The white stick is getting a 21st century makeover - by becoming a wearable. Japanese car firm Toyota has designed a mobility device worn over a person's shoulders that can help blind and visually impaired people get around more easily. Called Project Blaid, the device is currently a prototype, but when it's ready, it'will fill the gaps left by canes, guide dogs and basic GPS devices by giving users more information about their surroundings,' the company explained. Toyota has designed a mobility device to help blind and visually impaired people get around more easily. Named Project Blaid, the gadget is worn over a person's shoulders (pictured) and can help navigate indoor spaces, like offices and shopping centres by pointing out features like toilets, doors, stairs and escalators The gadget is not expected to replace guide dogs or other ways blind people get assistance, but instead is designed to enhance the current methods.

Nine years ago a fireworks accident left Dennis Aabo Sørensen so severely wounded, doctors were forced to amputate his left hand. But now, for the first time since the accident, the 36-year-old has been able to experience what the world around him feels like through his missing limb. Scientists have developed a bionic finger that can be connected to the nerves left in his arm, allowing him to experience textures as they really feel. Dennis Aabo Sørensen (pictured) has become the first amputee to trial a new bionic fingertip that has allowed him to feel and distinguish different textures. The technology could lead to new prosthetic arms that can restore the sense of touch to amputees.

If you're checking into a plush hotel, you expect a warm welcome, but it could be soon be common to receive it from a cold robot. Hotel chain Hilton Worldwide and IBM have joined forces to trial a robot concierge named'Connie' at a hotel in Virginia. The humanoid uses IBM's AI platform called Watson to tell guests about local tourist attractions and hotel features, as well as giving them dining recommendations. Hotel chain Hilton Worldwide and IBM have joined forces to trial a robot concierge named'Connie' at a hotel in Virginia. The cyborg (pictured above) uses IBM's AI platform called Watson to tell guests about local tourist attractions and hotel features, as well as giving them dining recommendations It is the first time IBM has made a Watson-enabled robot for the hospitality market using the NAO humanoid robot, which has previously been used to play football and help teach lessons in schools.

Nasa is shooting for a 2018 launch of the Mars Insight spacecraft which will examine the interior of the red planet. The robotic lander was supposed to lift off this month, but was grounded in December by a leak in a French instrument. It will now be completely redesigned in time for May 2018, the next available launch window. A French-made seismographic instrument destined for Nasa's InSight Mars mission lander (artist's impression pictured) was found to have leaks in its vacuum container. The mission, aimed at studying Mars' interior structure by monitoring its'marsquakes', has now been scrapped The lander, which is about the size of a car, was supposed to be the first mission devoted to understanding the interior structure of the red planet.

Newly released video shows the moment a Google self-driving car learned the hard way not to tussle with a public bus. The collision happened on Valentine's Day, when a Google vehicle struck the side of a public bus in the Silicon Valley city of Mountain View. Footage recorded by cameras on the bus shows a Lexus SUV, which Google has outfitted with sensors and cameras that let it drive itself, edging into the path of the bus that was rolling by at about 15 mph. Footage recorded by cameras on the bus shows the Lexus SUV, which Google has outfitted with sensors and cameras that let it drive itself, edging into the path of the bus that was rolling by at about 15 mph. Here, it can be seen on the right of the image, next to the kerb. Footage taken from the bus that was hit by one of Google self-driving SUVs, shows the passengers' reactions onboard Neither the Google employee in the driver's seat -- who must be there under California law to take the wheel in an emergency -- nor the 16 people on the bus were injured.

Face-swapped selfies have recently taken the world by storm, and they're about to get even more popular. The company behind Masquerade, an app that overlays silly live filters to your selfies, has now revealed that it has been bought by Facebook. Facebook will integrate the technology into its own capabilities in a bid to take on Snapchat, but the Masquerade app will also continue running as its own entity. The company behind Masquerade, an app that overlays silly live filters to your selfies, has now revealed that it has been bought by Facebook as the social network takes on Snapchat. Free app called Masquerade has dozens of live filters, which can be used for videos and still photos.

A new Terminator-style robot could be set to kill weeds choking the countryside. The futuristic Ibex uses tech similar to the Mars Rover and self-driving cars and can identify individual weeds before zapping them accurately. Makers believe the robot can battle weeds clogging up pastures in hilly regions where rough terrain makes it hard to manage fields. The futuristic British-made Ibex (pictured) uses tech similar to the Mars Rover and self-driving cars and can identify individual weeds before zapping them accurately. Ramblers and walkers blighted by bracken could also be helped by Ibex which could track down the invasive fern which is toxic to cattle, dogs, sheep, pigs and horses.

Battery technology has been accused of falling behind technology, with everything from phones to drones hit by it. Now a new fuel cell could change the way we charge and let you talk, text and WhatsApp for a week on a single charge - and keep drones airborne for an hour. The tiny solid oxide fuel cell is just 1.95 millimeters in diameter that combines porous stainless steel and a thin-film electrolyte and electrodes, and has shown'enhanced thermal robustness'. From irrigating crops to disaster relief to delivering pizza, the capabilities of drones are growing but small battery capacity limits flight time to less than an hour. Researchers developed a new technology that combines porous stainless steel, which is thermally and mechanically strong and highly stable to oxidation/reduction reactions, with thin-film electrolyte and electrodes of minimal heat capacity.

The lifetime tenure of each of the U.S. Supreme Court's nine justices means they have long-lasting influences on the country's affairs. How a justice votes in a case is a reflection of his or her judicial temperament, personal philosophy and political ideology. Political scientists, lawyers, constitutional scholars and laymen alike closely watch the court. Virginia Tech designed a'data-driven framework' that learns justices' judicial preference and voting behaviors. Named Supreme Court Ideal Point Miner, it is 79% accurate.

Getting to grips with a new computer game usually involves some trial and error. Now researchers are using Minecraft as a tool to test the abilities of artificially intelligent avatars – but the game, loved by youngsters around the world, is proving to be rather a challenge for the machines. Currently, five computer scientists have been trying to get their AI Minecraft character to climb a hill. While on the face of it, this might not seem like a Herculean task, the character has to learn how to perform tasks - such as climbing to a highpoint in the pixelated virtual world, itself - using the same types of resources a human has when we learn a new task. 'That means that the agent [character] starts out knowing nothing at all about its environment or even what it is supposed to accomplish,' wrote Microsoft's Allison Linn in a blog post.