Blue Sky Bulletin — December 2023
A monthly roundup of things worth sharing…
Written by Anthony DeHart
Happy Holidays from Blue Sky Innovations!
As the year draws to a close, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to our community for your unwavering support and enthusiasm. May your holiday season be filled with joy, peace, and cherished moments!
Snapshots from the Future: Aria Stuffing Stockings….
Holiday gift packing can often lead to stress, but that’s where ARIA comes in! Equipped with UNC Blue Sky Innovations’ cutting-edge robotic vision technology, ARIA skillfully identifies various items, ensuring they’re neatly organized into the correct bins.
Learn More about Robotic Vision…
Blog Spotlight: Human-Robot Interaction in The Age of A.I.
By Alisha Kelkar
The way robots and computers work with people has changed a lot over the years. Traditionally, robots were only associated with factories, but now they have slowly started becoming more commonplace. Whether it is Roomba cleaning your house or PARO, the interactive therapeutic robot, we have all either heard of or directly interacted with these robots.
However, as robotic technologies advance and move beyond factories, it is important to consider how to design robots to seamlessly fit into the real world and help us in our everyday lives. While rigid machines that were designed for specific tasks might have worked in rudimentary factory settings, they lack the flexibility needed for diverse, everyday interactions.
Artificial intelligence is one tool that can be leveraged to help make robots more user-friendly. In fact, here at Blue Sky Innovations, we have our very own robotic arm ARIA. ARIA is an xArm5 that uses artificial intelligence- specifically reinforcement learning- to detect, locate, and move objects without human input. We are using AI to make ARIA more autonomous while also recognizing that it will be humans who interact with the robotic arm at the end of the day.
What We’re Watching: The First AI News Network
Channel 1 is a global news outlet leveraging generative AI for a unique approach to news delivery. It’s an intriguing concept: using AI to curate individualized news experiences, potentially transforming how we engage with global events.
While we are always keen to see new AI advancements, we also know how important the human touch is in Journalism. As such, we approach Channel1 with a mix of curiosity and cautious optimism. It’s a novel application, and we’re interested to see how it navigates the complexities of personalized news content.
