Google Tech Talk September 17, 2009 ABSTRACT Aleecia M. McDonald will speak about industry self-regulation for online privacy. After a brief overview of how we got here, we will explore the status quo through two studies. First, what is the user burden if people read online privacy policies? How long would it take to do so, and what is the economic value of that time? Second, how well can users understand privacy policies? We evaluated six privacy policies in three different presentation formats and found standardized formats do not help users as much as their proponents might like. Finally, we conclude with an overview of public policy options for online privacy. Bring your ideas, we could have a lively discussion. Aleecia M. McDonald is a PhD candidate in Engineering & Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, where she is a member of the Cylab Usable Privacy and Security (CUPS) research laboratory. Her interests span the intersection of Internet technology, policy, economics, and law. Ms. McDonald’s research includes the efficacy of industry self regulation, behavioral economics and mental models of privacy, network traffic analysis to combat spyware, automotive privacy, and RFID technology. In addition to a decade of experience working for software startups, Ms. McDonald holds an MS in Public Policy and Management, and a BA in Professional Writing, both from Carnegie Mellon. Her findings have been featured in media outlets such as the Washington Post, Ars Technica …
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Do you remember the Bowlingual, the portable dog language translator that was released in Japan last year? The basic concept behind the $250 device (which people living outside Japan can get here) will soon be used for an iPhone app that translates what a dog “says” into human language and emoticons in real-time.

Japanese toy giant Takara Tomy markets the device as a gag product but also stresses its scientific component (it was jointly developed with an acoustics research laboratory and a veterinarian), meaning we’re in for a treat with the iPhone app that’s scheduled for release this summer [JP]. The developer, Tokyo-based Index, a (listed) mobile contents provider, will release a Japanese version fist, followed by the English app in mid-August.

The way it works is that you need to let your dog bark into the iPhone mic first. The app then uses a special algorithm to analyze what your dog wants from you and displays it on the iPhone screen. On the picture above (left half), for example, the dog says “Let’s play together”.

What the Bowlingual device doesn’t offer is the “social networking feature” of the iPhone app. Press the bone-shaped button below your dog’s statement to post it to Twitter (see the Twitter conversation thread shown on the right half on the screenshot above), along with a profile picture of your dog. You can also add a comment before you tweet your dog’s message out, a feature that’s supposed to encourage dog owners to connect and communicate with each other on Twitter.

The Bowlingual gadget has been sold over 300,000 times in Japan so far and won the Ig Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

Via Asiajin

A research laboratory at Japan’s Ritsumeikan University has developed a monitoring system for wet diapers that consists of a self-powered sensor/transmitter and a receiver and is supposed to assist staff in hospitals and nursing homes in performing diaper checks with elderly patients. The sensor kit has to be placed inside the diaper and sends signals to the receiver unit, which was co-developed in collaboration with Seiko Epson.

Both the sensor and the accompanying wireless transmitter are powered by a built-in battery that can generate electricity following a chemical reaction in the presence of urine. Once this happens, the sensor kit can transmit signals to a receiver located as far as 3 meters away.

The university lab says their wet diaper monitoring system is still in prototype mode. One possible area for improvement is to add circuitry to the sensor system so that a single system can monitor a group of people, for example in a nursing home.

Via Nikkei [registration required, paid subcription]

Researchers at Caltech have developed a mobile, four-wheeled robot that could help refine artificial retinas and other prostheses used by the visually impaired.

At first glance, Cyclops resembles a bot you might find on the battlefield, and it’s hard to imagine what connection it could have to restoring sight. But dig a little deeper and it starts to make sense that a remote-controlled robot with an onboard camera could deliver some very useful data.

The digital camera can emulate left-to-right and up-and-down head movements. The idea is that as artificial vision prostheses increasingly become a reality, scientists could use the mobile robotic platform to mimic those devices–and more importantly, to get a better sense of how well they work for people who wear them.

The researchers might do that by asking the robot outfitted with an artificial vision aid to navigate obstacles in a corridor or follow a black line down a white-tiled hallway to see if it can find–and enter–a darkened doorway. All the while, they could try out different pixel arrays (say 50 pixels vs. 16 pixels), as well as image filters (for factors such as contrast, brightness enhancement, and grayscale equalization) to venture an educated guess as to what settings maximize a subject’s sight.

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Wolfgang Fink

(Credit:
Caltech)

But “we’re not quite at that stage yet,” researcher Wolfgang Fink says of such independent maneuvering. Fink is a visiting associate in physics at Caltech in Pasadena, Calif., and founder of the school’s Visual and Autonomous Exploration Systems Research Laboratory, where where he and Caltech visiting scientist Mark Tarbell are collaborating on Cyclops with the support of a grant from the National Science Foundation.

The pair designed and built the body of the battery-operated rover using off-the-shelf parts, then furnished it with an onboard computing platform that allows for processing and manipulating images in real time using software they created called “Artificial Vision Support System.”

Cyclops, so named because it’s monocular, is about 12 inches wide by 12 inches long and 10 inches tall (the camera can be mounted on a mast to make Cyclops the height of an average person). It weighs about 15 pounds, Fink estimates, and can move at an “expedited walking speed” of about 2 to 3 feet per second.

For now, the platform itself is controlled remotely, via a joystick, and can be operated through a wireless Internet connection. “We have the image-processing algorithms running locally on the robot’s platform,” Fink says, “but we have to get it to the point where it has complete control of its own responses.”

Once that’s done, he adds, “we can run many, many tests without bothering the blind prosthesis carriers.”

…

Japanese toymaker Takara Tomy claims it has developed a device that can translate what a dog “says” into human language and emoticons in real time. And the so-called “Bowlingual” [JP] isn’t being marketed as a (pure) gag product.

Jointly developed with an acoustics research laboratory and a veterinarian, the Bowlingual works wirelessly (your dog must wear a wireless mic around the neck). Let the device catch noises made by your dog (transmission range: 10m) and it will analyze the “animal language” with a special algorithm before telling you on the LCD screen what was being “said”.

The Bowlingual displays text (in Japanese) and a range of graphics to show what your dog feels, in real-time (there is also speech output). There are around 200 text blocks and icons that illustrate a total of six moods: frustration, joy, sadness etc.

Data can be saved for later analysis. And Takara Tomy even threw in a answering machine function that makes it possible to monitor your dog’s feelings when you’re away.

The Bowlingual will hit Japanese stores on August 23 with a $220 price tag. It’s Japan-only for the time being.

Here is the official promo video: