice-of-Sci-Fi is, as one would
expect, a bit of science fiction. The
big topic here is the demise of
“Enterprise”. If you do not know
what that means, then this is not
for you. http://
www.sliceofscifi.com/slicePod/
Slice_004_042105.mp3
KICKSTART FOR PREMIER
LEAGUE FOOTBALL
Podcast for football in Britain.
Naturally, this is for diehard
football fans. I tried finding a
cricket podcast but have had no
luck so far. Football it is – for now
at least. http://
media4.libsyn.com/podcasts/
andesmallwood/tpp5.mp3
RARE AND WELCOME AIRING
OF CANTONESE INDIE SOUNDS
I liked this, even though my
Cantonese is not all that good. I
do not imagine there are a lot of
Cantonese podcasts out there, so
this is welcome.
http://www.hiradio.net/dp/
artplace_p7a.mp3
TECHNO-BABBLE FOR
THE BOFFIN ONLY
Siemon Technology talks heady
tech stuff, and it is certainly not
for the faint-of-heart. Strictly for
the tech boffins.
www.siemon.com/feed/podcasts/
Siemon_PowerOverEthernet_04-
22-05.mp3
SPLIT YOUR SIDES AS
CLEESE TRIPS OVER IT
One of the oddest – and longest –
adverts I have ever seen. It is
about eight minutes long and has
John Cleese as a desperate IT
backup technician with a lot of
problems. Genuinely funny.
http://www.backuptrauma.com/
video/default2.aspx
Danyll Wills
Welcome diversions
on the Web
SEQUENCES
ESC
A trip to the 2005 World Exposition
inAichiprefecture,Japan,takesvis-
itors to another world altogether.
Call it “Planet of the Screens”. This
is the first World Exposition of the
21st century, and many of the ex-
hibiting countries, corporations
and groups are using the latest im-
aging technologies to their advan-
tage.
There are screens everywhere,
from a giant outdoor display to its
even bigger 52-metre wide sibling
inside, not to mention screens so
small they can only be seen
through binocular-style viewers.
The most innovative presenta-
tion belonged to Hitachi, which is
showcasing “mixed reality” tech-
nology in its “Nature Contact”
show. The mixed reality show puts
visitors into virtual safari trucks,
kits them out with binoculars and
hand sensors, and assigns them a
wise cartoon owl as guide.
The binoculars give you a 3D
version of the show, while the hand
sensor brings you into the picture,
quite literally.
Put out your hand and you re-
ceive a bunch of virtual bananas,
which you can then throw to a
monkey who dashes to pick them
up. In the virtual aquarium, you
can put your hand under the
hawksbill turtle and tilt it left or
right. It looks obligingly confused
as you do so. If you make the ani-
mal turn turtle, it starts waving its
flippersaroundfranticallyuntilyou
put it right way up.
In the savannah section, you
come eyeball to eyeball with a gi-
raffe, who puffs into your face with
his virtual nostrils.
The project’s special technical
adviser, Hideyuki Tamura of the
Ritsumeikan University, described
mixed reality as a form of virtual
reality in which a virtual world is
imposed on real-life scenes.
“The technological challenge is
capturing the real world with the
internal camera of the scope and
synthesising these images with
computer graphic images, fusing
them geometrically and optically
without any sense of incompatibil-
ity,” he said.
He believes mixed reality will
become ubiquitous in the future,
finding its way into mobile phones
as well as museum showrooms.
Hitachi, however, did not play a
direct role in the development of
mixed reality. The production was
put together by Canon and a gov-
ernment research institute.
Hitachi was using the show as a
way to publicise another innova-
tion, the methanol fuel cell. The
cells power the small hand-held
guides that visitors receive when
going through the first part of the
exhibition.
The company plans to put these
fuel cells into mobile phones that
will be on the market from 2007.
For sheer scope of display, it is
hard to beat Japan’s national pavil-
ion, which provides a screen that
gives 360-degree viewing in the
horizontal as well as vertical. You
stand on a bridge inside a sphere
andtheshowisscreenedallaround
you. Initially, you are in the upper
atmosphere but gradually descend
trough layers of cloud into the sea.
