“Emotional robot pets - Science Centric” plus 2 more |
- Emotional robot pets - Science Centric
- Vet Says Natural Foods Not Always Best For Pets - WIBW
- Pets Can Stand on Sea Legs Too - Earthtimes
| Emotional robot pets - Science Centric Posted: 18 Sep 2010 02:00 AM PDT Designers of robot pets are fighting a never-ending battle with consumers to provide entertaining and realistic gadgets that respond to human interaction in ever more nuanced ways, mimicking the behaviour of real pet animals or even people. Researchers in Taiwan are now looking at a new design paradigm that could see the development of a robot vision module that might one-day recognise human facial expressions and respond appropriately. Part of the problem is that robot design takes a long time, while the consumer life cycle of any given product is very short. Moreover, fixed prototypes and repetitive behaviour in domestic robots for entertainment is no longer of interest to sophisticated users. Today, they expect their robot pets to be almost as good as the 'robots' they see in 3D movies and games. The researchers, Wei-Po Lee, Tsung-Hsien Yang and Bingchiang Jeng of National Sun Yat-sen University, have now turned to neural networks to help them break the cycle of repetitive behaviour in robot toys and to endow them with almost emotional responses to interactions. 'We have developed a user-centric interactive framework that employs a neural network-based approach to construct behaviour primitives and behaviour arbitrators for robots,' the team explains in the current issue of the International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control. Their evaluation of the approach should allow them to construct an emotion-based pet robot much more quickly than current design and manufacturing prototyping allows. Building fully autonomous artificial creatures with intelligence akin to humans is a very long-term goal of robot design and computer science. On the way to such machines, home entertainment and utility devices such as 'Tamagotchi' digital pets and domestic toy robots such as Aibo, the robotic dog and even the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner, have been developed. At the same time, popular science fiction culture has raised consumer expectations. 'With current technologies in computing and electronics and knowledge in ethology, neuroscience and cognition, it is now possible to create embodied prototypes of artificial living toys acting in the physical world,' Wei-Po Lee and colleagues at the National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, explain. There are three major issues to considered in robot design, the team explains. The first is to construct an appropriate control architecture by which the robot can behave coherently. The second is to develop natural ways for the robot to interact with a person. The third is to embed emotional responses and behaviour into the robot's computer. The researchers hope to address all three issues by adopting an approach to behaviour-based architecture - using a neural network - that could allow the owner of a robot pet to reconfigure the device to 'learn,' or evolve new behaviour and at the same time ensure that the robot pet functions properly in real time. The team has evaluated their framework by building robot controllers to achieve various tasks successfully. They, and countless other research teams across the globe, are currently working on vision modules for robots. The technique is not yet fully mature, but ultimately they hope to be able to build a robot pet that could recognise its owner's facial expressions and perhaps respond accordingly. Such a development has major implications for interactive devices, computers and functional robots of the future. Source: Inderscience PublishersThis entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Vet Says Natural Foods Not Always Best For Pets - WIBW Posted: 16 Sep 2010 06:20 AM PDT MANHATTAN, Kansas - While natural food is a rising trend among humans, pet owners should be careful before feeding similar types of food to their pets, according to a Kansas State University veterinarian. All too often pet owners assume that because certain foods, such as fruits and vegetables, are healthy for them, they are also healthy for their pets, said Susan Nelson, K-State assistant professor of clinical services. "Natural and veggie-based pet foods are based more on market demand from owners, not because they are necessarily better for the pet," she said. Natural pet food isn't necessarily unhealthy for pets, and there are good brands on the market. But cats and dogs have specific nutritional needs that some of these foods may not provide, Nelson said. For instance, a natural dog food may provide antioxidants through fruits and vegetables, but it may be deficient in other nutrients the dog needs. If pet owners opt for natural pet food, it's important to make sure pets still receive a well-balanced diet, she said. Before buying any pet food that is labeled natural, owners should make sure it comes from a reputable company. Nelson said the Association of American Feed Control Officials, or AAFCO, sets guidelines for the production, labeling and distribution of pet food and sets minimum standards for the nutritional adequacy of diets. To ensure that food contains the proper nutrients a pet needs, pet owners should only buy pet food that has at least one of the two AAFCO nutritional adequacy statements on its label, Nelson said. The association's standards determine whether a pet food company's product is complete and balanced for a specific life stage according to one of two criteria: the diet's formula meets the minimum nutrient requirements established by the association or the diet has undergone association feeding trials. Feeding trials, while not perfect, generally give the best assessment on how well the food performs for a specific life stage, Nelson said. Owners should look closely at the feeding statement on the label, as some foods are intended for intermittent