The Commercial Birth of Natural Computing

Punch card. Keyboard. Mouse. Touchscreen. Voice. Gesture.

This abbreviated history of human-computer interaction follows a clear trajectory of improvement, where each mode of communication with technology is demonstrably easier to use than the last. We are now entering an era of natural computing, where our interaction with technology becomes more like a conversation, effortless and ordinary, and less like a chore, clunky and difficult. Those of us working in the field are focused on teaching computers to understand and adapt to the most natural human actions, instead of forcing people to learn to understand and adapt to technology.

Three years ago, the industry’s only point of reference to explain this technology was science fiction, like the movie “Minority Report.” Then in November 2010, Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox 360 sensor was released, and broad adoption of voice and gesture technology found its way into millions of living rooms. A year later, Microsoft launched Kinect for Windows, which gives researchers and businesses the ability to take the Kinect natural computing technology to market in a variety of industries.

Since then, major investments in the field have been made by established companies like Intel and Samsung, maturing natural user interface (NUI) players like Primesense and SoftKinetic, and new entrants like Leap Motion and Tobii. Natural computing is moving from the realms of researchers to the minds of marketers, and a true commercial category is starting to emerge.

But even just a year ago, there was no definition, no language and no data for the commercial category. Clearly a richer, more informed language was needed. To this end, my colleagues and I have developed a category framework: Kinect and other voice and gesture technologies are part of the Natural Computing category, defined as input devices that enable users to trigger computing events in the easiest, most efficient way possible. Understanding that the term Natural Computing has a variety of different meanings in academia, we found it was a helpful term to describe the business side of human-computer interaction technologies.

In some respects, there is evidence of natural computing all around us, and there has been for many years. Think of automatic doorways, which open up for you with no effort required on your part beyond walking toward them. Think of automatic faucets, soap dispensers and hand driers — all you have to do is offer them your hand.

These systems are the most rudimentary forms of natural computing. They each recognize a single set of data (your hand placement), automatically interpret your intent (to wash or dry your hands) and immediately respond to it (by dispensing water or soap or air). Now imagine if more complicated forms of technology could understand your intent in all its complexity, and respond to it simply, immediately and perfectly. No learning required. This is how those of us working in this field see the future.

There are currently a limited set of ways that users can interact with computing devices, although there will certainly be more in the future. Today, these include everything from manipulating a mouse and keyboard, to touching, speaking and gesturing. The illustration below breaks down these methods according to how close the user is to the screen (“far” vs. “near”), and how hard or easy it is to learn the technology (“learned” vs. “natural”).

First, each input method is designed to solve for different distances. For example, you need to be right next to a screen to be able to touch it, yet you can be several feet or more away from it when using gesture technologies. Similarly, take into consideration how much time it takes someone to learn how to use the technology. Older technologies tend to take longer to learn (think typing lessons or early command line interfaces) while newer ones tend to take less time (think touchscreens). The combination of these two ideas — proximity and ease of use — make up the Natural Computing Category Map, which enables us to better envision where certain natural computing technologies play a role now and where they could grow in the future.

commercial birth of natural computing

These other gesture-based technology companies have evolved to form partnerships with major computer hardware manufacturers or are exploring the possibilities of integrating the technology in smartphones. The category is growing and evolving rapidly. All this activity accretes to businesses and consumers, who benefit from the quickly evolving natural computing experiences.

The future of the natural computing category is to reach end-users directly, fundamentally changing everyday interactions with technology. Imagine walking by a storefront window and having an avatar mirror your every move, talking to your next-gen TV with the same tone and sentence structure you would use with a friend, or improving your tennis swing with an immersive simulation tool. If you are reading this and wonder what the future of natural computing holds in store for you, the future of natural computer interaction is here already, albeit unevenly distributed. And natural computing is quickly beginning to demonstrate what a computer can do if you give it eyes, ears and the capacity to use them.

Leslie Feinzaig is the Senior Product Manager for Kinect for Windows. Leslie plays an important role in Microsoft’s Kinect for Windows business and has researched and developed great insights into the industry and competitive landscapes around natural computing.