Canada’s pavilion starts with
the small and goes on to the large.
Visitors waiting to enter are enter-
tained by teku-jin (technical peo-
ple) who stroll next to the queue
with power-packs on their backs, a
bright flat-screen above their heads
and a webcam at their side. The
screen carries information on Can-
ada and the teku-jin answer ques-
tions or snap pictures for visitors.
Inside the pavilion, the screen is
large but otherwise seems unre-
markable, until the viewers watch-
ing the presentation realise that the
next set of viewers waiting in the
wings has been co-opted to be part
of the show, appearing to stand
underneath the maple trees on the
translucent screen – just as these
viewers themselves had a few min-
utes before.
Screens project whole new world
Gigantic images, 3D thrills, 360-degree views and mixed reality thrill visitors to Aichi exhibition
At the Dutch pavilion, images are broadcast on a giant screen on the floor as members of the Dutch royal family look on. Photo: EPA
Ed Collis in Aichi, Japan
say it should eventually be
possible to train the rats to locate
explosives or drugs. Experiments
showed that training rats to locate
objects through direct electrode
stimulation was more effective
than the traditional method of
using food.
CONCUSSION VICTIMS NO
LONGER COUNTING FINGERS
Concussions are not usually life
threatening, unless sufferers
receive a further blow to the head.
In worst case scenarios, the
second blow can lead to second
impact syndrome, which has a
mortality rate of up to 50 per cent.
For high-risk individuals such as
American football players,
diagnosis of the original
concussion can be a matter of life
or death, so scientists at the
Georgia Tech and Emory
SCIENTISTS EXERCISE MIND
CONTROL OVER RODENTS
Researchers in the United States
are giving new meaning to the
term desert rats. Funded by the
US Defence Advanced Research
Projects Agency, scientists from
two universities have developed a
method of remote-controlling live
rats that could eventually be
deployed for spying on enemy
locations or sniffing out explosives
for the US military. Using a series
of brain implants and wireless
technology, researchers are able
to steer the rodents over an
obstacle course or instruct them
to zero in on a particular odour.
The system works using sensors
attached to the medial forebrain
bundle – the area of the brain
associated with reward – and the
somatosensory cortical area,
which is linked to the left and
right whiskers. The researchers
University have developed a
headset to detect brain injuries on
location. Nicknamed DETECT, the
device includes software
applications, a portable computer
and an LCD display which runs a
series of tests designed to track
reaction times, memory and other
functions that could indicate
brain injuries. One test includes a
series of coloured and textured
shapes and a variety of voice
instructions. Researchers say
DETECT may have other potential
applications, including
assessment of cognitive
impairment related to Alzheimer’s
disease or drug use. The device is
expected to be commercially
available in three to five years.
ROBOTS ACT AS A TEAM AND
FOLLOW THE LEADER
Scientists in Ottawa claim to have
developed a way to make robots
think as a team rather than
individually. A study found the
robots were able to elect a leader
to make decisions for the group
and co-ordinate their actions with
other robots in the same way ants
or bees collaborate in the insect
world. Researchers said the robots
could have a variety of military
and civilian uses, from problem
solving to investigating the scenes
of terrorist attacks and nuclear
spills or aiding deep-sea
construction. Not all the robots in
the group can make decisions,
however. The system works by
first allowing the robots to elect a
leader, which makes decisions at
“choke” points. If the leader falls
by the wayside, another robot is
elected to take its place.
Compiled by Stuart Biggs
TECH DIGEST
DETECT helps to quickly diagnose concussions in any setting. Photo AP
In most countries, robots are con-
fined to factories, the military and
research institutes. Not so in Japan.
Faced with a rapidly ageing
population in an already crowded
country, Japan sees them as ideal
alternatives to humans when it
comes to home help not just for the
very old, but for the very young as
well.
Robots also serve as mascots for
many of Japan’s giant corpora-
tions. The central attraction at the
Toyota Motor’s pavilion is a show
featuring a squadron of robots
(both wheeled and walking) giving
aspiritedrenditionofOh,Whenthe
Saints. Their deft movements are
remarkable, even more so when
you realise that they are controlled
by pulleys – rather like string pup-
pets which have a puppeteer inside
– rather than universal joints.
