Lately, a large amount of content coming our way all share a related topic: mind reading. There are titles like “Brain Scanners Can See Your Decisions Before You Make Them” and “Brain scanning may be used in security checks“. The brain scanners that are currently used by scientists are not the kind of mind reading machines we see in science fiction movies, but they are still quite amazing. With all the research and information scientists now have on the human brain, they are able to translate data from brain scans to be able to know exactly what you saw or what you were thinking. In the future, could robots use this research and develop new technology to help them in their destruction of mankind?
“Scientists are one step closer to knowing what you’ve seen by reading your mind”
So how exactly can a scientist read your mind? It’s all done through careful analysis of the brain’s neural activities and patterns. To do this, a functional magnetic resonance imager, or fMRI, is used. So, how does a fMRI work?
After being announced in June, the Japanese government (more specifically a Japanese space agency/non-profit organization USEF - Institute for Unmanned Space Experiment Free Flyer) has confirmed their plans to build a solar-power power plant in space. USEF has named the project Space Solar Power System or SSPS. The project has an estimated cost of $21 billion, but with the scope and time frame of this project being so large, the end cost is sure to be much higher. Luckily, two giants of Japanese industry, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and IHI Corporation, have agreed to join the project and help fund it.
The plan for the orbiting power plant is to power 300,000 homes in Japan. That doesn’t seem like very many homes for such an incredibly expensive project, but if the project is a success the commercial applications will change the landscape of power generation forever.
In a never ending search of information regarding the development of killer robots, I came across a Popular Science article about Japanese scientists going for a quiet walk in their prototype robotic exoskeletons. The article has a video following the scientists as they walk down a sidewalk.
The exoskeleton is named HAL, which stands for Hybrid Assisted Limb. It is being developed to help recovering patients or patients in physical therapy to move around and to also help users lift heavy objects. The prototype shown in the video is not a full HAL system, but rather a partial system consisting of the exoskeleton’s legs. The scientists in the video are also eerily quiet.
SonofNero sent in a link to a story that happened in Australia in 2008, so it’s a little old, but still an interesting topic.
It is interesting because it involves a robot actually killing someone. That’s right, a robot murdered a human in cold blood. Why didn’t this get more press? Mainly because the murderbot was being controlled by a man. Francis Tovey of Canberra, Australia had built the robot in response to his family members constantly demanding that he move into an assisted care home. All of their requests made Tovay suicial, so he went to his computer looking for answers.
…Tovey scoured the Internet for information on making a robot capable for firing a semi-automatic gun pointed at his head.
I’m posting this from my mobile phone so this will be short but sweet. Robotics company Boston Dynamics won funding from DARPA to build a “hopper” robot that is able to leap over obstacles in order to perform surveillance. A demonstration video can be seen here.
Robots are slowly beginning to pick up more and more skills to make them human-like or better. Toyota has built and demonstrated a robot that is able to run. Although the speeds are not very fast, this is just a small step towards giving robots too many abilities.
Remember the old TV show The 6 Million Dollar Man with Lee Majors or the more recent Bionic Woman? The premise of these fictional shows was that after some kind of horrible accident, science was able to “rebuild” a human using robotics and cutting edge science & theory. The resulting upgrades gave the person enhanced strength, speed and vision. The only drawback to the whole process was the cost. Luckily there was always some quasi-governmental institution to pay for everything because nothing says “good intentions” like a shadow organization with it’s own agenda.
Well, science has unfortunately advanced so far that the cost for many of the upgrades is now much more affordable. The Institute of Engineering and Technology in London looked into cutting-edge robotics and technology now available to put into a human. These “upgrades” include the eyes, hands, legs and overall strength; all things a hybrid robot can use to conquer humanity.
Hopefully you’ve already read the original post. More information has been found, and it really proves that personal robot helpers at home an in hospitals is a poor choice.
“For the first time, robots are safe enough and inexpensive enough to do meaningful work in a residential environment,” said Rod Grupen, a computer scientist at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst.
Robots really aren’t safe, they just aren’t sophisticated enough to cause trouble yet. Having these early generation robots accepted by the public means that more advanced robots will be well received. Those are the robots we need to worry about.
Lately, a large amount of content coming our way all share a related topic: mind reading. There are titles like “Brain Scanners Can See Your Decisions Before You Make Them” and “Brain scanning may be used in security checks“. The brain scanners that are currently used by scientists are not the kind of mind reading machines we see in science fiction movies, but they are still quite amazing. With all the research and information scientists now have on the human brain, they are able to translate data from brain scans to be able to know exactly what you saw or what you were thinking. In the future, could robots use this research and develop new technology to help them in their destruction of mankind?
