DARPA’s James Cameron Mashup: Unsurprising, but Existentially Bananas

 AI, Artificial Intelligence, Consciousness, Cybernetics, DARPA, Exoskeleton, Future Already Very Pending, Human Augmentation, Military Robotics, NBI, Neurology, Prosthetics, Robot, Technology, Transhuman, Transhumanism, WarBots  No Responses »
Feb 212012

Remote-Controlled Humanoid WarBots
So DARPA got some so-called Avatar robot money in next year’s budget. This is interesting news that slips neatly into anthrobotic.com’s WarBot thread, but for those who follow the WarBot-machine-drone-non-directly-human-remote-watching/killing/delivering field of technology, it’s hardly a revelation. Becasue Predator, Reaper, Global Hawk, K-MAX, Sentinel, Packbot.
And more:
Drone aircraft and other remotely controlled vehicles in our unmanned arsenal already function as primitive avatars, so obviously this is a logical next step. But, as with most things DARPA, it begins an interesting discussion.

First, a question I haven’t quite figured out is:
Where’s the line between robot and R/C car or plane or whatever? Some consider our various military drones to be robots, but we wouldn’t really consider this here to be a robot:
Other than size and munitions and relocating to Nevada in order to play with it, isn’t a Predator drone essentially the same thing? Which is a robot and why? I don’t know, man!

What about an automated parking garage? Aren’t those kind of like building-sized robots lugging cars up and down and to and fro? Shouldn’t a gigantic semi-autonomous robot have geeks like me all kindsa dorktastically excited?
They don’t. Well, maybe me a little bit.

The thing is, there’s a kind of animal vanity at work here. I think in order for us to call something a robot, we want it to be at least vaguely modeled after something that is actually living. Or has lived. Because I’ve seen a robot T-Rex before, and it was unquestionably a robot.

Red = Pissed Off.

Continue reading »

Posted by Reno Tibke at 6:16 PM

TERMINAL ANACHRONISM: The Traditional University System (ENDANGERED)

 Anthrobotic Originals, Cybernetics, Future Already Very Pending, Japan 日本 Tekk, New Education, Technology & Education, Technology & Work, Terminal Anachronism, The Beginning is Near, iPad  No Responses »
Feb 162012

Terminal Anachronism #5
The Terminal Anachronism series focuses on devices, institutions, and various artifacts of society that still exist but are very much on a kind of technological death row.
(see also: publishing, VHS, textbooks, etc.).

TODAY’S CANDIDATE: The University System
VERDICT: Endangered Now; Relevance Rapidly Decreasing

Just. Can’t. Decide.
I should add to my title “and My Motivation to go to Grad School.”
I have a really big problem. After what amounts to years of searching, here in Japan I’ve finally found an appropriate graduate program in the social sciences. It’s a challenging two-year master’s program administered by a group of ferociously bright and dedicated Western scholars (it matters).

The program isn’t perfect, but as close as I’m likely to get here in Japan – and Japan is where some really super interesting technological things are going to happen first. Japan also, you know, has its moments. Lastly, I’ve always liked the idea of going back to school. Spend a decade or so living life, and then back to the books, so to speak.
But…

EDUCATION IS CHANGING, SON!
(list of resources after the jump) Continue reading »

Posted by Reno Tibke at 9:41 AM

Yes, Yes My Lower Jaw is 3D Laser-Printed Titanium. No, I’m Not From the Future.

 Cybernetics, Future Already Very Pending, Human Augmentation, Medical Technology, Multimedia, Prosthetics, Technology, Transhuman, Transhumanism, We're Already Cyborgs Already  Comments Off
Feb 072012

Wow.
Low on time here, so gotta forgo my standard verbosity and just sit back and be impressed by this technology – it’s truly amazing across so many disciplines.

If you dig on such things, have a look at my last post – I went on at great (painful) length about emergent cyborg culture/developments, etc.

For now I’ll just extend congratulations and huge props to developers, surgeons, and the recipient.

[ARTICLE VIA 3DERS - AS IN, ...ERS - THOSE WHO DO STUFF]
[ANOTHER ARTICLE FROM FORBES - ALEX KNAPP]

Posted by Reno Tibke at 11:46 PM

Where the Human Ends & the Machine Begins: Getting Unclearer…

 AI, Aging Society, Anthrobotic Originals, Artificial Intelligence, Brain, Consciousness, Cybernetics, Exoskeleton, Future Already Very Pending, Human Augmentation, Kurzweil, Medical Technology, Prosthetics, Technology, The Beginning is Near, Transhuman, Transhumanism, We're Already Cyborgs Already  4 Responses »
Feb 032012

Cyborg Stuff
There’s an interesting piece over at NYT – The Dilemma of Being a Cyborg.
I’m not entirely sure what the dilemma is, but cyborg stuff is no small deal here at Anthrobotic, so it merits some consideration. Here are a few thoughts to roll the ball:

What are the Boundaries of my Physical Parts?
Okay, so I’ve got my guts, and my bones, and my connective tissues – like most people, that’s what I refer to as my physical “self,” the physical Me.

