Innovation/creativity

Japan's 'Sense-Roid' replicates human hug. Posted Thu 23 Jun 2011, 7:08pm AEST Japanese inventors have pushed the frontiers of technology with the ultimate companion for lonely singles - a wired torso-shaped device that you can hug and that hugs you back. The Sense-Roid looks like a tailor's mannequin with silicon skin and is packed with pressure sensors. It is connected to a jacket worn by the human user that replicates the embrace with the help of air compressors. The illusion of a mutual hug with the half-humanoid is enhanced by artificial muscles and vibrating devices in the tactile jacket, according to the inventors from the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo.

"Many people initially feel surprised and uncomfortable about the unusual experience, but they gradually get accustomed to it until they feel comfortable and pleasant," said research team member Nobuhiro Takahashi. "We wondered how humans would feel if they could hug themselves. " The Sense-Roid is on display at the 3D & Virtual Reality Expo in Tokyo. About Innovation Lab | Innovation Lab. International outlook – technological insight. Since 2001, we have established an international network comprising close to 2500 connections within worldwide research, product development and entrepreneurship. This network operates as our "antenna association" providing us with a broad perspective of the scope of emerging technologies, of their potential, and of who has advanced the furthest and with what.

Such an overview supplies us with a quite precise impression of what will be stirring in 3-5 years which is the time span right now on the drawing boards of research and development departments. Through talks and articles, workshops, seminars and projects we strive to provide a comprehensive list of the potentials and challenges facing businesses and organisations; and here our extensive insight is a valuable advantage. And there is a widespread interest. Innovation Lab is a limited company, albeit registered as a non-profit organisation. Who? The Partnership for 21st Century Skills - Home. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills - Creativity and Innovation. Think Creatively Use a wide range of idea creation techniques (such as brainstorming) Create new and worthwhile ideas (both incremental and radical concepts) Elaborate, refine, analyze and evaluate their own ideas in order to improve and maximize creative efforts Work Creatively with Others Develop, implement and communicate new ideas to others effectively Be open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives; incorporate group input and feedback into the work Demonstrate originality and inventiveness in work and understand the real world limits to adopting new ideas View failure as an opportunity to learn; understand that creativity and innovation is a long-term, cyclical process of small successes and frequent mistakes Implement Innovations Act on creative ideas to make a tangible and useful contribution to the field in which the innovation will occur Additional resources related to creativity and innovation are listed below: 1.

Critical and Creative Thinking - Bloom's Taxonomy 2. Home. RSA Comment. Reimagining artistic innovation. Home. RED. November 7, 2006 New RED project: DEMOCRACY How could MPs better connect with their constituents? That's the question we set out to answer in this latest RED project. We asked constituents to design their perfect MP; ran a design workshop with 15 MPs in parliament; debated the issues on the Today Programme; and we spent an intensive week working alongside a constituency office in Doncaster to develop a new set of services for MPs.

We published our results in the snappily-titled report, 'Ten practical things every MP can do to rebuild democracy in their constituency', which sets out proposals for new services for MPs, a hansard for constituents and a 'Constitupedia' - a resource of consituency best practice. There's a short film of the project below and if you're interested in the detail a presentation of our Transformation Design process.