A new head-worn device allows users to control a mobile robot via head motion and speech recognition, requiring fewer fine motor skills than existing technologies. In a human study, participants performed household and self-care tasks with low error rates, minimal effort, and high perceived ease of use.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have created soft robots that can transition from walking to swimming, crawling to rolling, or jumping. The robots use highly dynamic bistable soft actuators made of shape-memory alloy springs that react to electrical currents, allowing for varied locomotion and adaptability.
Researchers developed a framework highlighting four facets of honest behavior: intellectual honesty, honest content, honest disclosure, and honest delivery. These elements are crucial for fostering accurate beliefs, understanding, and truthful communication.
A Carnegie Mellon University professor proposes a new AI model that highlights the evidence of fairness in decision-making. The model provides counterfactual explanations to demonstrate whether past decisions were fair or biased. This research has practical implications for legislative efforts, industry norms, and AI model evaluation.
A study by Carnegie Mellon University researcher Edson Severnini found that large-scale hydroelectric dams constructed in the US before 1950 spurred short- and long-term growth, while those built after 1950 had modest effects on local economies. The decline is attributed to advancements in high-tension transmission lines.
Researchers develop E-seed carriers, inspired by Erodium's self-burying mechanism, to enable efficient aerial seeding in difficult-to-access areas. The three-tailed design enhances functionality beyond nature's offerings, with potential applications for other materials and environments.
A recent study at Carnegie Mellon University discovered that students who receive less than six hours of sleep per night experience a pronounced decline in academic performance. The study, which tracked over 600 first-year college students, found that each hour of lost sleep corresponded to a 0.07 decrease in end-of-term GPA.
FRIDA uses AI models similar to those powering tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E 2 to generate paintings based on user input. The robot's final products are impressionistic and whimsical, with bold brushstrokes that lack precision sought in robotic endeavors.
A study by Carnegie Mellon University found that stressed individuals tend to connect with others who are similarly overwhelmed, exacerbating feelings of stress. Certain personality traits, such as high neuroticism and low conscientiousness, can buffer the transmission of stress in social interactions.
A new study at Carnegie Mellon University found that the brain accurately identifies objects in dynamic videos and static images by analyzing movement patterns. Participants identified objects with high accuracy even when deprived of shape, color, or other visual cues.
Researchers explored the impact of pick failures on e-commerce retail sales and found that incorporating this factor into order management systems can lead to significant savings. By modeling pick failure probabilities, retailers can optimize their ship-from-store programs and reduce costs.
A research team at Carnegie Mellon University has developed a machine learning method called SPICEMIX to analyze spatial transcriptomics data. The tool helps identify and understand gene expression patterns in cells, revealing new insights into brain cell types.
A research team at Carnegie Mellon University is working to simplify data requirements for speech recognition models, aiming to reach 2,000 languages. By focusing on linguistic elements common across many languages and using a phylogenetic tree, the team hopes to eliminate the need for audio data.
The emergence of private high schools in rural India increases stratification by gender, income, and socioeconomic status. However, students who remain in public schools are unharmed academically, according to a study published in the Journal of Public Economics.
New expansion microscopy methods, dubbed Magnify, allow researchers to observe nanoscale biological structures with standard microscopes. The protocol retains biomolecules intact, enabling simultaneous imaging of proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates.
A team of researchers has created a new method for fabricating nanodevices by shrinking hydrogels to create 3D patterns. This technique uses ultrafast two-photon lithography and can produce high-resolution patterns up to 13 times larger than the original size, enabling the creation of complex nanostructures.
A new study found that prioritizing part-time employees can significantly improve the consistency of care in long-term care facilities. By consistently assigning part-time workers and having flexible full-time workers, facilities can reduce the average number of different nursing assistants a resident interacts with by 20-30% each month.
A recent study published in Nature Computational Science reveals that specific regions of the brain process both individual and combined words, while others focus solely on individual words. The research could contribute to the development of wearable neurotechnology devices that can decode language directly from brain activity.
A new study at Carnegie Mellon University found that group cohesion reduces whistleblowing tendencies within an organization but increases them outside of the group. This challenges prevailing views on whistleblowing and highlights the importance of considering relational dynamics in organizational interventions.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute have developed a sensor called ReSkin that allows robots to feel cloth layers, enabling tasks such as folding laundry. The team taught the robot to grasp and manipulate cloth using tactile sensing, overcoming challenges of computer vision-based approaches.
A data visualization tool, TrafficVis, assists law enforcement in identifying patterns in online escort advertisements that indicate illegal activity. The tool analyzes millions of ads to highlight common phrasing or duplication among them, helping analysts direct investigations and identify human traffickers and victims.
The study found that fine particulate concentration levels decreased by 2-4 micrograms per cubic meter in host countries with embassy monitors. This reduction led to a significant decrease in premature mortality, resulting in annual health benefits of $127 million for the median city with an embassy monitor.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a new approach for conducting automated science in space by balancing risk and scientific value. The approach uses a model that estimates science value and risk, allowing rovers to chart their own course while protecting against high-risk missions.
A machine learning model developed by Carnegie Mellon University can accurately predict how stay-at-home orders affect people with multiple sclerosis. The model uses passively gathered smartphone and fitness tracker data to identify factors that signal changes in health.
A new study found that rating inflation can have both positive and negative effects on digital platforms. While sales increased due to higher ratings, users' trials declined, and sales were concentrated among popular sellers. The study highlights the importance of building informativeness into rating systems to minimize rating inflation.
