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I just caught this on the 6 o'clock news...
Cybernetic Handshake!
London - British and American scientists "shook hands" on Tuesday in a groundbreaking cyber-experiment conducted via the Internet.
In a technological first, two scientists - in London and Boston - picked up a computer-generated cube between them and moved it, each responding to the force the other exerted.
The "phantoms" they use are devices which recreate the sense of touch by sending small impulses at very high frequencies through the Internet, using newly-developed fibre optic cables and high bandwidths for improved conduction.
"The experiment went very well," said Joel Jordan, from the University College of London. "You can actually feel the object being pushed against your hand".
'You can hit each other hard enough to leave little bruises'
Jordan said the secret behind the technology is the speed at which the successive impulses are sent. "In much the same way that the brain interprets still images into moving pictures, the frequencies received by the phantom are similarly integrated to produce the sense of a continuous sensation."
Not only can scientists feel the force being exerted by colleagues across the Atlantic Ocean, they can also feel the texture of the object they are feeling.
"You can feel how rough something is, or how springy the side of the cube is," Jordan said.
"You can also hit each other hard enough to leave little bruises, and there are bigger versions of the equipment we're using which could really cause some damage," Jordan explained.
The implications of the experiment could be vast, with talks of trainee surgeons using the technique perform mock operations. It could also allow people to experience sensory perception in cyberspace. - Reuters
Reporting from somewhere in Britain
Mubbers
Cybernetic Handshake!
London - British and American scientists "shook hands" on Tuesday in a groundbreaking cyber-experiment conducted via the Internet.
In a technological first, two scientists - in London and Boston - picked up a computer-generated cube between them and moved it, each responding to the force the other exerted.
The "phantoms" they use are devices which recreate the sense of touch by sending small impulses at very high frequencies through the Internet, using newly-developed fibre optic cables and high bandwidths for improved conduction.
"The experiment went very well," said Joel Jordan, from the University College of London. "You can actually feel the object being pushed against your hand".
'You can hit each other hard enough to leave little bruises'
Jordan said the secret behind the technology is the speed at which the successive impulses are sent. "In much the same way that the brain interprets still images into moving pictures, the frequencies received by the phantom are similarly integrated to produce the sense of a continuous sensation."
Not only can scientists feel the force being exerted by colleagues across the Atlantic Ocean, they can also feel the texture of the object they are feeling.
"You can feel how rough something is, or how springy the side of the cube is," Jordan said.
"You can also hit each other hard enough to leave little bruises, and there are bigger versions of the equipment we're using which could really cause some damage," Jordan explained.
The implications of the experiment could be vast, with talks of trainee surgeons using the technique perform mock operations. It could also allow people to experience sensory perception in cyberspace. - Reuters
Reporting from somewhere in Britain
Mubbers
