Communications of the ACM
Multimodal AI Connects the Digital Dots
By knitting together multiple components and data streams, multimodal AI offers the promise of smarter, more human-like systems… 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.
From ACM News
Do We Need Asimov's Laws?
In 1942, the science fiction author Isaac Asimov published a short story called Runaround in which he introduced three laws that governed the behaviour of robots...
From ACM News
Increasingly, Robots of All Sizes Are Human Workmates
Most industrial robots are far less friendly than the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner, which is safe enough to be a surprisingly popular means of feline transportation...
From ACM TechNews
Microsoft Wants You to Educate Its Virtual Assistant
Microsoft's forthcoming mobile operating system upgrade will include Cortana, a virtual personal assistant designed to become more intelligent as people use it. ...
From ACM News
10 Breakthrough Technologies 2014
Technology news is full of incremental developments, but few of them are true milestones.
From ACM News
Microrobots, Working Together, Build with Metal, Glass, and Electronics
Someone glancing through the door of Annjoe Wong-Foy's lab at SRI International might think his equipment is infested by ants.
From ACM News
World Cup Mind-Control Demo Faces Deadlines, Critics
In less than 60 days, Brazil will begin hosting soccer's 2014 World Cup, even though workers are still hurrying to pour concrete at three unfinished stadiums.
From ACM TechNews
Cheaper Joints and Digits Bring the Robot Revolution Closer
SRI International is rethinking the design of Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot to try to help the machine retain its capabilities while trimming its power consumption...
From ACM News
Cheaper Joints and Digits Bring the Robot Revolution Closer
The Atlas humanoid robot, unveiled last year by Boston Dynamics, a company later acquired by Google, is a marvel.
From ACM News
Facebook Creates Software That Matches Faces Almost as Well as You Do
Asked whether two unfamiliar photos of faces show the same person, a human being will get it right 97.53 percent of the time.
From ACM News
An Artificial Hand with Real Feeling
Igor Spetic's hand was in a fist when it was severed by a forging hammer three years ago as he made an aluminum jet part at his job.
From ACM News
A Robotic Hand, This Time with Feeling
A Dutch man who lost his left hand in a fireworks accident nine years ago is now able to feel different kinds of pressure on three fingers of a prosthetic, robotic...
From ACM Careers
Is Google Cornering the Market on Deep Learning?
How much are a dozen deep-learning researchers worth?
From ACM News
Experimental Surgery Aims to Revive a Paralyzed Limb
Doctors will attempt to reanimate a patient’s paralyzed arm with a pioneering surgery that involves capturing signals from his brain and restoring movement through...
From ACM TechNews
The Tricky Problem of Making Smart Fridges Smart
CloudFridge is a prototype smart refrigerator system designed to study and improve the user experience.
From ACM News
Thinking in Silicon
Picture a person reading these words on a laptop in a coffee shop.
From ACM News
An Artificial Hand with Real Feelings
There have been remarkable mechanical advances in prosthetic limbs in recent years, including rewiring nerve fibers to control sophisticated mechanical arms (see...
From ACM Opinion
Driverless Cars Are Further Away Than You Think
A silver BMW 5 Series is weaving through traffic at roughly 120 kilometers per hour (75 mph) on a freeway that cuts northeast through Bavaria between Munich and...
From ACM TechNews
Some Robots Are Starting to Move More Like Humans
Roboy is a four-foot-tall humanoid robot with a set of muscles inspired by the human musculoskeletal system.
From ACM News
Some Robots Are Starting to Move More Like Humans
Robots usually look rigid and nonhuman, with joints engineered to avoid the elasticity that can make their movements less predictable and harder to control.
From ACM Opinion