Thought-controlled aircraft in real life:

[hamishspence]

On reading this news article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22764978

I found myself thinking "One step closer to real-life Firefox".

Any other thoughts on the subject?

[Kobold-Bard]

On reading this news article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22764978

I found myself thinking "One step closer to real-life Firefox".

Any other thoughts on the subject?

It mentions a robotic limb that they want to be able to move naturally. The moment they perfect that I'm getting a set of Doctor Octopus tentacles.

[Johel]

The part about the thought-controlled tablet from Samsung would be great.
But they would have it be very precise :
It's already easier to make a mistake with a touchscreen than with a keyboard.
So what when it's your thoughts (which can wander) rather than your fingers who do the job ?

Precise enough robotic arms, controllable by thoughts, could allow workers to stay at home, using virtual reality-assisted devices to do their work remotely.

Also, we would proof Tulsa Doom wrong : steel IS stronger than flesh. :smallwink:

[Grinner]

I used to think that cybernetics, Shadowrun, and cyperpunk in general were the coolest things ever. Now that they've made headlines, they seem terribly mundane. :smallfrown:

[Emmerask]

So what when it's your thoughts (which can wander) rather than your fingers who do the job ?


I think "wandering" thoughts have a distinctly different brain-activity-pattern then focused "I want to do that" thoughts... ie you could just filter those out :smallsmile:

[Salbazier]

I used to think that cybernetics, Shadowrun, and cyperpunk in general were the coolest things ever. Now that they've made headlines, they seem terribly mundane. :smallfrown:

Really? I think the fact that they made headlines is way cooler. Cooler still is the fact that we are people who know the times when these stuff are mere fiction, the times when they start making headlines, and (hopefully) the times when they has become something that is commonplace.

[Grinner]

Really? I think the fact that they made headlines is way cooler. Cooler still is the fact that we are people who know the times when these stuff are mere fiction, the times when they start making headlines, and (hopefully) the times when they has become something that is commonplace.

Well, a couple of nights ago, I saw this news report about one of the cybernetics research programs, where they showed a couple of neuroprosthetic limbs in development. They had fitted this one guy with a replacement forearm and hand by wiring it to his remaining nerves. They even got his sense of touch back (through a piezoelectric mesh, maybe?). Another woman, paralyzed from the neck down, had the electrode implanted straight into her brain. After more than a decade of helplessness, she could finally do something for herself.

As I watched this program, I realized that the devices both shared the same basic design, and that design had been around since the 80s. The robot itself, while well-made, was no more complicated than a particularly well built VEX robot.

It has taken us this long to stick a few electrodes in somebody's brain and wire them to a robot programmed with a learning algorithm? And I STILL don't have my jetpack?! The future's a bit disappointing, yes?

[Ravens_cry]

This kind of technology will be a boon for locked in patients, other severely paralysed individuals, as well as amputees.
I wish them all the best with it.

[Kobold-Bard]

...

It has taken us this long to stick a few electrodes in somebody's brain and wire them to a robot programmed with a learning algorithm? And I STILL don't have my jetpack?! The future's a bit disappointing, yes?

Look at how many car crashes there still are each year. You think people can be trusted with jetpacks?

[BaronOfHell]

Precise enough robotic arms, controllable by thoughts, could allow workers to stay at home, using virtual reality-assisted devices to do their work remotely.


Why are the workers required again? :smalltongue:


I think "wandering" thoughts have a distinctly different brain-activity-pattern then focused "I want to do that" thoughts... ie you could just filter those out :smallsmile:

Certainly. Our limbs are thought controlled, but they don't go crazy when we let our thoughts wander.


It has taken us this long to stick a few electrodes in somebody's brain and wire them to a robot programmed with a learning algorithm?
Hmm, maybe there's not enough scientists in the field of your interests.... *WINK* *WINK*

[Grinner]

Look at how many car crashes there still are each year. You think people can be trusted with jetpacks?

That was...a metaphor, I guess, for how the future is never what it's cracked up to be.

[Traab]

Yeah I have seen things like this before. I am really glad its getting started and I hope to see the day when its common, and the current prosthetics are treated with the same disdain as old fashioned peg legs. :smallbiggrin:

[Mauve Shirt]

Man I hope I never need to when is Rachel going to text me type with my thoughts. I've always my elbow itches had two or three in my head at a time.

[TuggyNE]

Man I hope I never need to when is Rachel going to text me type with my thoughts. I've always my elbow itches had two or three in my head at a time.

I think that I did I scroll down far enough love you oh wait that sounds a little forward.

[Douglas]

There's a part of the brain, I think the hippocampus, responsible in large part for telling the difference between "I'm thinking about X" and "I'm going to actually do X", and only letting the latter signal through to the motor control nerves. To really make this work properly they'll probably have to tap into that somehow, and if they do then it should easily (relatively speaking) avoid such stream-of-consciousness problems.

