What's bright silver, weighs next to nothing, and can reach up to the fifth floor? While most robot arms are trying to develop brains, this one's gone on a strict diet. Unlike the robotic arms you might find in a factory, this device, developed by the Suzumori Endo Laboratory at the Tokyo institute of Technology and discovered by IEEE Spectrum, uses a series of helium-filled balloons to form its arm. The use of balloons means that the entire 20-meter-long structure weighs just 1.2 kg--light enough for simple pneumatic artificial muscles to be used to articulate its joints from the ground. There are some very evident drawbacks to the so-called Giacometti Arm--presumably named after artist Alberto Giacometti, who is famous for his slender, spindly sculptures depicting the human form.

Medical science is seeing a significant boost from 3D printing. New startups in the 3D manufacturing realm are creating better prosthetics and customisable medical devices that are worlds more advanced than what came before. For example two startups – Bioniks and Voodoo Manufacturing – are creating unique prosthetics for patients. Bioniks, a bio-medical printing startup based in Pakistan, has now created a total of 25 bionic arms. These are advanced prosthetics like those of the Bioniks'Robotic Arm' prosthetic that includes motorised joints as well as custom fitting through 3D printing, says Bharathidasan Moorthi, a digital marketing manager representing the company.

The study "Future of IT: Hype vs. Reality" revealed that while these emerging technologies have potential in the workplace, IT professionals are grappling with budget and security concerns as they evaluate the impact these technologies can offer today versus in the future. The results show that among emerging technologies covered in the survey, IT professionals in Europe, the Middle East and Africa expect IoT devices and AI technology to have the biggest impact in the workplace, and VR to have the least impact. In fact, 79 percent of IT professionals in the region said IoT devices will be useful to their business practices in three to five years and 55 percent said the same for AI. Although most IT professionals don't expect mass adoption to take off in the workplace for VR and 3D printers, some industries have significantly higher adoption rates than the industry average. "Despite recent innovations in VR and 3D printing, the majority of IT professionals across EMEA are struggling to find viable use cases for the technology in their organisations," said John Webb, general manager of Europe at Spiceworks. "As a result, many can't justify the investment as opposed to AI and IoT that offer tangible benefits for the workplace today.

The machine has taken its first steps, after two years secretly in development Robotics company'Korea Future Technology' is behind the machine Avatar-style robot is controlled by a pilot sitting inside making limb movements The robot is so heavy it makes the ground around it shake when it takes steps A 13-foot tall robot that walks like a human, making the ground around it shake, could become a reality. Seoul-based robotics company'Korea Future Technology' has completed the first tests of its giant human-like robot, called METHOD-1 (pictured) Move over Skype: Facebook trials group audio calls for... Think you have blue eyes? They are actually BROWN: Optical... The biggest map of our universe yet: Chart shows billions of... Was Einstein WRONG about gravity?Controversial new theory... Move over Skype: Facebook trials group audio calls for... Think you have blue eyes? They are actually BROWN: Optical...

As tech and auto companies vie for leadership in self-driving vehicle technology, Hyundai Motor's top priority isn't how fast it can be perfected. Its bigger concerns are keeping costs low enough for the technology to be attainable by mass-market buyers; ensuring people wary of advanced driving-assist systems are comfortable with fully automated cars; and solutions for legal, regulatory and security issues that will dictate how soon robotic vehicles can be deployed. South Korea's largest automaker, which gained U.S. market share in the past decade by adding high-tech content ahead of (and often for less cost) than mass-market competitors, said it will be ready to go head-to-head with rivals in the autonomous vehicle space. And underscoring its approach, prototype vehicles being tested in Nevada and Korea look surprisingly similar to retail versions now hitting the market. "Some companies are announcing very aggressive timelines.

For singles in Southeast Asia, finding love online has been historically frowned upon. While our unmarried peers across the globe have found matches on OkCupid and Match.com for more than a decade, cultural norms and lingering stigmas have kept Asian dating rituals firmly in the past. Yet, the recent emergence of new developer tools, including those that reduce mobile app account details to a phone number, is facilitating more discreet access to dating platforms throughout Singapore, Taiwan and other parts of Southeast Asia. An eager market has responded, and millions of people are finding dates -- and sometimes a lasting partner -- as a result. Paktor is one such popular mobile option for singles throughout the region.

MUMBAI: Leading multiplex player PVR cinemas has launched'Chatbot', an artificial intelligence service on its website that aims at providing assistance to the patrons with a guided interface to book tickets, find new deals and access PVR e-magazine. The messaging bot is an intelligent computer that provides immediate information without causing delay in response, claims the company. It said that the conversation with the chatbot is controlled and restricts any sort of unauthorised terminology. Kamal Gianchandani, Chief of Strategy at PVR said, "PVR strives to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to cutting edge features, therefore we decided to add Chatbot to our site as soon as we learned about the possibility." He further added, "Artificial intelligence is the new tech trend and with the introduction of Chatbot, we aim to provide a next level of seamless online experience to our customers. It is assisted, programmed, and transactional at the same time; avoiding any delay in terms of execution of the requirements."

New school ones like studio Butterscotch Shenanigans' Crashlands let you scoop those rewards up off the battlefield, drag them back to your base, then turn them into cool, usable objects. Killer aliens meets goofball storytelling and characters meets a weighty crafting system brimming with hundreds of recipes, Crashlands (for PC, Mac, iOS and Android devices) is everything predictable RPGs aren't.

Onalytica analyzed tweets over the last 6 months mentioning the keywords M2M OR "Machine to Machine." They then identified the top 100 most influential brands and individuals leading the discussion on Twitter. Machine to Machine (M2M) refers to direct communication between devices using any communications channel, including wired and wireless. The M2M market is undergoing a fast transformation as enterprises are increasingly realizing the value of connecting geographically dispersed people, devices, sensors and machines to corporate networks. It is for precisely this reason that the Global M2M market is expected to grow to 27 billion devices, generating $1.6 trillion in revenue in 2024.

Though robots and artificial intelligence may not replace our doctors entirely in the foreseeable future, they are already starting to make a difference. Microsoft is now using machine learning and artificial intelligence to help doctors in India to diagnoze and treat eye diseases. Earlier this year, Microsoft began working with the not-for-profit LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) in India to have its Azure machine learning and Power BI services analyze patterns among cases and predict the surgical outcome of eye surgery patients. The collaboration saw Microsoft going through a trove of data -- anonymized records of 1.1 million people -- and provide doctors with insights into how the blindness spreads in the country, Anil Bhansali, Managing Director of Microsoft India (R&D), explained to Mashable India in a conversation. Microsoft says it utilized Azure machine learning service to crunch the numbers and Power BI service to visualize those numbers to make sense out of them.