Back from the Singularity Summit
It's been a week since the Singularity Summit in San Jose, so isn't it about time I wrote about it? Ok, let's put the homework aside for a moment. What an awesome conference!
My two favorite presentations were from Cynthia Breazeal and Neil Gershenfeld. Cynthia presented her research on "mind reading robots", specifically, the work she has done to understand how human beings model the emotions of other human beings. In the picture below, the robot Kismet is trying to understand through visual observation the intent of a researcher (the researcher "wants the bag of chips in the box" and is using a key to try to get in). I think this line of research (trying to understand how human beings model the internal processes of other human beings) is a very useful one. I'll be watching Cynthia's work.
Also on my list of favorites was MIT professor Neil Gershenfeld. For the first time, I was able to see how computers are only a small piece of the great "computational puzzle" of the universe. Neil put it concisely: physics is the most powerful computer. What his work is centered on is finding ways to combine "bits with atoms" so that we can bring the world of ethereal information and the world of real atoms (fabricated things) together. For example, he has been working to bring what he calls "fab labs" to various parts of the world so that under served communities (both here in the USA as well as afar in, say, India and Africa) can build exactly what they need to improve their lives. As he points out in his book "Fab", there is little use in sending computers to schools in Africa if they don't have electricity. But they do have the power of the sun, as well as their ingenuity, and if they can learn to master the art of fabrication then they can solve the immediate needs in their region.
I was too busy listening to Neil's talk to get a picture, so I've included a photo above from TED.
There were a few more pictures taken and if you'd like to browse, feel free to do so on my flickr account.
