Interactive

If you smiled at someone and they didn't smile back, you'd probably find it off-putting. Well, that's what usually happens if you smile at a humanoid robot … but not in the case of the expression-mirroring EVA.

It's easy for us to forget that our computers are equipped with "electronic eyes," potentially watching us at all times. Scientists are now exploring the dynamics of the relationship, with a creepy – but fully functional – human-eye-like webcam.

Back in 2018, China's Puppy Robot launched the puppy cube interactive projector on Indiegogo, and we got to review a unit. The next generation launched early 2020, followed by the higher spec Hachi Infinite M1 Pro – which we've been trying out.

Given the importance of physical distancing, it's understandable that customers and staff at auto dealerships may be leery of getting too close to one another. That's why Hyundai has developed a new artificially intelligent customer service robot.

Google researchers have come up with a textile-covered cable that can pause music playback on a smartphone with a tap, skip tracks with a double-tap and control volume with a twist.

A team from Stanford University has developed an interactive website that allows users to create their own custom model estimating how different social distancing interventions affect the spread of COVID-19 over time.

For working musicians, interacting with your audience is an important part of playing live. And so is getting paid. Phil the Tip Jar is fun and quirky and gives something back to fans, dispensing "thank you" cards when it detects money going in the top.

A new NASA VR experience is letting viewers explore the chaotic heart of our galaxy from the perspective of the supermassive black hole lurking at its heart, Sagittarius A*. The video was created from a combination of supercomputer simulations and data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

​It was three years ago that we first heard about Orbi Prime sunglasses, which use four integrated cameras to record 360-degree interactive video. Orbi has now unveiled a more robust version of the glasses, but perhaps more interestingly, it's also built the technology into a football helmet.

Black Mirror's latest instalment, called Bandersnatch, presents audiences with one of the most sophisticated interactive film experiences to date, but is this a glimpse of the future of entertainment, or a dead-end experiment that leeches out everything fundamentally important to storytelling?​

This Halloween scientists at MIT’s Media Lab are embarking on a massive social experiment. Called BeeMe, the project will let internet users control a real human actor. New Atlas reached out to Niccolo Pescetelli, one of the creators behind the experiment to find out exactly what is about to happen.

Augmented reality can bring a book to life by pointing a smartphone or tablet camera at coded objects on a page and viewing the results on the smart device's screen. Magik Book has created its own spin with brochures that sync with a tablet and launch digital content when a page is turned.​