Most of the robot displays are in
the Robot Station, which features
static displays as well as a range of
robots, from a life-like scale model
of tyrannosaurus to a street sweep-
er from Subaru the size of a small
car.
A robot announcer known as an
Actroid introduces the shows.
Rather than reverting to manne-
quin mode when the job is done,
she continues to blink, move her
arms and shift her glance from the
show to the audience and back
again throughout the session, mak-
ing her appear all the more life-like.
Among the exhibitors, electron-
ics giant NEC is showing off its
“Partner-stylePersonalRobot”(Pa-
PeRo) which is designed to keep an
eye on and educate children. The
lifelike PaPeRo can recognise chil-
dren’s faces and voices and hold
conversationswiththem.Evenvery
young children can communicate
with PaPeRo – by touching him.
Much like a human babysitter,
PaPeRo can field phone calls from
anxious parents and walk (or more
accuratelyroll)aroundthehouseto
find all the children and give the
parents a quite literal snapshot of
what they are up to.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
features a grown-up version of Pa-
PeRo, called wakamaru. The guide
robot speaks Japanese, English
Korean and Mandarin. An ap-
proaching visitor is politely greeted
by wakamaru, and invited to key in
a request on the screen.
Wakamaru then gives direc-
tions to the place the visitor wants
to go, embellished by gestures and
some rolling in the direction a visi-
tor should walk.
Japan’s National Institute of Ad-
vanced Industrial Science and
Technology has brought its thera-
peutic robot Paro to the show. Paro
resembles a white baby seal and is
designed to comfort children (well,
patientsofallages)inhospitals.The
robot’s white fur contains many
sensors that allow it to respond to
touch, giving satisfied gurgles and
closing its eyes dreamily while
being petted. Ed Collis
Japan finds the ideal alternative to humans
On display are (from left) the seal-like Paro, babysitter PaPeRo, the wakamaru and a humanoid on wheels.
It was an offer even the podfather
could not refuse: the chance to be
host of a radio programme devoted
solely to podcasts – homemade ra-
dio shows formatted for digital au-
dio players.
Adam Curry, a former MTV host
who developed software that lets
people automatically receive these
programmes on Apple’s iPod and
other players, will produce and be
host of a four-hour programme
every weekday from May13 on Siri-
us Satellite Radio.
Mr Curry will help choose mate-
rial for Adam Curry’s PodShow
from some of the thousands of am-
ateur shows produced in base-
ments, living rooms and dormito-
ries. Sirius subscribers, who pay
US$12.95 a month for the service,
can listen to the show on channel
148 Talk Central.
Podcasting has grown out of the
boom in MP3 players, which can
store hundreds of hours of music in
devices the size of a transistor ra-
dio.Theword“podcasting”isanod
to iPod, the most popular player.
Podcasts – essentially home-
made digital audio files that users
upload to the internet for others to
download on demand – run the
gamut from tributes compiled by
aspiring disc-jockeys to their
favourite music artists, to up-and-
coming bands, to talk show “hosts”
chatting with their friends.
Similar to TiVo and other digital
video players, users can listen to
podcasts whenever they want,
pause them or rewind them to lis-
ten again. This allows users to carry
their shows with them and no long-
er be bound to a radio station’s
schedule.
Unscripted podcasts are an au-
dio version of television reality
shows for the airwaves. The unpol-
ished and recreational feel of pod-
casts often draws comparisons to
Saturday Night Live skit Wayne’s
World. The serendipity of the
shows appeals to listeners looking
for an alternative to canned com-
mercial radio.
“It has to be the completely un-
edited voice,” said Mr Curry, who
will preside over the show from
London, where he lives.
“There’s a whole universe of
people who make music but there
is no disc-jockey putting it out
there.”
Infinity Broadcasting plans to
convert one of its AM channels in
San Francisco, 1550 KYCY, which
now broadcasts mostly syndicated
talk shows, into one mostly filled
with podcasts.
More than 200 people have sub-
mitted podcasts to the station,
where programming will be simul-
taneously streamed over a website
for listeners outside the San Fran-
cisco area. The channel will contin-
ue to sell on-air advertising, though
it will be adapted to fit the irregular
length of the podcasts.
