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© 2011, 2012 Health Futures Digest
Advances in Computing Lifelike Intelligent Avatars A research project called LifeLike takes precise 3-D measurements of a person, including facial movements and other body language, to create a near-video-realistic avatar of the person, then endows the avatar with artificial intelligence capabilities including natural language processing and machine learning. The goal is to make the user […]
The announcement just a few days ago of a gene therapy drug which, in animal trials, reversed the effects of Alzheimer’s, supports our mantra that healthcare innovation is accelerating. That mantra is premised on continuing acceleration in the computing and communication power on which so much of modern healthcare relies. Here, in no particular […]
A new way of squeezing more circuitry onto silicon wafers will keep Moore’s Law alive for a few more years, by which time, quantum chips could be ready to take the Law to a whole new level: A quantum chip made in Michigan has brought the Holy Grail of quantum computing a step closer. Another […]
Artificially intelligent chess programs are growing more intelligent and less artificial. Software in general is growing more intelligent, and within a few years may be able to configure and fix itself when it goes wrong, rather as the body does. That�s assuming Microsoft does not get in the way of yet another innovation. Speaking of […]
Software seems to have caught up with the prodigious processing power of DNA microarrays, enabling exponentially faster genetic analysis. MIT Media Lab continues to refine techniques — some sophisticated, some not — to make computers seem more human and likeable by endowing them with fake personality or the ability to read a person’s mood. Such […]
A new and ultra-fast method of computing produces order from chaos. Perhaps it will get CPUs past Moore’s Law, which after all is only a rule of thumb, not a universal constant, and is routinely flouted by graphics chip makers. Health Futures Digest, which is edited in and runs on open source software, likes to […]
No common theme this month — advances were all over the map: Rapidly advancing understanding of quantum properties through man-made matter will enable rapid advances in quantum computing, among other wonders. Toshiba’s 0.85 inch 4 GB drive has made the Guinness Book of Records. Game power and reality moves up a significant step with the […]
The first prototype has been unveiled of another serious effort to turn the Internet into a guru able to answer almost any question put to it. If the question is just about someone’s interpersonal relationships as revealed by the Internet, IBM already has the answer, but it will cost you. In a less controversial application […]
A quiet month in computing; just more reports on: The development of ever more powerful yet less costly computer chips and lab chips, including some that partially self assemble; Petaflop computers; and Stoppable lightwaves that promise to multiply computing power by further orders of magnitude. Chip Innovation and Costs A projected 25 percent increase in […]
While a dime sized 2GB hard disk is readied for cell phones and PDAs, quantum spintronics could result in RAM drives that replace hard disks altogether. Other developments in computing: AI is being applied to the prevention of malariaand other vector-borne diseases. Grid computing is a key element of the UK’s National Technology Strategy. In […]