HitchBOT: The Revival - http://clapway.com/2015/08/08/hitchbot-the-revival/

Watch the Phoenix rise from ashes because hitchBOT looks like it might have another go at life in 2016.

HitchBOT’s Inconvenient Decapitation

Last week we reported that the beloved hitchhiking robot, hitchBOT, had met an unfortunate demise in Philadelphia as it was trying to make its way cross-country to San Francisco, California. HitchBOT was a world traveler — having previously trekked across Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands — and was mourned by people across the globe.

HitchBOT was meant to be a social experiment. One that would study how humans might interact with robots in a very natural environment. In a series of unfortunate events, hitchBOT discovered one of the darkest sides of humanity moments before the robot was decapitated by vandals.

The hitchBOT team in Ontario, Canada says they still don’t know who is responsible for the violent attack, but they’re not worried about finding out who it was either. After all, part of hitchBOT’s reason for existing was to study human behavior.

The Rebirth of HitchBOT

The previous vessel that carried the traveling robot’s mind was damaged beyond repair, according to hitchBOT co-creator Dr. David Harris Smith.

In a recent conversation with Mashable, Smith talked about what it would take to reignite the project. According to Smith, hitchBOT only cost the team around $3,000, but that the two creators spent quite some time on programming the robot. At their best estimate, it would take them at least three months to get another hitchBOT up and running again.

When news hit about the team having an interest in putting another robot together, lots of people took to Twitter in order to tweet their support for the project. Many people who either had experience building robots, or knew someone interested, said that they would be more than happy to help contribute to the project in any way they could.

The team still hasn’t given the green light on the project, but things are looking promising.

Where is hitchBOT Now?

Surprisingly, the team still hasn’t seen the destroyed hitchBOT outside of pictures that fans have submitted. In a press release addressing the incident, the team said that the mangled robot’s body had been found by fans, and was in the process of being sent back to be reunited with its family in Canada.

The team also made mention that they are considering an idea that involves introducing hitchBOT to schools to interact with children. One way or the other, fans are looking forward to seeing hitchBOT back in action real soon.

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ROBOTS CAN BE CUTE, TOO

 

HitchBOT: The Revival

Why can"t we all get along with our #robots? The fate of #hitchBOT. - http://clapway.com/2015/08/02/the-beloved-hitchbot-has-been-vandalized-to-death-366/

HitchBOT, a hitchhiking robot, has had its cross-country trip in the US end abruptly due to an incident involving vandalism in Philadelphia.

What happened?

The story of hitchBOT is one shared with many other poor, unfortunate souls. As innocent as the hitchhiking robot was, humanity still managed to find a way to assert itself on the unassuming robot. HitchBOT started its journey in Boston just two weeks ago.

On Saturday, the Canadian researchers responsible for creating hitchBOT reported that it was involved in an act of vandalism that left the robot in such a sad state of condition that the research team would be unable to repair it; hitchBOT never had a chance to make it out of the Northeast.

What was the purpose of hitchBOT?

HitchBOT was a child-sized robot created to participate in a social experiment that would help the research team understand how humans would interact with robots. It stood approximately 3 feet tall, and only weighed 25 pounds.

The robot also sported many features to help it interact with humans on a basic level, which included camera vision, a microphone, a speaker system, 3G and GPS capabilities.

Believe it or not, hitchBOT actually had a year’s worth of incident-free hitchhiking experience prior to the incident in Philadelphia. The world traveling robot had its first trip when it managed to hitchhike across Canada in 26 days. The trip started in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and ended in Victoria, British Columbia, which spanned a total of about 10,000 km.

After its trip to Canada, hitchBOT took a short break before heading across Germany in February of this year, and then setting out across the Netherlands in June.

Whether hitchBOT’s untimely demise is a product of American culture or if the robot just found itself in the wrong place at the wrong time is unclear.

What Does the Future Have in Store for HitchBOT?

The trip across the United States started in Marblehead, Massachusetts on July 17, and hitchBOT found itself equipped with a sign that read, “San Francisco or bust.” The robot took a decent tour around Boston — even catching a Red Sox Game — before it ultimately ended up in Philadelphia.

Currently, the creators of the project have no idea where hitchBOT has ended up since its battery is completely dead. The team of researchers will be conducting interviews tomorrow, where they will go into more detail about the future of hitchBOT.

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A story MUSIO would be distraught by:

The Beloved HitchBOT Has Been Vandalized to Death

U.S.: Apple Public Transit Maps Coming to Six Cities - http://clapway.com/2015/05/27/u-s-apple-public-transit-maps-coming-to-six-cities-123/

Soon, people in six selected cities will be able to use public transit maps on their mobile devices as Apple Maps prepares to release its public transit maps and directions along with iOS 9. The premiere release of these public transit maps for travel via bus, subway and trains is coming to the cities of New York and San Francisco in the United State, as well as London, England; Toronto, Canada; Berlin, Germany and Paris, France. Apple says that it could also provide the public transit maps to some cities in China.

Apple Public Transit Maps Expected to Spread to Hundreds of Cities

After the initial launch of travel services for mobile devices in those first few locations, Apple Maps says it wants to eventually provide the public transit maps system to more than 600 other cities. While this new public transit maps system is expected to be a great service for the people who use it, some think that Apple Maps hasn’t made much progress in the three years since it first released Apple Maps. This new rollout of public transit maps is seen as a great new addition to Apple Maps, which Apple hopes will be a competitor to Google Maps, which Apple stopped using as of their iOS 6 update.

New Cities to Be Added to Public Transit Maps as They’re Ready

Apple Maps plans to add each new city as it becomes available via a rollout over the air instead of doing it via an iOS update. The next two cities after the initial launch are expected to be the cities of Boston and Tokyo. Most other towns in the US and Europe aren’t expected to be added until sometime in 2016. Many commuters are hopeful their towns will be added soon, as the current version of Apple Maps doesn’t do much good for those who travel via bus, subway or train.

Apple Maps Long in the Making

Apple started their plan to create the public transit maps system when it bought two transit apps called HopStop and Embark more than two years ago. Since then, they have purchased other mapping oriented companies as part of their plan to get out this new public transit maps travel system for its commuting customers. If you commute via subway, train or bus, Apple Maps will eventually put together new public transit maps to make your commute easier.

U.S.: Apple Public Transit Maps Coming to Six Cities