feeding or only for specific life stages, and they could be detrimental to a pet if fed long-term. Nelson said it is important to differentiate between terms such as natural, organic and holistic. Organic and holistic currently have no specific definitions for pet foods under the Association of American Feed Control Officials guidelines. Organic is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for human food, but the department has no definition of natural foods for humans. The feed control association defines natural products as those that don't contain any chemically synthesized ingredients except vitamins or minerals. The labels for natural products containing any of these ingredients must state: "Natural with added vitamins, minerals and other trace nutrients." Consumers should be wary of any pet food company that claims to have organic or holistic food because they don't exist by the association's definition, Nelson said. Consumers should also pay attention to food ingredients. For instance, cats and dogs should not eat onions or garlic. While flaxseed oil can provide fatty acids for dogs, cats can't use it for this purpose. Any manufacturer that uses these ingredients should be avoided, Nelson said. "Most reputable companies have a veterinary nutritionist on hand," Nelson said. "These companies also conduct nutritional research and have their own internal quality control in place." Because dry pet food needs preservatives, there is often debate about whether artificial or natural preservatives are better. Studies show that synthetic preservatives seem to work better and aren't bad for pets at the levels contained in the food. However, market demand is for using vitamins E and C because they are natural preservatives. As with any pet diet, pet owners who opt for natural pet food should keep an eye on their pets to make sure the food is not negatively affecting them, Nelson said. "Assuming the diet you have chosen meets AAFCO minimum standards of nutritional adequacy, and if your pet looks healthy, has good coat quality, is in good body condition, has good fecal consistency and is able to do its job, the diet is probably adequate for him," she said. ----------------------------------------------- MASSACHUSETTS COUPLE ESTABLISHES FIRST ENDOWED DEANSHIP AT K-STATE MANHATTAN -- Paul and Sandra Edgerley, Brookline, Mass., have made a commitment of $5 million to the College of Business Administration at Kansas State University to establish the Edgerley Family Endowed Deanship in the College of Business Administration. The fund will provide support for an endowed deanship in the college, and will provide perpetual funding for advancing excellence in the mission and vision of the college. It also will provide assistance for equipment, operating support and travel. This gift will qualify for the State of Kansas Faculty of Distinction Program, which augments the fund with additional support once it is funded at the $500,000 level. Paul Edgerley is a 1978 graduate of K-State, with a bachelor's degree in accounting. After leaving K-State, he earned a Master of Business Administration at Harvard Business School in 1983. He is a managing director of Bain Capital LLC, one of the world's leading private, alternative asset management firms, in Boston. Sandra Edgerley earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Harvard University in 1984, and received her Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 1989. She worked at Bain & Company, a leading global business consulting firm, for 10 years. She is currently an active volunteer in the Boston area, and serves as chair of the board of directors of the Boys and Girls Club of Boston, and as a member of the board of directors of Horizons for Homeless Children, Be The Change Inc., the United Way of Mass Bay, the Boston Foundation and is a member of the executive committee of the Harvard College Fund. In 2002 Paul Edgerley was recognized as an alumni fellow in K-State's College of Business Administration. He also was named a Distinguished Business Leader of 2004, and that same year was inducted into the college's Business Leaders Hall of Fame. In addition to participating in the college's dean's advisory council, he is an active and dedicated alumnus. In the past 10 years, he and his wife have established or contributed to a number of scholarships, funds and faculty chairs, including: the Paul B. and Sandra M. Edgerley Business Administration Leadership Scholarship (1998); the Paul B. Edgerley Chair in Business Administration (2000); the Edgerley-Franklin Urban Leadership Scholarship (2006), in honor of his friends, Bernard and Elsia Franklin; the Robert M. Edgerley Chair in International Business (2007), in honor of his father; the Edgerley Family Chair in the College of Business Administration (2007); and the President Wefald Leadership Chair in Business Administration. The Edgerleys are members of the Kansas State University Foundation's Presidents Club, a philanthropic leadership organization for friends and alumni of K-State. Paul Edgerley is a former member of the KSU Foundation Executive Committee, and is a lifetime member of the K-State Alumni Association. He and his wife have served K-State in a number of capacities, notably as national chairs for the university's most recent large-scale fundraising effort, the Changing Lives Campaign. "K-State has had a huge impact on my life, both in preparing me for a career in business and as a source of lifetime friendships," Paul Edgerley said. "Sandy and I are pleased to support the business college's mission to be the business school of choice in the region by providing excellence in the advancement and dissemination of knowledge consistent with the needs of students, business, faculty and society." "Paul and Sandra Edgerley are a fantastic example of the dedication and loyalty that I have the privilege of seeing every day," said Kirk Schulz, president of K-State. "Their generosity will have a profound and lasting effect on the College of Business