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THE FISH BOWL — Have you ever felt sorry for a fish as it swims in a small tank with nothing new to explore?
No? Me neither, aside from watching “Finding Nemo.” But someone must have, because a company called Studio diip, based in the Netherlands, has made a wheeled robot that a fish can control to “explore the world beyond the limits of its tank.”
Studio diip specializes in image recognition software, stating, “What the brain does for the human eye is what image recognition does for a camera.”
They mounted a camera on a tank with wheels, then the software recognizes which way the fish is swimming and propels the robot accordingly.
At first it seems goofy — yet entertaining — to give a fish that sort of freedom. But the potential of applying the software in new ways has larger implications of machines performing personalized functions based what they “see” around them.
Studio diip is currently working on several daily life help projects such as license plate recognition, sub millimeter position placement, food recognition for automated recipe suggestions, and a card reader for Bridge tournaments. They are also working on concepts for automatic laundry sorting and a support system for people with dementia or other memory problems.