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Scientists get stem cells from cloned human embryos

Stem Cells.

A team of researchers said Wednesday that it had produced embryonic stem cells — a possible source of disease-fighting spare parts — from a cloned human embryo.

Scientists at the Oregon Health and Science University accomplished in humans what has been done over the past 15 years in sheep, mice, cattle and several other species. The achievement is likely to, at least temporarily, reawaken worries about “reproductive cloning” — the production of one-parent duplicate humans.

But few experts think that production of stem cells through cloning is likely to be medically useful soon, or possibly ever.

“An outstanding issue of whether it would work in humans has been resolved,” said Rudolf Jaenisch, a biologist at MIT’s Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Mass., who added that he thinks the feat “has no clinical relevance.”

“I think part of the significance is technical and part of the significance is historical,” said John Gearhart, head of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “Many labs attempted it, and no one had ever been able to achieve it.”

A far less controversial way to get stem cells is now available. It involves reprogramming mature cells (often ones taken from the skin) so that they return to what amounts to a second childhood from which they can grow into a new and different adulthood. Learning how to make and manipulate those “induced pluripotent stem” (IPS) cells is one of biology’s hottest fields.

Stem cells have the capability of maturing into different types of tissue depending on how they are stimulated. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs), plucked from a microscopic embryo, have the greatest potential. With the right molecular nudges, they could theoretically be used to grow new kidneys, lungs and hearts for use by people whose own organs have worn out.

Some experts think that “regenerative medicine” will eventually become an approach to healing that is as important as surgery or pharmacology.

The Oregon researchers, led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov, produced embryonic stem cells through “somatic cell nuclear transfer,” the technique used in 1996 to make Dolly the sheep the first cloned mammal.

The nucleus of a mature cell is transplanted into a human oocyte (egg) whose own nucleus has been removed. After the right stimulation, this new hybrid cell starts to divide and develop just as a sperm-fertilized egg would. When it is at the “blastocyst” stage — about 100 cells — its core contains a small number of embryonic stem cells capable of becoming any type of cell possessed by the human body.

But getting the doctored egg to grow even that far is extremely difficult. For some species, hundreds of eggs must be subjected to nuclear transfer before any produce viable embryonic stem cells. The failure of human oocytes to produce them had led some scientists to speculate that the technique simply might not work in people for some reason.

Mitalipov and several members of his team work at the Oregon National Primate Research Center and had refined their techniques using rhesus monkeys. They used nuclei from the skin cells of newborns or, in some cases, fetuses. Their stimulants included a pulse of electricity at the time of nuclear transfer and the addition of caffeine to the fluid cells lived in.

The tweaks and improvements apparently made all the difference. In one experiment, eight oocytes harvested from one woman produced five blastocysts and four embryonic stem cell lines — a success rate virtually unseen in other animals. The researchers subsequently proved cells were “pluripotent” by coaxing them to become, among other things, beating heart muscle cells.

The experiments were reported in a paper published online in the journal Cell.

“Where the kudos come is in being able to over time enhance and improve the technology developed in other species to make this amenable to the human oocyte,” Gearhart said.

The blastocysts could be implanted in a woman’s uterus. It might develop into a fetus. Most cloned animals, however, turn out to have major health problems and shortened lives.

“We just need to make sure it’s clear to the public that no one in their right mind would want to do that. There is no intent to do reproductive cloning. None at all,” Gearhart said.

Are these embryonic stem cells more versatile than IPS cells made by reprogramming skin cells?

“That’s of interest,” Jaenisch said. But whatever the answer, “the consequence would be to make the IPS cells better.” Given the difficulty of obtaining human oocytes, and the controversial nature of the research, embryonic stem cells aren’t likely to ever be the preferred tool of regenerative medicine, he said.

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‘iPhone 5S’ With Fingerprint Detection In August And The ‘iWatch’ By Christmas?
Could We See The New iPad Before The New iPhone?

