Communications of the ACM
Pen-Based Computing: Still Looking For The Write App
The sector, once popular, is searching for applications and users.
From ACM NewsAn edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.
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Soft Robotic Fish Moves Like the Real Thing
Soft robots—which don’t just have soft exteriors but are also powered by fluid flowing through flexible channels—have become a sufficiently popular research topic...
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Self-Completing Programs
Since he was a graduate student, Armando Solar-Lezama, an associate professor in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, has been working...
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Smarter Caching
Computer chips keep getting faster because transistors keep getting smaller.
From ACM TechNews
Herding Robots
Researchers say they have developed a system that combines existing robotic control programs to enable multiagent systems to collaborate in complex ways.
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Herding Robots
Writing a program to control a single autonomous robot navigating an uncertain environment with an erratic communication link is hard enough; write one for multiple...
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Seeing Things: A New Transparent Display System Could Provide Heads-up Data
Transparent displays have a variety of potential applications—such as the ability to see navigation or dashboard information while looking through the windshield...
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Marvin Minsky Honored For Lifetime Achievements in Artificial Intelligence
MIT Media Lab professor emeritus Marvin Minsky, 86, a pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence, has won the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award...
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New Algorithm Can Dramatically Streamline Solutions to the 'max Flow' Problem
Finding the most efficient way to transport items across a network like the U.S. highway system or the Internet is a problem that has taxed mathematicians and computer...
From ACM TechNews
Graphene Can Host Exotic New Quantum Electronic States at Its Edges
Researchers have uncovered unexpected features of graphene that appear under extreme conditions, which could allow the material to be used for exotic applications...
From ACM TechNews
Never Forget a Face
A new algorithm makes subtle changes to various points on a face to make it more memorable without changing the subject's overall appearance.
From ACM TechNews
New System Allows For High-Accuracy, Through-Wall, 3D Motion Tracking
WiTrack is a new a three-dimensional (3D) motion-tracking technology that uses radio signals to track a person through walls and other obstacles.
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New System Allows For High-Accuracy, Through-Wall, 3D Motion Tracking
Imagine playing a video game like Call of Duty or Battlefield and having the ability to lead your virtual army unit while moving freely throughout your house.
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3-D Images, With Only One Photon Per Pixel
Lidar rangefinders, which are common tools in surveying and in autonomous-vehicle control, among other applications, gauge depth by emitting short bursts of laser...
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Inexpensive 'nano-Camera' Can Operate at the Speed of Light
Researchers have created a $500 "nano-camera" that operates at the speed of light and could have applications in areas like medical imaging.
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'wise Chisels': Art, Craftsmanship, and Power Tools
It's often easy to tell at a glance the difference between a mass-produced object and one that has been handcrafted: The handmade item is likely to have distinctive...
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How to Program Unreliable Chips
As transistors get smaller, they also become less reliable.
From ACM TechNews
Better Robot Vision
Researchers have developed a robot-vision algorithm they say is 15 percent better than its best competitor at identifying familiar objects in cluttered scenes. ...
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Making Martian Clouds on Earth
At first glance, Mars' clouds might easily be mistaken for those on Earth: Images of the Martian sky, taken by NASA's Opportunity rover, depict gauzy, high-altitude...
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New Kind of Microscope Uses Neutrons
Researchers at MIT, working with partners at NASA, have developed a new concept for a microscope that would use neutrons—subatomic particles with no electrical...
From ACM TechNews