33,041 research outputs found

    Developing rehabilitation robots for the brain injured

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    AI, Robotics, and the Future of Jobs

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    This report is the latest in a sustained effort throughout 2014 by the Pew Research Center's Internet Project to mark the 25th anniversary of the creation of the World Wide Web by Sir Tim Berners-Lee (The Web at 25).The report covers experts' views about advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, and their impact on jobs and employment

    Social robots for older users: a possibility to support assessment and social interventions

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    In the last decades, various researches in the field of robotics have created numerous opportunities for innovative support of the older population. The goal of this work was to review and highlight how social robots can help the daily life of older people, and be useful also as assessment tools. We will underline the aspects of usability and acceptability of robotic supports in the psychosocial work with older persons. The actual usability of the system influences the perception of the ease of use only when the user has no or low experience, while expert users’ perception is related to their attitude towards the robot. This finding should be more deeply analysed because it may have a strong influence on the design of future interfaces for elderly-robot interaction. Robots can play an important role to tackle the societal challenge of the growing older population. The authors report some recent studies with older users, where it was demonstrated that the acceptability of robotics during daily life activities, and also in cognitive evaluation, could be supported by social robot

    Is China Systematically Buying Up Key Technologies? Chinese M & A transactions in Germany in the context of “Made in China 2025”. Bertelsmann Stiftung GED Study 2018

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    “Made in China 2025” (MIC 2025) is the Chinese central government’s main industrial policy strategy aimed at turning China into the global leader of the fourth industrial revolution. Chinese M & A transactions abroad explicitly belong to the instruments for implementing MIC 2025. Germany is an attractive location for Chinese M & A transactions and offers tailor-made know-how for MIC 2025 due to its large number of “hidden champions”, i. e. technological world market leaders in highly specialized niches. 64 percent or 112 of the 175 analyzed Chinese M & A transactions with a share of at least ten percent in German companies between 2014 and 2017 percent can be assigned to one of the ten key sectors in which China aims to assume global technology leadership with the help of MIC 2025. On the one hand, there is a clear focus on the MIC 2025 sectors of “energy-saving and new-energy vehicles”, “electrical equipment” and “high-end numerical control machinery and robotics” – i. e. sectors in which Germany can in part demonstrate significant competitive technological advantages. Even before the introduction of MIC 2025 in 2015, however, these sectors were already a focus of interest for Chinese investors in Germany. On the other hand, key sectors that played little or no role for Chinese M & A transactions in Germany have also become increasingly important since the introduction of MIC 2025. This is particularly evident in the MIC 2025 sector of “biomedicine and high-performance medical devices”. The majority of the 112 Chinese M & A transactions (just under 60 percent) that are relevant for MIC 2025 are distributed across only three German states: Baden-Württemberg (26), North Rhine-Westphalia (22) and Bavaria (18) – the very regions in which the majority of the German “hidden champions” are located. State-owned investors make up 18 percent of the Chinese M & A transactions examined, and are therefore a minority. However, taking into account only the M & A transactions that can be assigned to the MIC 2025 sectors, their share rises to around 22 percent – a possible indication of state stakeholders’ greater interest in acquiring know-how abroad for the implementation of MIC 2025. However, the formal type of ownership of Chinese companies does not show the full picture of potential state influence due to the complex interplay between the state and companies in China. Therefore, the great challenge for Germany consists in the forms of state influence that are not or only insufficiently reflected in the majority ownership type of Chinese investors

    How 5G wireless (and concomitant technologies) will revolutionize healthcare?

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    The need to have equitable access to quality healthcare is enshrined in the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which defines the developmental agenda of the UN for the next 15 years. In particular, the third SDG focuses on the need to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”. In this paper, we build the case that 5G wireless technology, along with concomitant emerging technologies (such as IoT, big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning), will transform global healthcare systems in the near future. Our optimism around 5G-enabled healthcare stems from a confluence of significant technical pushes that are already at play: apart from the availability of high-throughput low-latency wireless connectivity, other significant factors include the democratization of computing through cloud computing; the democratization of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cognitive computing (e.g., IBM Watson); and the commoditization of data through crowdsourcing and digital exhaust. These technologies together can finally crack a dysfunctional healthcare system that has largely been impervious to technological innovations. We highlight the persistent deficiencies of the current healthcare system and then demonstrate how the 5G-enabled healthcare revolution can fix these deficiencies. We also highlight open technical research challenges, and potential pitfalls, that may hinder the development of such a 5G-enabled health revolution

    Robot Autonomy for Surgery

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    Autonomous surgery involves having surgical tasks performed by a robot operating under its own will, with partial or no human involvement. There are several important advantages of automation in surgery, which include increasing precision of care due to sub-millimeter robot control, real-time utilization of biosignals for interventional care, improvements to surgical efficiency and execution, and computer-aided guidance under various medical imaging and sensing modalities. While these methods may displace some tasks of surgical teams and individual surgeons, they also present new capabilities in interventions that are too difficult or go beyond the skills of a human. In this chapter, we provide an overview of robot autonomy in commercial use and in research, and present some of the challenges faced in developing autonomous surgical robots

    Business Case and Technology Analysis for 5G Low Latency Applications

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    A large number of new consumer and industrial applications are likely to change the classic operator's business models and provide a wide range of new markets to enter. This article analyses the most relevant 5G use cases that require ultra-low latency, from both technical and business perspectives. Low latency services pose challenging requirements to the network, and to fulfill them operators need to invest in costly changes in their network. In this sense, it is not clear whether such investments are going to be amortized with these new business models. In light of this, specific applications and requirements are described and the potential market benefits for operators are analysed. Conclusions show that operators have clear opportunities to add value and position themselves strongly with the increasing number of services to be provided by 5G.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure
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