The predictions this time around, at least, come from two prognosticators with solid, nigh-sterling reputations: KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, and Apple blog iMore’s Rene Ritchie. Let’s slap on our Speedos and dive in:
Kuo thinks Apple will release an iPhone 5S and a cheaper iPhone aimed at emerging markets. The iPhone 5S will be released in July, Kuo writes, and will
differentiate itself from the iPhone 5 in five ways:
1. Faster processor
2. Better camera/better flash
3. FINGERPRINT SENSOR under the home button, for security reasons
4. Thinner/lighter
5. Different name

(Okay, I made the last one up).

Kuo also writes that Apple will also release its long-gestating cheaper iPhone in July, which will have the same basic dimensions as the “iPhone 5S” but will have a slightly weaker camera, a slightly heavier weight and will be available in colors that are not black and white.

1. The “iPhone 5S” is scheduled for August.
2. The new iPads — the “iPad 5,” and “iPad Mini 2″ — are scheduled for April.

And speaking of general freakiness: the “iWatch.” Oh, you didn’t think we were going to make it through a Week In Apple Rumors without some news on that Apple wristwatch, did you? If you did, give yourself a spanking, because you were wrong. Here’s the latest.

4. Apple Certainly Seems Like It’s Planning To Release This iWatch Thing By The End Of 2013

We close with the “iWatch,” which scored two prominent rumors this week, both claiming that Apple is attempting to get its latest product category out on shelves by Christmastime this year.

As you may recall, very little actual substance has been reported thus far: We know that Apple has a fairly large team working on its wristwatch, and that it is targeting 2013 as its release year. Bloomberg, who had previously reported that Apple had over 100 iWatch staffers on board, chimed in with another article this week; though the majority of the article was speculative analyst gobbledegook, it did contain this paragraph about what those staffers might actually be doing:

Features under consideration include letting users make calls, see the identity of incoming callers and check map coordinates, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. It would also house a pedometer for counting steps and sensors for monitoring health-related data, such as heart rates, this person said.

Technology site The Verge chimed in later in the day, reporting that Apple wants its watch to run a full version of the iOS operating system (which runs on your iPhone and iPad) and that it would like for its watch to be able to last four to five days without a charge.

Both The Verge and Bloomberg’s sources say Apple is really trying to have this thing out there by the end of 2013, in time for Christmas and in time to compete with Google Glass; barring some sort of change, it’s looking more and more likely that the “iWatch” will become a reality.

Apple fans who were hoping for a pair of iGlasses instead of an wristwatch, it seems, will have to settle for duct taping the iWatch to their face, it appears. I, for one, am looking forward to wearing both my iWatch and my Google Glass out in public and seeing how long I can go without getting the crap

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/10/iphone-5s-fingerprint-iwatch-release-apple-rumors_n_2837809.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

LONDON — Resistance to antibiotics is a ‘catastrophic’ global threat and should be ranked alongside terrorism as one of the biggest risks Britain faces, the government’s chief medical officer said Monday.

Sally Davies called the problem a “ticking time-bomb”, saying routine hip operations could become deadly within 20 years if humans lose the ability to fight infections.

She said the issue should be put on the government’s national risk register, which also includes “catastrophic terrorist attacks” and other civil emergencies.

The knighted professor urged Britain to raise the issue at a G8 foreign ministers’ meeting in London next month.

“Antimicrobial resistance is a ticking time-bomb not only for the UK but also for the world,” Davies said.

“We need to work with everyone to ensure the apocalyptic scenario of widespread antimicrobial resistance does not become a reality.

“This threat is arguably as important as climate change for the world.”

She added: “Antimicrobial resistance poses a catastrophic threat. If we don’t act now, any one of us could go into hospital in 20 years for minor surgery and die because of an ordinary infection that can’t be treated by antibiotics.

“Governments and organisations across the world, including the World Health Organisation and G8, need to take this seriously.”

She said there had been a “discovery void” in the field since 1987 and called for more innovation around antibiotics, saying diseases had evolved faster than the drugs to treat them.

