Okamoto refers to this as cells, but I think this is all a part of the Grid Computing initiative that is being put forth. They are planning on putting more networked intelligence into their products, and this will in turn give them access to more computing power locally. Not using your PVR? It helps optimize the back end of the game you are playing. Likewise, if you are recording a show, and not playing a game, the spare cycles of your gaming system will be available to help out with insuring that there is enough memory available to keep from dropping frames. Instant replays and save games from your PS3 will be saved to your PVR, which is networked, so you can play your customized characters from a friends house as long as they too are connected.

Sources: GridFrastructure Releases Grid Tools For Linux PS3 and Grid Computing More From News.com Okamoto's GDC Address

12:02:09 PM    

I saw the Proscope on TechTV’s Call For Help the other day, an thought nothing of it. Then I went to the product’s site. Boom, I got it. You can hook up a 200x lens to it, and feed that directly into your machine. Looking at the Law Enforcement applications they describe gives me even more ideas. For crime scene data collection, have a robot that enters the scene, scans it in 3d while taking photos so you have a complete map of the room. Then bathes the room in UV, taking photos and noting where organic material lights up. Next, it goes through, takes a close look at said organic material, including a series of magnified scans of them. An arm could be set up to swab for DNA, insuring that you never get a contaminated sample. Additionally, the robot could record the ambient temperature of the room as well as the body to help establish the time of death.

A truly smooth operator would also have it set to scan/dust doorknobs and other surfaces for fingerprints once it finished it’s initial run through the room. This would all help minimize crime scene contamination, and improve evidence gathering. First though, the cost of intelligent semi autonomous robots needs to drop.

9:57:41 AM