Communications of the ACM
A Healthy Dose of AI
Building artificial intelligence into medical devices can speed diagnoses and potentially improve treatments and outcomes.
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 TechNews
Visual Control of Big Data
DBWipes is a new data visualization tool that enables users to highlight abnormalities and possible patterns in a graphical display.
From ACM TechNews
Squishy Robots
A new phase-change material built from wax and foam, that is capable of switching between hard and soft states, could be used to construct inexpensive robots.
From ACM TechNews
Drone Lighting: Autonomous Vehicles Could Automatically Assume the Right Positions for Photographic Lighting
A team of researchers is developing algorithms to let photographers use camera-mounted controls to guide drone-mounted lights into just the right position.
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Bake Your Own Robot
Printable robots—those that can be assembled from parts produced by 3-D printers—have long been a topic of research in the lab of Daniela Rus, the Andrew and Erna...
From ACM TechNews
Glasses-Free 3D Projector
Researchers have developed a glasses-free, multi-perspective, three-dimensional video screen.
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Terahertz Imaging on the Cheap
Terahertz imaging, which is already familiar from airport security checkpoints, has a number of other promising applications—from explosives detection to collision...
From ACM TechNews
Social Physics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab Human Dynamics Laboratory director Alex Pentland is working on a new theory of human social interaction.
From ACM TechNews
Self-Completing Programs
The Sketch programming language enables programmers to leave out some coding details, with Sketch filling in the blanks.
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Smarter Caching
Computer chips keep getting faster because transistors keep getting smaller.
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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...
From ACM TechNews
New Approach to Vertex Connectivity Could Maximize Networks' Bandwidth
Researchers say they have developed a technique for addressing vertex-connectivity problems.
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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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'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...
From ACM TechNews
Surprisingly Simple Scheme for Self-Assembling Robots
M-Blocks are cube-shaped robots that can climb over and around one another, leap through the air, roll across the ground, and move while suspended upside down.
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Bringing 'common Sense' to Text Analytics
Bringing "common sense" to artificial intelligence is one of the biggest challenges in computer science: It entails equipping computers with the shared knowledge...
From ACM TechNews
Artificial-Intelligence Research Revives Its Old Ambitions
Artificial intelligence research has advanced significantly, but much work remains before computers can truly replicate or surpass human intelligence.
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Artificial-Intelligence Research Revives Its Old Ambitions
The birth of artificial-intelligence research as an autonomous discipline is generally thought to have been the monthlong Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial...
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Terramechanics Research Aims to Keep Mars Rovers Rolling
In May 2009, the Mars rover Spirit cracked through a crusty layer of Martian topsoil, sinking into softer underlying sand.
From ACM News