Report on Immersive Technology Form of Robotics

The topic of this report is the Immersive technology form known as Robotics.

Immersion 2014, an Immersive Education Initiative brings together leading experts onImmersion forms and immersion technology in Los Angeles, California, June 6-8, 2014.  The iED Summit presents a robust schedule of presentations for a number of tracks, such as “Arts and Culture”, “Entertainment”, “Human-Computer Interaction”, etc.  Presentations by a number of experts on immersive forms are available in each track and address and cover a wide range of applications within these tracks.  There is a tremendous amount of information available at the summit website: http://summit.ImmersiveEducation.org  where you can explore new forms and applications of immersive technology.

Robotics technology, the topic of this report, has many applications that I will explore in more detail; not only the applications but the hardware that is used to create the technology and how it is delivered.  Robotics Technology appears to be a topic of interest at the latest iED summit. Ross Mead presents the topic: Designing Social Behaviors for Personal Robots, and Rich White presents: Creative Computing with Personal Robotics and Human-like Robots to name two.

The Immersive form known as Robotics is a type of engineering, combining many different

types. Robots have been around for a long time but they are becoming more and more sophistocated and are being applied in many different ways. Basically, the purpose of the robot is to automate something that usually humans do.  There are applications in the home, in medicine, in the military – many times the robot is used to deal with dangerous situations. 

What is the hardware associated with robotics?  There has to be a power source to make it work. Other requirements are sensors that will allow it to receive information, potentially mechanical “arms” that have the ability to manipulate something, a control center that provides direction, and the ability to move.  The ability to engineer this material to make it accomplish what the engineer designs is robotics.

One of the most amazing applications of robotics is in health care, particularly in the area of prosthetics.  The this video titled Wounded Warrior Uses Robotic Arm Prosthetic, the soldier is able to grip and pick up a ball.  This is a demonstration of not ony the sensors within the prosthetic arm understanding the signals but the manipulation of the mechanical hands and finguers to grab and pick up the ball.  The contol piece of the prosthesis is the computer that the individual is looking at.  The possibilities that this brings to those that have lost limbs in incredible. 

Another application that is just coming on the market is the “autonomous car”.  This is a car

that does not need a driver.   It knows how to drive, can assess what is going on in the environment and is able to respond appropriately.  How do they do this? The car uses radar, GPS, and computer vision. These are becoming more and more of a reality every day.