Programmable Heart Cells in Robotic Stingray Brings Artificial Pumping Heart Closer to Reality

July 18, 2016

Author: Q3 Technologies

Welcome to another week of future science and technology news! We’re getting closer to the future at an unprecedented pace – and it’s going to get even more exciting as more technological advancements take place around the world.

Thanks to Kevin Kit Parker, Professor of Bioengineering & Applied Physics at Harvard University and his team of researchers, we just might be one step closer to creating the first artificial pumping heart. He created a soft, tissue-based robotic stingray that contains rat heart cells, which are genetically-programmed to guide it towards light sources.

"Morphologically, we’ve built a jellyfish. Functionally, we’ve built a jellyfish. Genetically, this thing is a rat," Researchers said, "[We were] surprised that with relatively few components—a silicone base and cells that we arranged—we were able to reproduce some pretty complex swimming and feeding behaviors that you see in biological jellyfish."

"[We’re] pleasantly surprised at how close we are getting to matching the natural biological performance, but also that we’re seeing ways in which we can probably improve on that natural performance. The process of evolution missed a lot of good solutions," they remarked. Although they had created a silicone-based robotic jellyfish with heart muscle cells back in 2012, this is the first robot that can autonomously guide itself towards light.

Project Nourished Allows You to Taste Food using Virtual Reality

If you’ve been following this blog, you know that we’re big into the idea of virtual reality being the next big thing. But experiencing a virtual environment is one thing, but what if you could taste food in it as well? Jinsoo An, Experience Designer, and his team of 30 engineers believe they can re-create the experience of fine dining by analyzing the essential elements that allow us to remember a meal - vision, taste, texture, smell, consistency & sound – and using technology to mimic the results.

An is the brains behind Project Nourished - an initiative by Kokiri Lab, a think tank that researches the use of wearable technology to improve human condition – provides a "gastronomical virtual reality experience" without the extra calories through the use of a virtual reality headset, such as the Oculus Rift, and various other devices that include an aromatic diffuser, bone conduction transducer, gyroscope, food detection sensor, and 3D-printed food.

"Even though the food is completely imaginary, there is a sense of joy, happiness and being part of a family. We want this happiness to be the focal point of our experience," says An, "Some of these ideas can be quite scary or seem far out, but I think designers, technologists and culinary professionals should start thinking about these implications so that we can make more conscious decisions down the line."

This article was written by Q3 Technologies – a large diversified technology company offering software development services to businesses worldwide. With a team of highly-skilled software developers having a high level of technical expertise, Q3 has helped clients with their software & application development needs by providing Offshore Software Product Development services to the IT industry worldwide.