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A magic bracelet that unlocks PCs, dancing robot spiders, and more in Intel's circus

Roll up, roll up

Finally – robot butlers for all!

Krzanich made a robot fetch him a bottle of diet cola which is bad for you but tastes so good, and the point is: hotel room-service staff are doomed.

These robot butlers are supposed to go around conferences, conventions and hotels delivering stuff that people order or request. This particular droid is powered by Intel's Realsense, which is a bunch of algorithms that give computers depth perception. Sensors and cameras can be linked to the technology to work out where things are around them. Google's Project Tango will, it was announced, use Realsense in smartphones to scan the surrounding area and produce a 3D model of it. Tango is only available to developers right now.

The Robot Operating System (ROS) will also support Realsense, as will Linux, Scratch, OS X, Windows, Unity, and other platforms. Razer is working on a Realsense-powered camera for streaming gamers, which will pick out just the player's face and body so it can be superimposed over their Twitch stream, for example. The aforementioned spiders also had Realsense tech in them.

Guys on BMX bikes fitted with sensors did stunts all over the stage to show that sensors work and the Internet of Things is fun and will make you lots of money as a developer.

Intel has licensed its Enhanced Privacy ID (EPID) tech to Microchip and Atmel.

It could have been called Enhanced Privacy ID Check (EPIC) but no, Intel had to go with EPID – its system for identifying and authenticating devices and Internet-of-Things gateways using cryptographic keys. The design is published as an ISO standard. Microchip and Atmel have licensed the tech to put into their own silicon. EPID can do things like prove a gadget is what it says it is, or belongs to a group. If you use your smartphone to instruct your boiler to warm the house, the mobile's app and the boiler can use EPID to authenticate themselves. If you have an EPID chip in your car, it can use the technology to authenticate the approaching traffic lights and know to slow if a red light is showing.

A British dude responsible for TV's cultural highlights The Apprentice, The Voice, and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader appeared on stage to say he has been working with Intel on a new reality TV show called America's Greatest Makers that will give away $1m to whoever comes up with the best gadget, gizmo or Internet-of-Things thing.

You can watch Krzanich's keynote for yourself here. ®

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