Tag: video

Robots use trial and error

I never particularly enjoyed home improvement anyway.

Algorithms that enable robots to learn motor tasks through trial and error using a process that more closely approximates the way humans learn have been developed.

“They demonstrated their technique, a type of reinforcement learning, by having a robot complete various tasks — putting a clothes hanger on a rack, assembling a toy plane, screwing a cap on a water bottle, and more — without pre-programmed details about its surroundings.”

“The key is that when a robot is faced with something new, we won’t have to reprogram it. The exact same software, which encodes how the robot can learn, was used to allow the robot to learn all the different tasks we gave it.”

AR localization

coincidentally, i spent several weeks in 2000 modeling this same train station for a political referendum
we used the then cutting-edge VRML to allow you to explore the new train station in 3D in your browser. we worked off of architectural blueprints to create our 3D rendering.

Here is a small video of what we have been working on in my team at ETH over the last weeks. We are working on creating models for localization in large buildings such as malls. These models are the result of fusing data provided by multiple users over time. This should inspire developers to see which kind of indoor localization support to expect from the Tango API in the course of the next months.

After religion

Polls and studies show that people in the developed world are increasingly moving away from religion. Given the rapid trend towards more secular societies in parts of Europe, North America, Asia and Australia, it’s possible that in just a few decades, many cultures will have no central religious tradition at all. But where will that leave us? Happily in pursuit of romantic love and material wealth, or still desiring a deeper form of fulfillment? In What Comes After Religion?, the UK-based author and philosopher Alain de Botton argues that the human needs which religion has fulfilled for centuries – community, a longing for transcendent beauty, a deeper sense of purpose – will still exist in the absence of religious belief. How we replace it will be an ongoing challenge in the brave new secular world.