Administration. Contributions like theirs that will help Kansas State University to achieve our goal of becoming a top 50 public research university." Philanthropic contributions to K-State are coordinated by the Kansas State University Foundation. The foundation staff works with university partners to build lifelong relationships with alumni, friends, faculty, staff and students through involvement and investment in the university. ----------------------------------------------- CIVIL ENGINEERING PROFESSOR NAMED FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR MANHATTAN -- A Kansas State University professor who was named a Fulbright scholar will spend seven months in Sri Lanka. Sunanda Dissanayake, associate professor of civil engineering, will be teaching and assisting with curriculum enhancement at the University of Peradeniya. She also will conduct research on reducing highway fatalities and injuries in Sri Lanka. The issue is sizable in Sri Lanka, as in many other developing countries, because of the mix of vehicular, pedestrian and other traffic on roadways. Poor roadway design also contributes to numerous fatalities and injuries. Dissanayake has conducted similar research on United States roadways for a number of years. "It's much needed in Sri Lanka because of the rapid rate of motorization that happened without much planning," she said. "They do not really do research related to highway safety." The Fulbright application process involved evaluation by the Fulbright Commission and an equivalent commission in Sri Lanka. Dissanayake submitted a research proposal and contacted a university in the host country to find a place to teach. Becoming energized will be one of the greatest benefits of the Fulbright award, Dissanayake said. "Once in a while you need a change or a break -- to go outside the regular routine, energize and come up with new ideas enriched by a different educational system than we have here," she said. Dissanayake is considering establishing a study abroad program for engineering students. The free education system in Sri Lanka means that financial responsibility would be limited to living and travel expenses. She also hopes to develop some collaborative research efforts between the two countries. Alok Bhandari, professor and head of the department of civil engineering, said Dissanayake is the department's second Fulbright Scholar since 2003. "This award is a recognition of Dr. Dissanayake's outstanding research and outreach programs in the area of transportation engineering," he said. "As a Fulbright Scholar she will serve as K-State's ambassador in Sri Lanka while broadening her scholarly work to international road safety issues." The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The U.S. scholar program sends approximately 1,100 American scholars and professionals per year to around 125 countries, where they lecture and/or conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields. Dissanayake joined K-State in 2002 and was promoted to associate professor in 2008. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka, a master's from the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand and a doctorate from the University of South Florida. Latest Comments Posted by: Roseanne Location: Topeka on Sep 16, 2010 at 03:03 PM Feed Raw!!! That is the natural diet of the canine (ie wolf). My dogs have been on Raw for four years and they have perfectly clean teeth, no doggy odor, almost no waste. Please research this as a healthy alternative to what the big dog food companies try to push off on everyone- there is a reason they pour so much funding into the vet schools!! Most vets are biased to which companies pay the bills, they don't want to go against the grain. Luckily there are a few vets out there that do realize that a raw diet is very beneficial, and is species appropriate. 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| Pets Can Stand on Sea Legs Too - Earthtimes Posted: 15 Sep 2010 03:58 AM PDT MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio - (Business Wire) It's smooth sailing for your boating four-legged friends. Starting Sept. 15, Progressive's free Pet Injury coverage protects boaters' dogs and cats. How it works: If your dog or cat is hurt in a boat accident, we'll pay your vet bills up to $1,000. Key coverage points:
"Our new Pet Injury coverage for boaters gives them peace of mind their pets are protected if they get injured in an accident on the water," said Rick Stern, Progressive's boat product manager. Here are a few tips to make sure you and your pet have a safe voyage:
For more tips and information, visit: http://www.progressive.com/vehicle-resources/boat-pet-safety.aspx. Progressive, the first insurance group to offer Pet Injury coverage, provides it free to auto, RV, and now boat customers with Comprehensive and Collision coverage. About Progressive The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies makes it easy to understand, buy, and use auto insurance. Progressive offers choices so consumers can reach us whenever, wherever, and however it's most convenient for them—online at progressive.com, by phone at 1-800-PROGRESSIVE, or in-person with a local agent. Progressive offers insurance for personal and commercial autos and trucks, motorcycles, boats, recreational vehicles, and homes. It's the fourth largest auto insurer in the country, the largest seller of motorcycle insurance, and a leader in commercial auto insurance. Progressive also offers car insurance online in Australia at http://www.progressivedirect.com.au. Founded in 1937, Progressive continues its long history of offering shopping tools and services that save customers time and money, like Name Your Price, the Snapshot Discount, and a concierge level of claims service. The Common Shares of The Progressive Corporation, the Mayfield Village, Ohio-based holding company, trade publicly at (NYSE:PGR). Progressive PR This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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