This paper explores the digital modeling and robotic reproduction of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) massage techniques. We adopt an adaptive admittance control algorithm to optimize force and position control, ensuring safety and comfort. The paper analyzes key TCM techniques from kinematic and dynamic perspectives, and designs robotic systems to reproduce these massage techniques. The results demonstrate that the robot successfully mimics the characteristics of TCM massage, providing a foundation for integrating traditional therapy with modern robotics and expanding assistive therapy applications.

From a Furby to the'world's most advanced' humanoid robot, ChatGPT has already been hooked up to a range of bizarre things. But the latest use for the AI chatbot is arguably the strangest yet, as Lovense has announced that it has integrated ChatGPT in a sex toy, dubbed the ChatGPT Pleasure Companion. Users can divulge their sexual fantasies to the sex toy, before it uses ChatGPT to write a story. 'The higher the intensity of the story, the stronger and faster the toy's reaction will be,' Lovense explained. The system is currently in beta, and has been described as a way to'explore your sexuality and boundaries completely independently.'

Video emerged last week of a man getting the QR code from his Tesco Clubcard tattooed on his wrist, so he never missed out on a bargain again. Dean Mayhew paid £200 to get his wrist permanently inked with the code at a tattoo parlour in Chessington, south-west London. The 30-year-old had become tired of missing out on bargains by forgetting his clubcard so decided to make sure he had it on him at all times. Video shows the tattooed QR code failing to scan at a self-service checkout, but working with a handheld scan gun at the counter. Mayhew has become one of the newest members of a growing global community known as the biohackers, or'grinders'.

The tiny world of biomolecules is rich in fascinating interactions between a plethora of different agents such as intricate nanomachines (proteins), shape-shifting vessels (lipid complexes), chains of vital information (DNA) and energy fuel (carbohydrates). Yet the ways in which biomolecules meet and interact to define the symphony of life is exceedingly complex. Scientists at the Bionanophotonic Systems Laboratory in EPFL's School of Engineering have developed a biosensor that can be used to observe all major biomolecule classes of the nanoworld without disturbing them. Their innovative technique uses nanotechnology, metasurfaces, infrared light and artificial intelligence. The team's research has been published in Advanced Materials.

Audeze is one of the only headphone makers devoted exclusively to using planar-magnetic (PM) drivers in its products. The company offers a wide range of models, from reference over-ear designs to gaming-specific cans to in-ear monitors, all of which are based on PM technology. I have little experience with planar-magnetic headphones. Many years ago, I reviewed the Stax SR-007 MK2 electrostatic headphones, which use a somewhat similar technology, but they require a special amplifier and are extremely expensive. But I've never spent any quality time with PM headphones.

An app designed for Apple Watch has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an effective treatment for nightmares caused by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Called NightWare, the application is now marketed as an aid for the'temporary reduction of sleep disturbances related to nightmares in adults.' The app uses Apple Watch sensors to monitor body movement and sleep and when it detects the user is experiencing a nightmare, the device will vibrate to disturb their sleep. NightWare is currently only available with a prescription and the company stresses it is not a standalone treatment for PTSD. Approximately eight million Americans suffer from PTSD and up to 96 percent of them have nightmares as a result.

A group of researchers have published results from a shocking experiment that shows how voice controlled smart devices can be operated remotely using targeted laser beams to simulate human speech. The researchers announced Monday that they were able to control a Google Home and command it to remotely open the garage door from a separate building 230 feet away. Also susceptible were Amazon's Echo, Facebook Portal, a range of Android smartphones and tablets, and both iPhones and iPads. The experiments were conducted by a group of scientists from the University of Michigan and The University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo. 'It's possible to make microphones respond to light as if it were sound,' Takeshi Sugarawa, of University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo, told Wired.

Last week, researchers at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence demonstrated in a new paper that an AI they'd designed could ace an eighth-grade multiple-choice science test with more than 90 percent correct answers -- and do quite well on a 12th-grade science test, too, with more than 80 percent correct answers. The system, called Aristo, took the New York Regents Science Exam (a standardized test for students across New York State), with a few limitations: it didn't have to solve the problems that involved looking at diagrams. Nonetheless, the researchers tested the program on different versions of the test as well as on tests from different years and found that its performance was pretty consistent: It's an A student. Aristo demonstrates how quickly AI is advancing. As recently as 2016, the paper's authors note, no one in the field could manage to score as well as 60 percent on a similar eighth-grade science exam.

When it comes to moving your limbs, you don't need to see to believe. Intuitively, you know where your limbs are, as well as the positions they're making. This kind of awareness, called kinesthesia, is missing from prosthetic limbs--especially advanced, motorized ones. But a new study published in Science Translational Medicine lays out how a sense of self can be extended to prostheses, through cleverly crafted illusions. "By restoring the intuitive feeling of limb movement--the sensation of opening and closing your hand--we are able to blur the lines between what the patients' brains perceived as'self' versus'machine'," said Paul Marasco, director of the Cleveland Clinic's Laboratory for Bionic Integration, in a statement.

Bracelet, which can vibrate to point an employee's hand in the right direction, would further increase surveillance of work environment Wed 31 Jan 2018 19.30 EST Last modified on Wed 31 Jan 2018 20.00 EST Amazon has patented designs for a wristband that can precisely track where warehouse employees are placing their hands and use vibrations to nudge them in a different direction. The concept, which aims to streamline the fulfilment of orders, adds another layer of surveillance to an already challenging working environment. When someone orders a product from Amazon, the details are transmitted to the handheld computers that all warehouse staff carry. Upon receiving the order details, the worker must rush to retrieve the product from one of many inventory bins on shelves, pack it into a delivery box and move on to the next assignment. The proposed wristbands would use ultrasonic tracking to identify the precise location of a worker's hands as they retrieve items.