Some scientists recently made a breakthrough in their ongoing efforts to instill fear into the hearts of the global population: they are replacing humans with machines.
Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology are working on the next generation of androids, which could easily surpass clowns as the scariest humanoids on Earth.
In order to make these robots more life-like, and therefore more terrifying (although Wired uses terms like "appealing"), these androids will have flexible spines to increase their range of motion and improve their balance.
Jimmy Or, of the Korea Advanced Institute hopes these machines will be a big hit in the field of geriatrics. Yes, you read that correctly: He wants to mix electronics and old people.
"Due to the aging population worldwide (especially in Japan), there is a need for robots to be humanized in order to communicate more naturally and take care of the elderly," Or told Wired.
I am fairly certain Or has good intentions, but I don't think androids would be well received in America. While elderly Asians may be open to technology, I, for one, know that my American grandma is afraid to use her cell phone, let alone interact with a robot.
I am also worried this will bring our culture one step closer to having "Stepford wives." I don't expect anyone to marry a robotic nurse, but where will the line be drawn once the technology further progresses?
You can read more about the androids here.
If full-fledged robots are too much for you to handle, you could always just purchase an arm.
Scottish company Touch Bionics has created a bionic arm which has fingers that can move individually, and functions like a human limb. Wearers of the i-LIMB can now turn a key in a lock, hold playing cards and give someone the finger -- with both hands.
While the arm deserves praise for its abilities, its major drawback is that it needs to be recharged overnight. What happens if -- God forbid -- there is a power surge? You have an $18,500 paperweight if it's not on a surge protector. Caught outside in a storm? Hello, lightning rod.
You cannot take the arm on a rural camping adventure or a weekend sailing trip, because you would have no way to charge it. It seems like the times when you would need two hands the most, you cannot bring the arm with you (although I suppose you could throw it at a bear, or wave it around if trying to signal a helicopter).
All things considered, the bionic arm is an amazing invention and will be a great help to the non-adventurous people who are missing a limb. If you ever have to face amputation, you now know that you can still lead a normal life with two functioning arms.
You can see a video of the i-LIMB in action here and read more about it here.
And although it may seem silly to fear androids but adore a bionic limb, I have decided that I'd rather be chased by Thing from the Addams Family than Star Wars' C-3PO.
Lastly on the robotics front, scientists have now found a replacement for Jesus, or rather, replicated his supposed walk across water.
Called water strider robots, these useless mechanical insects can walk across water's surface tension at a whopping three centimeters per second. Scientific American mentions that the bugs are cheap to produce, so once they hit the market, you could probably buy a couple and watch them fight... slowly.
Considering that a needle can also be supported by surface tension, I fail to see how this invention is as exciting as the articles make it seem. The "Jesus bugs" themselves have no real purpose, so why make a fake one? To say it can be done? It has about as much justification as a hotdog eating contest or winning America's Next Top Model, except the "bug" makers probably won't get a cool trophy or meet Tyra Banks.
To read more about the bugs, go here or here.
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2 comments:
While your grandmother will be afraid of robots at first, she'll grow accustomed to them -- we all will -- the same way we grew accustomed to using computers for everything.
For instance, your grandmother may be terrified of using a mouse but you know how to customize your MySpace. Which each new generation comes a wave of ease with new technology and eventually the distance between man and machine is diminished.
Now, it is important to note that good science fiction movies are more than just entertainment: they serve as potent reminders of what science can do versus what science shouldn't do (Jurassic Park is the most popular example... as long as you don't mention it to geneticists).
If and when robots reach the point we fear -- perhaps best phrased for now as the "iRobot" point -- engineers will have programmed in the code so the robots obey Isaac Asimov's 3 Laws of Robotics, including instructions that the robot must not harm people.
Bionics, or advanced prosthetics, are absolutely neceesary and we're fortunate that progress is being made so quickly in this field. Some very interesting work is being done by a neuroengineering team at Duke; they've implanted chips in chimp brains and the chips send signals to a prosthetic hand. That way, after some practice and configuration, you can simply think about closing your hand and the prosthetic hand will do it.
Very cool. Wish we were doing that research at FAU.
The water strider robots may not seem like a big deal but every step like that may be the first step towards a much larger goal. What it is in this case, I won't pretend to know.
Nice blog, though! Science is great.
i agree! this is gonna be an awesome blog.
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