But… then I’ve got a few fillings and a few non-biological implants. Are those things any less Me? Are they just add-ons? What about the various bacteria and teeny-tiny bugs that at all times live in/on my body? Are those Me, too? As part of a whole bacterial culture, individual components pass and new are born – and at a molecular and sub-molecular level, nearly every cell in my body does essentially the same thing.

So my physical body, my Me, seems to be a bizarre combo platter of the co-dependent fauna, the implants (cyborg?), my body’s dead-cell accumulations of hair & finger/toenails, and transient molecules following a recursive pattern that results in my distinctly human biological structure, i.e., all my bones and squishy parts. In sum, these components make up my essential physicality, my manifestation, my both internalized and projected physical reference point for the world around me.

Well, I guess the thing is this: every living human is in a symbiotic relationship with the millions of other organisms contained by our bodies, and by definition many of us are already cyborgs (Dick Cheney, Stephen Hawking, Me). As such, what we routinely conceptualize as our discrete physical “self” isn’t nearly as cut and dried as we might think. Or quite necessarily, not think. Too much thinking about this would result in psychosis and/or a PhD in biological philosophy or losing one’s religion or something.

Technology’s helping us further explore and understand these ideas, but the catch is that it’s also totally complicating the issue.

Because What about the Boundaries of my Personhood?
Where is my Personality, or Soul, or Whatever? Continue reading »

Posted by Reno Tibke at 12:19 PM

Technology Will Eradicate Barbarians & Drum Circles and Fix Everything

 Consciousness, Cybernetics, Energy Technology, Future Already Very Pending, Genomics, Human Augmentation, Internet, Kurzweil, Medical Technology, Prosthetics, Pure Science, Robot, Space Technology, Super Computer, Technology, Technology & Art, Technology & Education, Technology & Labor, Technology & Politics, Technology & Travel, Technology & Work, Technology Law, The Beginning is Near, Transhumanism  Comments Off
Jan 262012

The Dumbest of the Species
The two most holistically primitive varieties of anti-technology people are:
#1. Hardcore Religious Zealots
and
#2. Hippies
Regarding technology’s fundamental role in human civilization’s, ummm… existence, these two groups are far and away the most confused and contradictory. If that sounds discriminatory and judgmental, well that’s because it’s meant to be. What other sets of humans have been more consistently incorrect and backward about nearly everything their philosophies project onto society?

While what hippies and religious zealots stand for is dumb as hell, and they’ve done exactly nothing positive for the world they live in, mentioning them does make for a fabulous segue into today’s Anthrobotic Book Recommendation! Continue reading »

Posted by Reno Tibke at 12:03 AM

The Disabled Wage War Against the Wheelchair and Begin Test-Piloting Transhumanism

 AI, Artificial Intelligence, Brain, CareBots, Cybernetics, Exoskeleton, Human Augmentation, Military Robotics, Neurology, Prosthetics, Robot, Technology, Transhuman, Transhumanism, We're Already Cyborgs Already  Comments Off
Jan 102012

Burn it Down
This lovely young woman is doing her part to destroy the wheelchair industry. And she’s a hero. Practical, admirable, and necessary, movements such as ADA and other anti-discriminatory legislation were essential for their time, but we should all be happy when technology renders them irrelevant.

As I’ve said before, the technology that is the wheelchair has helped millions, but its time is finished – and the time of the wearable robot exoskeleton is approaching. Unless you build wheelchairs or access ramps or any other specialized wheelchair-centric equipment, you’ve gotta agree that a mobility revolution for the disabled is long overdue (and if you do build such equipment, it’s time to diversify, yo).

This post is really an update; this exact system came up here last May, then Berkeley Bionics (now renamed Ekso Bionics – a real lateral marketing move, I think) was just testing their prototype wheelchair killer. Now the device is moving through medical trials and appears to be fast-tracking to the market. These guys know what they’re doing – they’ve been at it since 2005, and their tech is also being used in Lockheed’s HULC exoskeleton.

The Physically Disabled as Transhuman Pioneers Continue reading »

Posted by Reno Tibke at 1:28 PM

Leaping Across Mori’s Uncanny Valley: Androids Probably Won’t Creep Us Out

 AI, Anthrobotic Originals, Artificial Intelligence, Cybernetics, Future Already Very Pending, Human Augmentation, Multimedia, NBI, Prosthetics, Robot, Robot Emotions, Robot Love, Technology, Technology & Work, Telepresence, Transhuman, Transhumanism  Comments Off
Dec 062011

Expressive, and Bearded, Android
This is the latest public version of the Geminoid, the Geminoid DK. The android is the result of a collaborative telepresence project by some Danish guys with Geminoid originator Hiroshi Ishiguro. Watch the video below for a few examples of DK’s expression capabilities – it’s a demo of what he can do – of course this would be slowed and timed for actual conversation.

Human Psychology Uh-Oh
Okay, just there, just now – without even thinking twice I just typed the pronoun “he.” Seeing what I saw, that was the word in my head. One small word, one huge concept – and I don’t think I’m alone here.

Mr. Mori’s Valley of Creepiness
What got me started on this today is that I was reading WIRED Magazine (not with paper, of course), and perchanced across a brief interview with Masahiro Mori – the guy who coined the term and developed the concept of the Uncanny Valley. Continue reading »

Posted by Reno Tibke at 11:02 AM
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