Skip to main content

PackBot military robots to help with security at 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil

PackBot robotBrazil has evidently decided to take a high-tech approach to security for next year’s soccer World Cup with news that the nation’s government has signed a $7.2 million deal with Massachusetts firm iRobot for 30 of its PackBot military robots.

With multiple high-res cameras that enable it to explore potentially dangerous environments while keeping the operator out of harm’s way, thePackBot 2 PackBot will, for example, be able to examine suspicious objects in and around stadiums in each of Brazil’s 12 host cities during the month-long sporting event. Its ability to take on a raging drunk soccer hooligan coming at it with a flagpole, however, may be limited.

The advanced robotic device weighs around 24 pounds and features eight payload bays, an on-board computer with overheat protection, two-way audio, and a highly versatile mechanical arm with a gripping hand – on second thoughts, that gripping-hand mechanism could, if you use your imagination, be the ideal tool for helping to subdue the aforementioned hooligan.

A single PackBot unit costs in the region of $150,000 and is described on the company’s website as “one of the most successful battle-tested robots in the world” thanks to its ruggedness, adaptability and reliable performance. The remotely operated vehicle has a top speed of 5.8 mph and is able to climb steps, make its way across rubble and comfortably navigate narrow passageways.

The PackBot was the first remotely operated robot to enter the devastated Fukushima nuclear facility following the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

iRobot, a Bedford, Massachusetts-based company that was founded in 1990, has already successfully deployed over 5000 PackBots to military and civil defense forces around the world – including in Iraq and Afghanistan – though this latest contract will result in their first outing at a World Cup event.

[iRobot via Cnet]

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Digital Trends’ Top Tech of CES 2023 Awards
Best of CES 2023 Awards Our Top Tech from the Show Feature

Let there be no doubt: CES isn’t just alive in 2023; it’s thriving. Take one glance at the taxi gridlock outside the Las Vegas Convention Center and it’s evident that two quiet COVID years didn’t kill the world’s desire for an overcrowded in-person tech extravaganza -- they just built up a ravenous demand.

From VR to AI, eVTOLs and QD-OLED, the acronyms were flying and fresh technologies populated every corner of the show floor, and even the parking lot. So naturally, we poked, prodded, and tried on everything we could. They weren’t all revolutionary. But they didn’t have to be. We’ve watched enough waves of “game-changing” technologies that never quite arrive to know that sometimes it’s the little tweaks that really count.

Read more
Digital Trends’ Tech For Change CES 2023 Awards
Digital Trends CES 2023 Tech For Change Award Winners Feature

CES is more than just a neon-drenched show-and-tell session for the world’s biggest tech manufacturers. More and more, it’s also a place where companies showcase innovations that could truly make the world a better place — and at CES 2023, this type of tech was on full display. We saw everything from accessibility-minded PS5 controllers to pedal-powered smart desks. But of all the amazing innovations on display this year, these three impressed us the most:

Samsung's Relumino Mode
Across the globe, roughly 300 million people suffer from moderate to severe vision loss, and generally speaking, most TVs don’t take that into account. So in an effort to make television more accessible and enjoyable for those millions of people suffering from impaired vision, Samsung is adding a new picture mode to many of its new TVs.
[CES 2023] Relumino Mode: Innovation for every need | Samsung
Relumino Mode, as it’s called, works by adding a bunch of different visual filters to the picture simultaneously. Outlines of people and objects on screen are highlighted, the contrast and brightness of the overall picture are cranked up, and extra sharpness is applied to everything. The resulting video would likely look strange to people with normal vision, but for folks with low vision, it should look clearer and closer to "normal" than it otherwise would.
Excitingly, since Relumino Mode is ultimately just a clever software trick, this technology could theoretically be pushed out via a software update and installed on millions of existing Samsung TVs -- not just new and recently purchased ones.

Read more
AI turned Breaking Bad into an anime — and it’s terrifying
Split image of Breaking Bad anime characters.

These days, it seems like there's nothing AI programs can't do. Thanks to advancements in artificial intelligence, deepfakes have done digital "face-offs" with Hollywood celebrities in films and TV shows, VFX artists can de-age actors almost instantly, and ChatGPT has learned how to write big-budget screenplays in the blink of an eye. Pretty soon, AI will probably decide who wins at the Oscars.

Within the past year, AI has also been used to generate beautiful works of art in seconds, creating a viral new trend and causing a boon for fan artists everywhere. TikTok user @cyborgism recently broke the internet by posting a clip featuring many AI-generated pictures of Breaking Bad. The theme here is that the characters are depicted as anime characters straight out of the 1980s, and the result is concerning to say the least. Depending on your viewpoint, Breaking Bad AI (my unofficial name for it) shows how technology can either threaten the integrity of original works of art or nurture artistic expression.
What if AI created Breaking Bad as a 1980s anime?
Playing over Metro Boomin's rap remix of the famous "I am the one who knocks" monologue, the video features images of the cast that range from shockingly realistic to full-on exaggerated. The clip currently has over 65,000 likes on TikTok alone, and many other users have shared their thoughts on the art. One user wrote, "Regardless of the repercussions on the entertainment industry, I can't wait for AI to be advanced enough to animate the whole show like this."

Read more