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
Microsoft Develops Shape-Shifting Touchscreen
Microsoft has filed a patent application to add real texture to a tactile touchscreen. A layer of shape-memory plastic placed above a touchscreen would distort...
From ACM TechNews
World's First Ice Touchscreen Virtually Burns
Nokia researchers have built a computer touchscreen using a block of ice. The researchers say the screen is a step toward a world in which all sorts of surfaces...
From ACM TechNews
Army Avatars Join the Battle For Hearts and Minds
Researchers at the University of Southern California are developing realistic, immersive virtual-reality programs for the U.S. military in which the soldiers are...
From ACM TechNews
Part Moth, Part Machine: Cyborgs Are on the Move
Researchers are developing methods to produce complex behavior from robots by tapping into the nervous system of living organisms and using algorithms that already...
From ACM News
Better Hands May Help Robots Grasp Meaning
Two recent studies show that roboticists are applying some fresh thinking to the building and operation of robot hands, and a third suggests why the work is so...
From ACM News
Robot Limbs to Plug Into the Brain with Light
Imagine a bionic arm that plugs directly into the nervous system, so that the brain can control its motion, and the owner can feel pressure and heat through their...
From ACM News
Cellphones Reveal Emerging Disease Outbreaks
Your cellphone could be a key tool in the fight against disease by relaying a telltale signature of illness to doctors and agencies monitoring new outbreaks.
From ACM News
Robot Arm Punches Human to Obey Asimov's Rules
Isaac Asimov would probably have been horrified at the experiments under way in a robotics lab in Slovenia. There, a powerful robot has been hitting people over...
From ACM News
The Smartphone's Shape-Shifting Future
The smartphone of the future might lose its sleek, solid shell to become a shape-shifter, able to alter its appearance to signal an alert in situations where...
From ACM News
Body Organs Can Send Status pdates to Your Cellphone
For cardiac patients such as myself, too much excitement can be a shocking experience. If my heart rate gets too high the implanted defibrillator in my chest can...
From ACM News
You Too Can Have a Dream Body
If you dislike the way you look on video, a new kind of image-manipulation software could make you feel better about yourself.
From ACM TechNews
Nokia Touchscreen Creates Texture Illusion
Nokia has developed a prototype of its N900 smartphone featuring technology that lets users feel the texture of icons on the screen. "The idea is to have everything...
From ACM News
Why the Stuxnet Worm Is Like Nothing Seen Before
Stuxnet is the first worm of its type capable of attacking critical infrastructure like power stations and electricity grids: those in the know have been expecting...
From ACM News
What's the Right Path for Indoor Satnav?
Tracking down one of the last few parking spots in the cramped confines of a dimly lit multi-storey car park is not among life's pleasures. German car maker BMW...
From ACM News
Cern Collides with a Patent Reality
You might imagine that vast patent royalties flow into the organisation that invented the touchscreen and the World Wide Web. But the atom-smashing outfit CERN...
From ACM News
The Mind's Eye: How the Brain Sorts Out What You See
Can you tell a snake from a pretzel? Some can't—and their experiences are revealing how the brain builds up a coherent picture of the world.
From ACM News
Online Games Are a Gold Mine for Design Ideas
Gone are the days when video gaming was a private pursuit. Gaming services such as Microsoft's Xbox Live not only connect players in living rooms the world over...
From ACM News
Tide Turns Against Million-Dollar Maths Proof
Initially hailed as a solution to the biggest question in computer science, the latest attempt to prove P ≠ NP—otherwise known as the "P vs NP" problem—seems to...
From ACM News
Hiding Files in Flickr Pics Will Fool Web Censors
Life is about to become more difficult for countries trying to censor access to foreign Websites. A system dubbed Collage will allow users in these countries...
From ACM News