LONDON, UK – Think back to your last year in customer interactions. How many customer complaints did you process? Out of those, how many people complained about contact centre wait times? Now, ask yourself: how many of those customers were angry, sad, or dissatisfied about the level of service they received? Satisfying customers, it seems, is a neverending challenge.

The European Robotics Forum 2018 (ERF2018) in Tampere brought together over 900 attendees from robotics academia and industry. To bridge the two, euRobotics hosted the Georges Giralt PhD Award 2017 & 2018 and the TechTransfer Award 2018, during a Gala Dinner event on 14 March, in Tampere, Finland. The aim of the euRobotics Technology Transfer Award (now in its 15th year) is to showcase the impact of robotics research and to raise the profile of technology transfer between science and industry. Outstanding innovations in robot technology and automation that result from cooperative efforts between research and industry are eligible for the prize. The First prize went to Germany's Roboception: rc_visard – 3D perception & manipulation for robots made easy team, composed of Michael Suppa, and Heiko Hirschmueller from Roboception GmbH, and Alin Albu-Schaeffer from the Institute of Robotics and German Aerospace Center (DLR).

Crimes that involve chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) materials pose a deadly threat not just to the target of the attack but to innocent bystanders and police investigators. Often, these crimes may involve unusual circumstances or they are terrorist-related incidents, such as an assassination attempt or the sending of poisons through the mail. In the recent notorious case of poisoning in the UK city of Salisbury in March 2018, a number of first responders and innocent bystanders were treated in hospital after two victims of chemical poisoning were found unconscious on a park bench. One policeman who attended the scene became critically ill after apparent exposure to a suspected chemical weapon, said to be a special nerve agent called novichok. Police said a total of 21 people required medical care after the incident.

Russia may soon use robots to carry out AI-powered assassinations as part of a new cold war, a computer expert has claimed. Future attacks on exiles and dissidents could be untraceable thanks to the use of automatons, warns Dr Jeremy Straub at Dakota State University. Intelligent machines could be programmed to hack into food ordering systems, like those used at fast food restaurants, to poison their victims. This would have the benefit of killing a target, while appearing to the outside world to be an accidental allergic reaction. The claims come in the wake of the high profile attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, which involved the use of a deadly nerve agent. Prime Minister Theresa May has laid the blame at Moscow's door, expelling a number of prominent diplomats from Britain in the process.

Ride-hailing giant Uber has sold its south-east Asia business to its leading rival Grab marking a further retreat from international operations. It comes after Uber also pulled out of China and Russia in recent years and as new chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi attempts to turn the firm#s fortunes around. Under the terms of the deal, Uber will take a 27.5 per cent stake in Grab, which offers ride-sharing, food delivery, bicycle hire and financial services. US firm Uber will also have a seat on Grab's board. Ride-hailing giant Uber is selling its Southeast Asia operation to its leading rival Grab marking a further retreat from international operations.

Companies that have committed to the customer experience--factoring in the people, processes, technology, and organizational structure required to facilitate it--are outperforming their peers, according to new research from Adobe, CMO.com's parent company. That's right: Organizations with a cross-team CX approach were nearly twice as likely to have exceeded their top 2017 business goals (20% vs. 11%), according to Adobe's 8th annual "Digital Trends" report, which surveyed almost 13,000 marketing, creative, and technology professionals in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Asked about top opportunities for 2018, optimizing CX came out on top, as indicated by 19% of respondents, ahead of data-driven marketing that focuses on the individual (16%) and creating compelling content for digital experiences (14%). The top strategic priority for organizations in 2018 is content and experience management. Almost half (45%) of companies surveyed ranked this as one of their three most important priority areas for the year ahead, with 20% who stated it is their primary focus.

As with most people, coffee is one of the most important rituals in my morning routine. There's something about the aroma and taste that kick-starts my ability to have a great day. So imagine my surprise when a favorite coffee shop was closed before I had to jump on an early-morning flight. The employees were in the shop, but the gate locked out coffee aficionados, like me, who really needed that jolt of caffeine. Although this experience was understandably a letdown, it was also a source of inspiration.

'Emotional' robots have taken a step closer to reality, thanks to a mind-reading machine capable of mimicking human feelings. The robot, named Charles, is equipped with cameras and software that can record and analyse a person's facial expressions. This information is then relayed to artificial muscles on the robot, which can replicate facial movements associated with a variety of moods. Experts at Cambridge University hope that the breakthrough will help robots respond to subtle cues revealed by people during a conversation. The development could aid the creation of robots that can think and feel like people, which some researchers claim could be a reality within the next decade.

A breathtaking new video shows a Russian drone pilot flying his tiny craft to an altitude normally reserved for passenger jets. Denis Koryakin pushed his gadget 33,000ft (6 miles/10,000 metres) into the air in what is believed to be a world-record height for an everyday hobby drone. The footage shows the curvature of the Earth gradually pull into view while the drone shakes and buzzes as it rises through the clouds above a remote region of Siberia. Meghan Markle jokes that one day she'll need all the baby products Due to strict laws on the maximum altitudes drones are permitted to fly to, previous reports of the highest-ever flight have only reached of around 15,000ft (4,500m/2.8 Mr Koryakin's ascent took place in a remote region of Russia near the Siberian city of Strejevoï, where there are no altitude restrictions on small drone flights.

THE death of Stephen Hawking has not just deprived the world of a great scientist, it has also deprived science of a highly effective ambassador to the non-scientific world. Hawking's combination of intellect, bravery, charisma – and, yes, his disability – made him the holder of the unofficial title of world's most famous living scientist. He wielded it brilliantly, often speaking out in defence of science and its values, as well as bringing important issues to wider attention, from the dangers of artificial intelligence to the value of the UK's National Health Service (see "A brief history of Stephen Hawking: A legacy of paradox"). His popular writing made the complexities of cosmology accessible to the masses and inspired countless people to study science. Arguably, during the latter half of his career, being Stephen Hawking was what he did best – much like Albert Einstein after his best scientific work was behind him.