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Week in Web

Weird Wide Web: Stolen bikes, helpful robots and a floating head

All of your essential tech and social media news for the week in one byte-sized portion.

WELCOME TO THE WEIRD Wide Web – where we take a look at the week’s best offerings in tech and social media news.

Get fit gadget of the week

(Image: Jawbone.com)

Jawbone's UP fitness-tracking wristband has made a comeback after an embarrassing first launch last year after which it had to be withdrawn over reliablilty problems, Telegraph reports. Creaters started fresh with a new design and the gadget works as a pedmoeter, monitors your sleep and even acts as an alarm which you can set through the app.

App of the week

(Image: BikeSpike/Kickstarter)

Have you experienced the frustration and helplessness of a stolen bike? The BikeSpike is a simple way to prevent it from happening again. You attach a small tracking device to your bike which is linked to an app. If it's stolen you can trace its whereabouts and nail those suckers.


(BikeSpike/Vimeo)

Helpful robot of the week

(Image: VanderbiltUniversity/YouTube)

This humanoid robot helps to train children with autism in coordinating their attention with other people and objects in their environment. Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Vanderbilt University Nilanjan Sakar said that if children are" more interested in the robot than in human therapies then the robot might be able to use this engagement to some benefit". Research findings indicate that the robot could place a key role in responding to the growth in the number of people being diagnosed with autism.

Talking head of the week

Toshiba Research and Cambridge University have designed this slightly unsettling digital talking head which can express human emotions on demand. Gizmodo reports that the creators had an actress read over 7,000 different simple sentences, in different emotions while tracking facial expressions to create the avatar dubbed 'Zoe'.

(CambridgeUniversity/YouTube)

Read all previous Weird Wide Webs>

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