Welcome to this newsletter. Thanks for subscribing, or finding this via other channels. This newsletter is linked to the research activities and knowledge hub around Cities of Things that originated in a Delft Design Lab Cities of Things as part of Delft University of Technology in partnership with INFO. See our website for the backgrounds, partners, and earlier research projects.
In this newsletter, I will update you on interesting news that links to the topic of Cities of Things; our relation with autonomous and intelligent objects, and systems in the context of living in cities together. I will also update you on the latest research projects and point you to interesting events.
Updates
As this is the first newsletter in this form, let me do a very quick introduction to the running research activities linked to Cities of Things.
Jim Unterweger started his graduation project in November into digital clones that can help us in the current working environment. The full title is "Digital Assistant for a balanced Home Office Work Environment" and he will research the context and domain of the home office environment from a home office worker’s perspective as well as from a manager’s perspective. The Design will focus on resolving the two stakeholder’s difficulties and pain points caused by remote working in order to motivate a healthy and balanced work environment.
Jip Schelling is working on the design of the mobility hubs, following up the work of Jelmer Koedood in a way. How would a mobility hub look like facilitating a smart mobility scheme?
Yeonju Jeon is doing a research elective where she looks into the further future of a shared bike system as OV-fiets that incorporates predictive knowledge. "What will users experience with the existence of predicting bikes in the future?"
David Valentine did graduate last year on a toolkit for calibrated trust in the design of autonomous vehicle design. He wrote a paper for a conference later this year, now under review. "Designing for Calibrated Trust: Exploring the challenges in calibrating trust between users and autonomous vehicles"
Students from Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences worked this semester in two teams on ‘Things that Predict’. Next week the results are presented and I will use their experiences to research the impact of adding predictive knowledge to the design of intelligent projects.
News
CES 2021 preview: 5 biggest trends to watch
One of the first indicators of tech focus in the new year is always CES. It broadens more and more beyond gadgets and consumer tech only, as tech is ubiquitous.
In this outlook, it is interesting to see how more practical applicable robots are mentioned.
Air travel sucks so here’s an alternative future
The weekly pick of the newsletter of Matt is about the change in air travel which resonates a lot:
“I have a completely unfounded hunch that self-driving yachts might provide much greater upside for AI than self-driving cars.”
China’s adaptive robot maker Flexiv raises over $100 million
Industrial robots typically are not so good at adapting. It is mainly automation what is happening, fixed processes are supported. This seems different:
“Conventional robotic arms can safely perform tasks when there are no barriers around, but they are less capable of operating in complicated environments… Many seemingly simple tasks such as washing dishes actually require a lot of AI-based recognition and decision-making power.”
How machines are changing the way companies talk
“Businesses are changing the words they use in order to appeal to AI analysts and traders who assess SEC regulatory filings.”
A nice example of how automated technology is not only adapting to us humans, but the nonhumans are making us adopt as well.
Not quite the Terminator, but ‘muscle-bound’ robots are coming for the Army, Marines
Apparently, we are still adapting the working of robots more and more to human design choices:
“Muscle tissue added to robots will give them “never before seen mobility and agility.”
VW Previews Adorable EV-Charging Autonomous Robot
I’m not sure; is this a solution to a problem (creating a more efficient charging flow) or a solution looking for a problem (with short charging cycles this is unnecessary)…
“VW Previews Adorable EV-Charging Autonomous Robot with digital eyes that drags battery packs around parking lots to charge EVs.”
Disney is creating robots that can do acrobatic flips in the air
robot stand-ins, and stunt doubles, it is an imaginable future. You could however think why this is better than CGI?
You have seen this, I’m sure. What is more interesting: the movie or the way people responded.
Are caved robots our entertainment of the future, back to Roman times?
An earnest review of a robotic cat pillow
Much cuter is this artificial cat. Exist already a couple years, but this review was posted last week. Qoobo is a calming device.
How '15-minute cities' will change the way we socialize
The concept of the 15-minute-city explored again, also in relation to COVID now.
“The pandemic has caused us to think about how to move differently, to consume differently, to live differently,” he says. “We are discovering that by working differently we have more spare time, to have more time to be with our families or friends. We are discovering and appreciating our neighborhoods much more. This will make us all more engaged inhabitants.”
Events
No events this first week of the year. Next week the City by City Festival might be interesting from a city planning perspective.