The shape-shifting SORA-Q probe -- co-developed by a major toy company -- has been compared to a friendly "Star Wars" droid and a sea turtle because of the way its metal form can navigate the dusty Moonscape.

But the gadget's chance to boldly go depends on the success of the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) mission, with a spacecraft dubbed the "Moon Sniper" by space agency JAXA for its precision landing capabilities.

The lightweight craft is due to begin its descent from lunar orbit at midnight, with touchdown planned around 20 minutes later.

But success, which would make Japan the fifth nation to land on the Moon after the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India, is far from guaranteed.

Slightly bigger than a tennis ball and weighing as much as a large potato -- eight centimetres (three inches) across and 250 grams (half a pound) -- SORA-Q was designed by JAXA with Takara Tomy, the toy company behind the original 1984 Transformers.

Sony Group and Doshisha University in Kyoto also helped develop the device, which has a front camera on an orange panel that emerges when the its metal frame snaps open, and another on its back.

Instead of rolling on wheels, the two halves of the sphere are designed to slot out and move in tandem to propel SORA-Q along the rocky surface, a design that reduces size and weight.

"The form-shifting mechanism and ultra-compact, ultra-lightweight design have been created using the technical know-how of toy development," the probe's website reads.

It can move in two ways, allowing it to drive on inclines: "'Butterfly' driving, where both the left and right wheels move together, and 'crawl' driving, where they move separately," the site explains.

Sora means "universe" in Japanese, while "Q" refers to the words "question" and "quest", its makers say.

If the mission succeeds, the probe's cameras will take valuable images of a crater where parts of the Moon's mantle, usually hidden deep below its crust, are believed to be exposed.

Back on Earth, a toy version of the probe costs 21,190 yen ($140) and can roll around a living room to take pictures of cats and babies, according to its promotional video.

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The experiment, deemed a "huge success" by the participants, represents a new step in the development of space surgery, which could become necessary to treat medical emergencies during multi-year manned voyages, such as to Mars.

The technology could also be used to develop remote-control surgery techniques on Earth, to serve isolated areas.

The robot, developed by Virtual Incision (VIC) and the University of Nebraska, is called spaceMIRA.

It took off for the International Space Station at the end of January, aboard a payload carried by a SpaceX rocket.

Stored inside a compact box the size of a microwave oven, the robot was installed last Thursday by NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, who has been in space since last September.

The experiment, conducted from Virtual Incision's headquarters in Lincoln, Nebraska.

It lasted around two hours, with six surgeons taking a go at operating the robot, which is equipped with a camera and two arms.

"The experiment tested standard surgical techniques like grasping, manipulating and cutting tissue. The simulated tissue is made up of rubber bands," Virtual Incision said in a statement.

In a video shared by the company, one arm equipped with pincers can be seen gripping the band and stretching it, while the other arm equipped with scissors makes a cut -- mimicking a dissection.

A key difficulty is the time lag -- about 0.85 seconds -- between the operation center on Earth and the ISS.

For a control experiment, the same process will take place with the same equipment, but on Earth.

"The experiment was deemed a huge success by all surgeons and researchers, and there were little to no hiccups," Virtual Incision said in a statement, claiming it will "change the future of surgery."

NASA, which provided some financial support for the project, said that with longer space missions, "the potential need for emergency care increases, including surgical procedures from simple stitching of lacerations to more complex activities."

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Here is a selection of highlights:

‘World’s first’ flying car

US firm Alef Aeronautics displayed to the public for the first time the working model of what it says is the world’s first real flying car.

“It drives like a car, looks like a car and has a vertical take-off,” said the company’s president and CEO, Jim Dukhovny.

The electric-powered car has received special airworthiness certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The current prototype can transport two people a distance of up to around 110 miles (170 kilometres) and the company expects to start production of a final version at the end of 2025.

The company has already received nearly 3,000 pre-orders for the car, which sells for $300,000.

Robotic dog

Chinese firm Tecno Mobile showed off a robotic dog inspired by the German Shepherd which uses AI and powerful sensors to understand voice commands and perform lifelike actions such as bowing, shaking hands and climbing stairs.

