If you want to build your own Tron-esque virtual world, you’ll probably need a device to scan 3D objects and create digital copies. Artec 3D has just the thing to help. The company is a leader in the field of 3D scanning, and showed off its latest creation, the Artec Leo, at CES 2018.
The Leo is a handheld 3D scanner with a processor and other electronics packed inside. That means it doesn’t need an external computer to function. The scanner has a large field of view, and can reconstruct a 3D object in digital form at 80 frames per second. Once rendered, the digital models show a pristine level of detail. If you want to create a model of a friend through 3D printing, Artec could create a frighteningly accurate replica.
If you’re an average consumer, you may want to save up a bit before buying a Leo, as the device costs $25,800. That makes sense, given that Artec markets the device to industrial engineers and medical institutions, for whom the device is a pricey but useful business expense.
Digital Trends also got to try out Artec’s Shapify booth, which can scan a human body in 12 seconds and create an immaculate 3D model.
San Francisco startup Dimensional advertised for people to walk robot dogs through city streets. The New York Times reported that the job could include carrying a roughly 33-pound robot back to the office if it overheated. A lift home is an awkward requirement for a labor-saving machine.
Keeping the hardware running is only one challenge. Anthropic's robotics tests found that language models mostly failed when controlling joints directly, but did better when directing trained controllers. Giving an AI agent a body doesn't teach it to handle ordinary household objects.
Soon, a mattress protector may be more than a bed cover. Australian medtech company Sleeptite and researchers at RMIT University have received a US patent for FlexiSense, a smart bedding technology that tracks body position and posture to help caregivers identify when older residents may be at risk of falling.
The technology is being developed for Sleeptite’s in-bed monitoring system, REMi, and was recently on display at The MedTech Conference in Boston. A peer-reviewed study in Flexible and Printed Electronics says the sensors can also be made at scale without sacrificing performance or durability.
AI companies spend enormous amounts of time convincing us their technology is safe and secure. But what happens when those same companies become targets of increasingly sophisticated AI-powered attacks? Anthropic, the company behind Claude, is now facing that question. According to a Washington Post report, cybersecurity startup Cathedral discovered vulnerabilities that let its researchers access sensitive information in Anthropic's internal systems.
The researchers used AI agents to identify potential entry points in less than 12 hours. Interestingly, they didn't need to crack Claude itself. Instead, they exploited weaknesses in third-party business applications that Anthropic uses for everyday operations. Anthropic's security testing program disclosed the findings, which allows outside researchers to identify and report vulnerabilities.