“iRobot”, to people in western countries, is a household name. From daily chores to highly dangerous missions and combats, iRobots have their own way. Well, by now you must have figured out that it’s not the movie we are talking about. iRobot is a popular robotics company that designs and develops robots that lessen the efforts that human beings need to put in order to make their lives easier and safer. Robots that are capable of cleaning and ones that can withstand ferocious missions and combats are being developed by the company.

The latest entry to the list of rattling inventions at iRobot is the ‘chembot’. A year after procuring the multimillion dollar contract from the U.S. Army Research Office and The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, iRobot has finally come up with the first working palm-sized ‘chembot’, which was the show stopper at the IROS – 2009 conference at St Louis.

Coming to the attributes of this eye popping invention, it looks like a slimy, greasy lump of jelly or dough, yet it is decidedly potential enough to go on a dangerous mission. It can sweep across any piece of land as long it is not completely rocky terrain. It can squeeze itself into small openings, even through a tiny gap below a closed door; this aspect can be highly useful at instances of search and rescue missions. It achieves this feat by a process called jamming skin enabled locomotion (JSEL), in which it scoots between a semi liquid and semi solid state by subtle changes in its volume. Its internal structure comprises series of compartments filled with air and loosely packed particles that are enclosed in a flexible silicone skin. It can change its size and shape in a very impressive time; it can roll and also carry payloads. Changes occur due to inflation and deflation of the structure. During deflation, particles compress and shift slightly to fill up the emptiness that is being created.

It seems that all those sci-fi movies are slowly going to become a reality!!! There is nothing to wonder if scientists come up with robots similar to those we have seen in ‘Transformers’.

Ever faced the hassle of having to change your contact numbers every time you shift jobs? Even moving homes within the same city means having to update your family and friends with your new landline contact number. Imagine a service that does away with this hitch, a program that allows you to be contacted on a single phone number, an option to receive calls routed via a common number regardless of whether you are in your office in Bangalore or on a trip to Chicago!

Well that’s Google Voice for you, a revolutionary initiative in telecommunication that gives the user a single number for all phones – that’s right, you get to attach any of your phone numbers, fixed or mobile. Google Voice is a unique ‘follow-me’ service that unifies both wireless and wired-line communications. International Voicemail made easy, Google Voice offers a range of user-focussed features such as call screening, caller ID blocking, voice call transcripts, built in conferencing capabilities and many more value additions. And best of all it’s free! It can’t get any better than this. But it does. With Google Voice you can use your existing number to receive only voice mails, and even take your voice messages with you when you change phones. Or you could link your existing phones to a single Google Voice phone number.

Google Voice and Your Existing Phone Number

When you sign up for Google Voice you can still choose to stick to your existing personal contact number. What Google Voice can do in this case is take care of all your voicemail and display them in an easy-to-read format on your phone, or on a computer. You can even set custom voicemail greetings and templates to ping people on the go, and even forward or embed voicemails received.. Voicemail notifications can be set in various formats including email and SMS. And best of all, Google Voice makes international calling affordable and hassle free.

Get Your Very Own Google Phone Number

This is perhaps the best part of going Voicemail, the Google way. Perfect for frequent business travellers, getting your very own Google Phone Number can mean connecting to people via a common number for all your phones – home, work or mobile. You can even choose for all phones to ring when your Google number is dialled, or just link it up to one number at a time. This way changing your personal numbers does not impact how you stay in touch – updating a new phone number is as easy as logging into your account and changing the new number attached to your Google number.

“Project Natal” is a code name for a world-shattering new way of controller-free gaming. See a ball? Kick it, hit it, trap it or catch it. “Project Natal” tracks your full body movement in 3-D, while responding to commands, directions, even a difference of emotion in your voice. It is an add-on peripheral for the Microsoft Xbox 360 console.

With controller-free gaming you don’t just control the superhero, you are the superhero! Full-body tracking allows the “Project Natal” sensor to capture every move, from head to toe, to give players a full-body gaming experience. Greet and speak to characters in the game, or simply step into view of the sensor to log into Xbox LIVE and connect with friends. “Project Natal” makes sharing in all the fun a snap. Talk or watch a movie in the same living room or on the other side of the world — no headset, no keyboard and no controllers required. It’s just you, your friends, your family and a whole new way to play.

How Does “Project Natal” Work?

Custom processor: A Microsoft proprietary software layer makes the magic of “Project Natal” possible. This layer differentiates “Project Natal” from any other technology on the market through its ability to enable human body recognition and extract other visual noise.

“Project Natal” sensor: “Project Natal” is the world’s first system to combine an RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone and custom processor running proprietary software that brings the “Project Natal” experience to every Xbox 360 console. The “Project Natal” sensor tracks full-body movement and individual voices, creating controller-free fun and social entertainment that is available exclusively on Xbox 360.

RGB camera: “Project Natal” has a video camera that delivers the three basic colour components. RGB camera helps enable facial recognition and more.

Depth sensor: An infrared projector combined with a monochrome CMOS sensor allows “Project Natal” to see the room in 3-D (as opposed to inferring the room from a 2-D image) under any lighting conditions.

<object width=”660″ height=”405″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/p2qlHoxPioM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0xcc2550&color2=0xe87a9f&border=1″></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/p2qlHoxPioM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0xcc2550&color2=0xe87a9f&border=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”660″ height=”405″></embed></object>