Davies said infection was estimated to be costing England £30 billion ($45 billion, 35 billion euros) per year in state health service costs and the cost of missed days at work.

Britain’s Department of Health said it will soon publish its Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy five-year action plan.

Copyright © 2013 AFP. All rights reserved.

Wow- very interesting….Everyone should read

ONIONS! I had never heard this!!!
PLEASE READ TO THE END: IMPORTANT

In 1919 when the flu killed 40 million people there was this Doctor that visited the many farmers to see if he could help them combat the flu…
Many of the farmers and their families had contracted it and many died.

onion absorbs harmful becteria and other bugs

Now, I heard this story from my hairdresser. She said that several years ago, many of her employees were coming down with the flu, and so were many of her customers. The next year she placed several bowls with onions around in her shop. To her surprise, none of her staff got sick. It must work. Try it and see what happens. We did it last year and we never got the flu.

Now there is a P. S. to this for I sent it to a friend in Oregon who regularly contributes material to me on health issues. She replied with this most interesting experience about onions:

Thanks for the reminder. I don’t know about the farmer’s story…but, I do know that I contacted pneumonia, and, needless to say, I was very ill… I came across an article that said to cut both ends off an onion put it into an empty jar, and place the jar next to the sick patient at night. It said the onion would be black in the morning from the germs…sure enough it happened just like that…the onion was a mess and I began to feel better.

Another thing I read in the article was that onions and garlic placed around the room saved many from the black plague years ago. They have powerful antibacterial, antiseptic properties.

This is the other note. Lots of times when we have stomach problems we don’t know what to blame. Maybe it’s the onions that are to blame. Onions absorb bacteria is the reason they are so good at preventing us from getting colds and flu and is the very reason we shouldn’t eat an onion that has been sitting for a time after it has been cut open.

LEFT OVER ONIONS ARE POISONOUS

I had the wonderful privilege of touring Mullins Food Products, Makers of mayonnaise. Questions about food poisoning came up, and I wanted to share what I learned from a chemist.

Ed, who was our tour guide, is a food chemistry whiz. During the tour, someone asked if we really needed to worry about mayonnaise. People are always worried that mayonnaise will spoil. Ed’s answer will surprise you. Ed said that all commercially-made mayo is completely safe.

“It doesn’t even have to be refrigerated. No harm in refrigerating it, but it’s not really necessary.” He explained that the pH in mayonnaise is set at a point that bacteria could not survive in that environment. He then talked about the summer picnic, with the bowl of potato salad sitting on the table, and how everyone blames the mayonnaise when someone gets sick.

Ed says that, when food poisoning is reported, the first thing the officials look for is when the ‘victim’ last ate ONIONS and where those onions came from (in the potato salad?). Ed says it’s not the mayonnaise (as long as it’s not homemade mayo) that spoils in the outdoors. It’s probably the ONIONS, and if not the onions, it’s the POTATOES.

He explained onions are a huge magnet for bacteria, especially uncooked onions. You should never plan to keep a portion of a sliced onion.. He says it’s not even safe if you put it in a zip-lock bag and put it in your refrigerator.

It’s already contaminated enough just by being cut open and out for a bit, that it can be a danger to you (and doubly watch out for those onions you put in your hotdogs at the baseball park!). Ed says if you take the leftover onion and cook it like crazy you’ll probably be okay, but if you slice that leftover onion and put on your sandwich, you’re asking for trouble. Both the onions and the moist potato in a potato salad, will attract and grow bacteria faster than any commercial mayonnaise will even begin to break down.

Also, dogs should never eat onions. Their stomachs cannot metabolize onions.

Please remember it is dangerous to cut an onion and try to use it to cook the next day, it becomes highly poisonous for even a single night and creates toxic bacteria which may cause adverse stomach infections because of excess bile secretions and even food poisoning.

Please pass this on to all you love and care about.

The Neem tree was the only tree that was successfully planted in the desert cities of Saudia Arabia for green effect and the trees are now growing at a fantastic rate. This tree can grow anywhere!