The robot –- dubbed the "Dynamic 1" -- can be controlled by a smartphone apps as well, and it aims to provide the "joy of pet ownership" without the hassles.

Transparent laptop

Chinese manufacturer Lenovo presented a prototype of a laptop with a 17.3-inch transparent glass screen which offers "a completely borderless and see-through display experience".

Instead of a traditional keyboard, it has a touch surface where keys can be projected or you can use a special pen to draw on the screen. The company has not announced a release date for the product.

The screen's transparency can be adjusted so that not everyone who passes by can always see what you are doing.

"The transparent display existed only in futuristic movies, maybe in AR glasses. That's only in the past as we can see," said Lenovo executive director Aiguo Zheng.

AI-powered companion doll

With its cloth body, floral blouse and brown hair, Hyodol has all the look of a children's doll. But Hyodol -- made by a South Korean company of the same name -- is aimed at seniors.

Packed with sensors and AI-power microprocessors, it can play songs, remind seniors with a voice message to take their medicine and can notify the guardian of its user when no movement is detected for a certain period of time.

Standing 35 centimetres (14 inches) tall, the doll is designed to talk when touched by the user and in accordance with customisable time settings such as meal times.

"We are committed to empowering seniors to live independently while staying connected with their community and loved ones," the company said.

Impaired speech voice converter

Dutch startup Whispp demonstrated a calling app which uses AI technology to covert impaired speech due to conditions such as throat cancer, stroke or even stuttering into the user’s natural voice in real time.

Unlike other solutions for people with voice disorders which convert speech to text, the app allows the user to talk to anyone they want on their phone or laptop and maintain a natural conversation flow, while sounding like their own healthy voice.

"We are really helping people who lost their voice get their voice back," said Whispp co-founder and CEO Joris Castermans, adding he hopes the app will one day be on all smartphones "to make this a more inclusive world".

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VR and augmented reality are often associated with video gaming, or the groundbreaking hardware races underway between tech titans like Apple and Meta -- though with little in the way of mass adaptation.

But for inventor Niki Smit, VR is an avenue for humans to express their emotions and explore their mental health, including through the normally explicitly tactile experience of art therapy.

After donning the usual headgear, the user of Smit's "Soul Paint" program is invited to "paint" their virtual body, using colors and lines to explore and express their inner reality.

"When I'm stressed, I clench my teeth -- so I draw this pulsating red thing near my jaws," Smit said, demonstrating the software.

"What we've been making here is an invitation to dive into yourself, to explore yourself," he said.

In a massive hall dedicated to VR, demonstrations invited conferencegoers to watch films and test video games, faces pressed against the VR headset.

But at Smit's stand, users emerged looking visibly moved, having smeared their virtual stomachs in sickly green or their heads in gray, and dancing to free themselves from downbeat emotions.

"VR is not an extension of film. VR is not an extension of video games. We're starting to find out it is a medium about your own human body," he said.

Victor Agulhon makes VR documentaries on topics ranging from top chefs to the Kennedy assassination.

"I can't see myself working in any other medium," he said.

"For me it's really this technology, specifically, that enables unprecedented things in terms of understanding and empathy."

- Immersive, interactive -

"There's an insatiable desire by humans to use storytelling as a way to understand our experience in this world... and you want it to be more immersive with higher interactivity," said Vince Kadlubek, during a panel on the future of entertainment.

Kadlubek is one of the founders of Meow Wolf, an artist collective that now specializes in giant art installations.

From video games to immersive art, a key way to win over audiences is through giving them more interaction and control, he said.

"I don't want to just go into somebody else's world and not have the ability to build something in it, that's so confined," he said, mentioning TikTok and Minecraft as examples of platforms making strides in that area.

For Voyelle Acker, too, immersion is key.

Her studio, Small Creative, develops virtual reality experiences for small groups, in particular to "bring culture to audiences who are sometimes far removed in terms of education or geography."

"Today, we can program anything we want," she said, but "it takes human intelligence to be artistic, to find the right connections."

Creators are in high demand. French automotive giant Valeo came to the conference, known as SXSW, to encourage them to invent the future of in-car entertainment.