Mr Curry’s show will also in-
cludeadvertising.Butthecompany
expects the show to have a free-
form feel, much like the podcasts.
Podcast
satellite
radio goes
on the air
The New York Times
Video game fans should start sav-
ing those pennies. The cost of get-
ting your game on is about to go up.
Retailers and industry experts
believegamepublishersplantouse
the next generation of consoles to
test whether gamers are willing to
pay as much as US$60 for new
games.
It is getting more expensive to
make games and the launch of
hardware platforms gives publish-
ers the opportunity to introduce
higher prices, as they did with the
release of Sony’s PSP.
For more than a decade the
standard launch price for most
games was US$50, with higher
pricetagsreservedforcollectoredi-
tions of best-selling titles.
“Prices for software for consoles
– for the most part – have remained
staticsincevideogameswereintro-
duced in the early ’80s,” said David
Riley, who tracks game sales for
market research firm NPD Group.
“Game titles have always been
anywhere from US$30 to US$50.
Where are they today? Anywhere
from US$30 to US$50.”
But as each generation of video
game console technology has be-
come more sophisticated, the cost
of making games for those plat-
forms has increased.
David Cole, an analyst at market
research firm DFC Intelligence,
said: “Several years ago, you were
talking US$2 million [to create a
game]. Now you’re looking at US$5
million to US$10 million, and you
could even have US$20 million to
US$30 million on some titles.” Un-
til now, those escalating costs have
been easily recouped. The average
gamer is now 30, which translates
into a much larger customer base
than when games were marketed
only to teenagers.
In this year’s first quarter, nearly
63 million video games, game con-
soles and accessories were sold in
the US, up18 per cent from the first
quarteroflastyear.Videoandcom-
puter game software sales hit a
record US$7.3 billion last year.
But development costs are out-
pacing growth in the market. And
while none of the big three hard-
ware makers – Sony, Microsoft and
Nintendo – are ready to say what
software prices will be for their
next-generation of consoles, others
are reluctant.
Dan DeMatteo, vice-chairman
and chief operating officer for
game retailer GameStop, expected
publishers to use the launch of the
supercharged consoles as an ex-
cusetotinkerwithsoftwarepricing.
“You can change the paradigm
if you start it with a new platform,”
he said.
Mr DeMatteo said a small price
increase for top-tier titles would be
reasonable because of rising devel-
opment costs.
“I would like to see a standard
US$59.99 retail price point. It
would aid the publishers and it
would aid ourselves. It just seems
like the right thing to do.”
Games have actually become
cheaper when prices are adjusted
for inflation. A US$49.95 game in
1990 should retail for US$73.87 to-
day.
Mr Riley said higher gamer
prices were almost assured.
“You’ve got these incredible en-
gines coming out on the next-gen-
eration systems that are going to be
able to just blow away the games
that are out right now. But you have
to have the developers and you
have to have the money to create
them. So yes, I think it goes without
saying we’re going to see a slight in-
crease in prices.”
Microsoft and Sony remain
tight-lipped about pricing plans for
next-generation software, as are in-
dependent game publishers such
as Electronic Arts and Activision.
At the Game Developers Con-
ference in March, Microsoft said
the next Xbox – expected to be
calledtheXbox360–wouldinclude
a feature allowing gamers to buy
and download in-game items for as
little as 99 US cents.
George Harrison, Nintendo’s
senior vice-president of marketing,
said development costs had risen
dramatically over the past several
years.
“Buthavingsaidthat,westillbe-
lieve that the best opening price
point is US$50,” he said.
“The current pricing model is
really what we’re looking at and
that really gets down to how many
software titles each consumer can
buy in a year.”
Sony’s new PSP handheld has
already proved there is some elas-
ticity in the price gamers will pay
for their favourite titles.
Although portable games have
not ventured past US$40, many
PSPgamesaresellingforUS$50.Mr
DeMatteo said the higher prices for
PSP games had not resulted in
slower sales.
Video game makers to up ante for
next-generation of software titles
Knight Ridder
Sony’s PSP proves people will pay more for games. Photo: Bloomberg
John
Cleese