automation
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Uber Developing Automated VTOL Flying Taxis
Private transportation outfit Uber may already be working on ditching its drivers in favour of self-driving cars, but the company is now looking even further into the future, according to Jeff Holden, Head of Products at Uber. In an interview with Recode, Holden revealed that Uber is looking into creating…
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Japanese Theme Park to Open “Robot Kingdom”
A Japanese theme park, Huis Ten Bosch have revealed that they plan to open a “robot kingdom” on site in July, which will include over 200 robot automatons which will provide customer service to those visiting the park. A number of companies will be providing the robots that will populate…
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Wendy’s to Introduce More Automation to Dodge Paying Minimum Wage
US fast food chain Wendy’s has admitted that, rather than maintain its current staffing levels at the new minimum wage rate, it will seek to replace staff with self-ordering kiosks and back-of-house automated systems, and cover wage hikes of existing staff by raising its prices. During a sales call, Wendy’s…
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Restaurants in China Fires Robot Staff for Incompetence
It seems we shouldn’t worry about automation taking away jobs from us humans just yet, with one restaurant in Guangzhou, China being forced to “fire” its robotic staff members for incompetence, while two others with robot waiters going out of business. Human staff members, who worked alongside the inept machines,…
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Microsoft Populates Skype With Helper-Bots
Your Skype chats could just get a little bit smarter thanks to Microsoft’s new array of assistive helper-bots. These bots were on show at Build 2016, where Microsoft demonstrated how Cortana, as well as a number of third-party ‘bots’ were able to inject information and optional actions into Skype messaging…
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Mercedes to Replace Factory Robots with Human Workers
With robot dominating manufacturing processes, and estimates suggesting that automation could make up to half the world’s human population unemployed within 30 years, and that one-third of jobs in the UK will be done by robotic or artificial intelligence systems by 2035, car-maker Mercedes has announced the surprising move of…
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VIA Introduces ARTiGO A600 Smart Automation Control System
Smart homes and general smart automation of all sorts of things is one of the wonderful things about the time we currently live in. All the things we (nerds and geeks) have dreamt of building for years is finally possible. VIA has now introduced a new control system that again…
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Japan’s Robot Hotel Has Velociraptor Receptionist
Why open a hotel staffed almost exclusively by robots, with a Velociraptor behind the reception desk? Because Japan, of course. Henn na, or Weird Hotel in English, uses automated systems and human-like automatons – plus one dinosaur-shaped one – to fulfil the needs of its guests. The Velociraptor, donned with…
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Ultimate Showdown: Industrial Robot vs Sword Master
Robots have become the lifeblood of many industries, their speed, accuracy and constant workflow outmatches their human rivals. Though taken away from the production line, could they match instinct, technique, could you take a bot to a sword fight? The Yaskawa Bushido Project aims to answers this question pinning a…
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Bill Gates Warns That the World Isn’t Prepared For the Impact of Automisation
We are approaching the age of automation, a time in which machines, robots, and software will dominate the labour market. But, unlike the industrial age, which brought with it a plethora of jobs, automation will render many human workers obsolete, and we’re not ready to deal with this consequence, according…
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Robot Serves Customers in Chinese Restaurant
The BBC reports on the news that robots have taken up the positions of the waiters at a restaurant in China. The robots are presumably designed to replace human waiters and use optical sensors alongside rechargeable batteries to get around. The restaurant owner says that he’ll save money in the…
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McDonald’s to Introduce Touchscreen Ordering in the US
By the end of 2015, McDonald’s hopes to introduce ‘Create Your Own Taste’ touchscreen ordering kiosks in 2,000 of its US restaurants. The touchscreen interface allows customers to customise their order; want a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, no onion, and Big Mac sauce? It’s yours, at the touch of a…
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One Third of UK Jobs to Become Automated
In this post-industrial age, the world’s labour market has shifted from machinery making the jobs of people easier and more efficient to automated technology – computerised systems and robotics – that remove the need for people entirely. Professional service firm Deloitte predict that one third of all jobs in the…
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Amazon Announces ‘Echo’ Virtual Assistant & Speaker With Awkward Video
Amazon has announced the ‘Amazon Echo‘ virtual assistant device in an attempt to get into the home automation market. The black tube-like device is designed to sit in a room and be used like the many other virtual assistant systems we see in smartphones and tablets, such as Apple’s Siri, Google…
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Total Stranger Takes Control Of Smart House Due To Huge Security Flaw
Having home automation systems can be cool, you’ve likely got the basics in place already to have such a system, a smart phone, tablet computer, PC, smart TV, games consoles and such can all be automated or control each other in one way or another. There is a $1.5…
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