Executives introduced a video game for passengers, which uses sensors, cameras and radar to recreate the vehicle's environment in real time -- but for play.

"We can imagine interacting with passengers in other cars, involving them in an experience, like sharing music," said Geoffrey Bouquot, Valeo's Chief Technology Officer.

- 'Cosmic turtle' -

"What can the magical feather dress do?" asked a computer in a mini-cinema showing an endless movie called "The Golden Key."

In this work, generative artificial intelligence continuously produces images, narration and voice, but viewers influence the result by answering questions.

"The magical feather dress transcends time and space -- woven from loose plastic floating in the ocean, the cosmic turtle repurposed this for good in the world," wrote an audience member.

The innovations on display in Austin, Texas, come as the rise of content-generating AI worries many artists, who fear being replaced by machines.

But Melissa Joyner, director of "Reimagined Volume III: Young Thang," doesn't think AI would have been able to produce her VR-bound animated film, inspired by a Nigerian tale.

Generative AI can be part of the process, but it "is not going to tell you I disagree, it's not another person you respect," she said.

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The richest state in the United States by GDP, California is a hotbed of no-holds-barred tech innovation, but lawmakers in state capital Sacramento want to give the industry laws and guardrails it has largely been spared in the internet age.

Brussels has enacted a barrage of laws on US-dominated tech and sprinted to pass the AI Act after OpenAI's Microsoft-backed ChatGPT arrived on the scene in late 2022, unleashing a global AI race.

"What we're trying to do is actually learn from the Europeans, but also work with the Europeans, and figure out how to put regulations in place on AI," said David Harris, senior policy advisor at the California Initiative for Technology and Democracy.

As they have in the past with EU laws on private data, lawmakers in California are looking to recent European legislation on AI, especially given the little hope of equivalent national legislation out of Washington.

There are at least 30 different bills proposed by California state legislators that relate to various aspects of AI, according to Harris, who said he has advised officials here and in Europe on such laws.

Proposed laws in California range from requiring AI makers to reveal what was used to train models to banning election ads containing any computer generated features.

"One of the aspects I think is really important is the question of how we deal with deepfakes or fake text created to look like a human being is sending you messages," Harris told AFP.

State assembly member Gail Pellerin is backing a bill she says would essentially ban the spreading of deceptive digital content created with generative AI in the months leading up to and the weeks following an election.

"Bad actors who are utilizing this are really hoping to create chaos in an election," Pellerin said.

- Law-breaking 'bad guys' -

Industry association NetChoice is dead set against importing aspects of European legislation on AI, or any other EU tech regulation.

"They are taking, essentially, a European approach on artificial intelligence - which is that we must ban the technology," said Carl Szabo, the general counsel of the association, which advocates for light touch regulation of tech.

"Outlawing AI won't stop (anything). It's bad because bad guys don't follow the law," Szabo argued.

"That's what makes them bad guys."

US computer software giant Adobe, like most tech giants, worked with Europe on the AI Act, according to Adobe General Counsel and Chief Trust Officer Dana Rao.

At the heart of the EU AI Act is a risk-based approach, with AI practices deemed more risky getting more scrutiny.

"We feel good about where the AI Act ended up" with its high-risk, low-risk approach, said Rao.

Already, Adobe engineers carry out "impact assessments" to rate risk before making AI products available, according to Rao.

"You want to think about nuclear safety, about cybersecurity, about when AI is making substantial decisions over human rights," Rao said.

- 'Watching California' -

In California, Rao said he expected the problem of deepfakes to be the first to fall under the authority of a new law.

Assembly Bill 602 would criminalize non-consensual deepfake pornography while Assembly Bill 730 bans the use of AI deepfakes during election campaign season.

To fight this, Adobe joined other companies to create "content credentials" that Rao equated to a "nutrition label" for digital content.

Assemblywoman Pellerin expects AI laws adopted in California to be replicated in other states.

"People are watching California," Pellerin said, with a slew of US states also working on their own AI deepfake bills.

"We're all in this together; we have to stay ahead of the folks that are trying to wreak havoc in an election," she said.

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