Asian robotics company Yukai Engineering showed its unusual but cute robot, its new breathing robotic pillow “Fufuly”, for the first time in Las Vegas in January, 2023. Later, the cute robotic pillow was familiar to the public at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023 and won the CES 2023 Innovation Award.

The breathing pillow is a breath-inducing (呼吸诱导) robot that anyone can hold for comfort, according to Yukai Engineering. Yukai Engineering says stressed workers can rest and take breaks with the help of a robotic pillow. The company’s researchers added they wanted to create a product that would relax its users and allow them to take a deep breath.

In order to make the robotic pillow more effective, the robotics company together with the University of Tokyo carried out the breathing and rest studies. Banking on the data of these studies, researchers state that living creatures have a working system that make the rhythm (节奏) and depth of breathing at the same time. Yukai Engineering says that just holding Fufuly while it expands and contracts (收缩) will help users achieve this, calming the mind and improving task performance.

The robot expands and contracts as if it is breathing like a living creature. The University of Tokyo’s research has proved that its changeable movement causes breathing to change in rhythm and depth, which is the most important working system of it. Inside the robot is something called Deep Breathing Technology, which is based on how living things are drawn to the sounds of their partners’ breathing. Besides, the pillow can automatically (自动地) react to users without the remote control.

Driverless cars coming soon

You are driving to school. You look up to see a pretty, hot air balloon. Whoa! You almost went through a stop sign! In a driverless car, you can look at the balloon. 【小题1】Car makers and others are already testing driverless cars or AVs (automated vehicles) in the U.S. and other countries. Driverless cars may be for sale by 2025!

【小题2】When a car is slipping on an icy road, the ABS can tap the brakes quickly. The wheels turn slowly but do not stop. The driver can then steer the car to safety.

Many cars also have parallel parking technology. These cars can park themselves along a street. No driver is needed. As cars get more driverless technology, they will be safer than cars with a driver. Driverless cars can move closer together on the road than cars with drivers. This may make driving on busy roads safer. 【小题3】Google’s driverless cars have been on the road since 2009 without a major crash.

A driverless car can see the road better than people with the help of radar, cameras, and lasers. Radar helps the car see things up to 100 meters away even in darkness or rain. 【小题4】Lasers that work like radar, called lidar, spin on the roof and build a 3D model of the world around the car.

Automated vehicles use a GPS to find the best way from one place to another. All the information from the radar, cameras, lasers, and the GPS goes to the Controller Area Network bus. A bus is a network that lets all those devices talk to one another. 【小题5】

Are you always disturbed by the noise made by your coworkers while you’re working hard at your task? What kind of feelings will you have on hearing such kind noise? Have you ever got an idea that a certain helmet will help you out of the trouble no you can focus on your work at the office? Now, you needn’t worry for the “Helmfon” will help you ignore noisy co-workers and other distractions.

Created by Ukrainian design company Hochu Rayu, the Helmfon is a big helmet that uses special equipment to absorb the sound so as to completely block out any outside noise, giving the wearer their own quiet personal space so they can better focus their attention on their work. Made of a glass fiber shell, cloth and polyethylene（聚乙烯）, the helmet not only blocks outside sound, but it also keeps the noise you make in, allowing you to answer calls, hold Skype conferences, watch or edit videos, privately.

The company came up with the idea for the Helmfon after being asked to design a new phone booth for an IT company. The project made the team think about the way we communicate and finally begin work on a device that would allow you to be in two worlds just sitting on your chair in the office, in a meeting, or everywhere you feel like just wearing your helmet.

The Helmfon comes complete with a system board, microphone, speakers, and a special holder for your phone. The only trouble is that it makes you look like a character from Mel Brooks famous movie Spaceballs, but the company also made public a variety of great choices, including Bat man-inspired design, and even a Native American headgear.

The Helmfon is still in prototype（雏形）stage, but the Ukrainian company is already working on a commercially available design and plans to offer the design for sale. A release date has not yet been made public.