A new study by Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Innsbruck found that individuals treat information as cherished possessions, exhibiting loss aversion and endowment effects. This discovery has implications for education, healthcare, and online consumer privacy.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed an AI pilot that can safely navigate crowded airspace by predicting the intent of other aircraft and avoiding collisions. The AI uses vision and natural language processing to communicate with other aircraft, enabling safe and socially compliant navigation.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University developed a novel learning method for robots called WHIRL, which allows them to learn household tasks in the wild. The method enables robots to gather video data from human interaction and generalize it to new tasks, making them suitable for learning household chores.
A study by Carnegie Mellon University researchers found that algorithmic transparency can have positive effects for firms, allowing them to motivate agents to improve valuable features. However, transparency may not always be beneficial for agents, as it can lead to a loss of predictive power and disadvantage high-type agents.
A new study from Carnegie Mellon University found that drinking alone during adolescence and young adulthood increases the risk of alcohol use disorder later in life, especially for women. Solitary drinking is a unique and robust risk factor for future alcohol problems, according to lead author Kasey Creswell.
A new study from Carnegie Mellon University suggests that presenting government programs with a cost-per-person price tag can increase public understanding and participation in policy debates. By scaling large numbers into smaller units, people can better comprehend funding choices, potentially leading to more informed citizenship.
Researchers found that partisans tend to justify their own party's falsehoods and view those of opposing parties as unacceptable. The study suggests that this partisan charitability can be driven by a desire for trustworthiness within one's own group, but not necessarily outside it.
The study, led by Carnegie Mellon University researchers, identified toxic content in open-source platforms like GitHub, which is more contextual, entitled, and subtle than other online communities. The team developed a dataset of 100 toxic posts to better understand the nature of toxicity in open-source discussions.
A new study found that teams with stable hierarchies exhibit cooperative speaking patterns, while unstable or unspecified hierarchies lead to competitive interruptive patterns. Team gender composition also plays a role, with majority-female teams benefiting from cooperative patterns and all-male teams from competitive patterns.
A new camera system developed by Carnegie Mellon University researchers can reconstruct sound vibrations with extraordinary accuracy, capturing isolated audio without inference or a microphone. The dual-shutter vibration-sensing system uses two cameras and a laser to detect high-speed, low-amplitude surface vibrations.
A new study from Carnegie Mellon University found that tweeting about an open-source project on GitHub increases its popularity by 7% and attracts more contributors. The researchers also identified characteristics of high-impact tweets and the type of people likely attracted to a project by Twitter posts.
A new study by Carnegie Mellon University found that parenting styles are a strong indicator for how people think about social issues, including education and elder care. The results suggest that helicopter parents tend to prefer paternalistic political policies, while free-range parents tend to lean towards autonomy.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University developed an AI-powered method for robots to recognize and pour transparent liquids like water. The technique uses contrastive learning for unpaired image-to-image translation, enabling robots to see through different backgrounds and pour accurately.
A new study by Carnegie Mellon University analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd's murder on crime rates in 28 US cities. The study found that homicides and auto thefts increased, while robberies and larcenies declined. The authors suggest that social unrest, economic conditions, and changed police behavior may b...
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University gathered data on an all-terrain vehicle's interactions with challenging off-road environments, collecting over 200,000 real-world interactions. The resulting TartanDrive dataset is multimodal and includes information about speed, suspension shock travel, and video.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute have developed an algorithmic planner that helps delegate tasks to humans and robots. The planner considers a list of tasks and decides how best to assign them, considering the time it takes for humans to complete tasks and teach robots new skills.
A new paper outlines a universal protocol for secure cryptocurrency exchanges, addressing issues of honesty, privacy, and third-party reliance. The protocol ensures honest swaps across all current and future cryptocurrencies, with no need for specialized features or high computing power.
New research finds that journalists and laypersons describe racial and gender inequalities in terms of disadvantage, while wealth inequality is described in terms of advantage. The framing of inequalities is linked to their perceived legitimacy, with illegitimate inequalities being framed more strongly as disadvantages.
A team of researchers has combined expansion microscopy and stimulated Raman scattering microscopy to create a new imaging technique called MAGNIFIERS. This allows for the high-resolution imaging of biomolecules, including proteins, lipids, and DNA, at the nanoscale.
A study found that informational content in videos, rather than emotional connectivity, encourages family members to donate tissues. The intervention increased willingness among next-of-kin to provide consent for tissue donation in Nevada, where the vast majority do not give consent after death.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a practical new way to receive tactile feedback in virtual worlds using airborne ultrasound waves. The system, small and light enough to attach to VR goggles, creates sensations on the lips, teeth, and tongue, enhancing VR experiences.
A Carnegie Mellon University researcher is working to create technology that supports health and expands access to marginalized communities. Her research explores how older Black adults interact with voice assistant devices, highlighting challenges such as difficulty phrasing questions and 'code-switching' to adapt to formal dialects.
A study by Carnegie Mellon University researchers found that lawyers who view negotiation as a game, with arbitrary rules, are less willing to disclose honest information. Lawyers with higher moral character are more likely to adopt an ethical approach, while those with lower moral character are more prone to game framing.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University developed AI-enhanced museum exhibits that increased learning and engagement for elementary school-aged children. The intelligent exhibits featured a virtual assistant, NoRilla, which interacted with visitors, asking questions and guiding them through scientific challenges.
A new study reveals that competitive debates lead to increased polarization as individuals persuade themselves of their side's superiority, even if it conflicts with personal beliefs. The results suggest that self-persuasion is a significant contributor to the growing divide in society.