[Ravens_cry]

There's a part of the brain, I think the hippocampus, responsible in large part for telling the difference between "I'm thinking about X" and "I'm going to actually do X", and only letting the latter signal through to the motor control nerves. To really make this work properly they'll probably have to tap into that somehow, and if they do then it should easily (relatively speaking) avoid such stream-of-consciousness problems.
I think that's the forebrain, though I could be wrong. The hippocampus, I believe, is more about memory.

[Johel]

Why are the workers required again? :smalltongue:

(probably humor but just in case...)

Because not every thing is automated (yet...).
Some jobs (exemple : repair, maintenance,...) need specialized workers to actually have a look.
And either decide of which specific process to follow or to work outside any known process because the situation is new or not clear enough.

This kind of specialized workforce today has the double problems of :
a) being needed quickly for urgent situations rather than planned production
b) not being available in large number because market is too specialized

For several such jobs in IT, the issue can be solved through remote intervention on the software part.
And, for the hardware, by guiding the customer through a step-by-step process that addresses the most frequent situations.

For other (exemple : a plumber), it cannot be remotely operated.
Such technology could allows for it, cutting on travel time for many jobs and therefor increasing both productivity and lifestyle.

[BaronOfHell]

I meant if you're at the level of sophistication described, I doubt you would really require input from the human mind for every step, in stead of having a general way of finding solutions implanted within the machinery.


(probably humor but just in case...)
Some jobs (exemple : repair, maintenance,...) need specialized workers to actually have a look.
And either decide of which specific process to follow or to work outside any known process because the situation is new or not clear enough.

This kind of specialized workforce today has the double problems of :
a) being needed quickly for urgent situations rather than planned production
b) not being available in large number because market is too specialized

It can still be automated. It's not a protocol of things to do if X happens, which is needed, that's equivalent to memorization for completing a task. What's required is a method of solving problems with unknown solutions, like the majority of jobs requires. It's totally doable, and has already been done to stock the market, I believe.


For several such jobs in IT, the issue can be solved through remote intervention on the software part.
And, for the hardware, by guiding the customer through a step-by-step process that addresses the most frequent situations.

For other (exemple : a plumber), it cannot be remotely operated.
Such technology could allows for it, cutting on travel time for many jobs and therefor increasing both productivity and lifestyle.

I do follow why it's a great tool at your disposal, if the technology get sufficiently advanced, what I'm just saying is that at the time of this level of advanced technology means other things would also have advanced.

Computers might be similar to a living system (but not identical), maintaining its own functionality, finding its own energy source, etc.
The same could be said about a house.

Imagine a future where the only requirement for a job is the wish to perform said task, and nothing else. :smallbiggrin:

[Ravens_cry]

Imagine a future where the only requirement for a job is the wish to perform said task, and nothing else. :smallbiggrin:
I can't actually. You will still need people to fix things when they get broken. Such people may not be humans, but they will need to be people.

[BaronOfHell]

How come? A living organism is a loop in the sense it's self maintaining, while producing a byproduct which can be labeled as some kind of functionality.
For "every system" failure it cannot maintain by itself, a general approach is used to identify and fix the problem. I can't see why it has to be a person doing that, creativity isn't something unique to us.

[Grinner]

How come? A living organism is a loop in the sense it's self maintaining, while producing a byproduct which can be labeled as some kind of functionality.
For "every system" failure it cannot maintain by itself, a general approach is used to identify and fix the problem. I can't see why it has to be a person doing that, creativity isn't something unique to us.

A living organism also replicates its base components, given enough raw material. Mundane robots have a more difficult time of acquiring parts without some kind of extensive support infrastructure.

It's also possible that the damage would prevent the robot from repairing itself. I suppose you could make an analogy to biology there, though.

[Ravens_cry]

A living organism also replicates its base components, given enough raw material. Mundane robots have a more difficult time of acquiring parts without some kind of extensive support infrastructure.

It's also possible that the damage would prevent the robot from repairing itself. I suppose you could make an analogy to biology there, though.
Living organisms are amazing self-repairers, but errors can accumulate, to devastating results that can lead to the cessation of existence.
You don't want the machine of society getting cancer or, worse, dying.

[BaronOfHell]

A living organism also replicates its base components, given enough raw material. Mundane robots have a more difficult time of acquiring parts without some kind of extensive support infrastructure.
That's what I meant by self maintaining. It gets its energy (which in from my view point included raw material required) from a source, which, just as a random example, could be the Sun. With enough energy, any element of the periodic table can be formed, as well can any compound molecule.


It's also possible that the damage would prevent the robot from repairing itself. I suppose you could make an analogy to biology there, though.

Indeed, and I'll take the analogy to its fullest, if you don't mind. If a human experience some kind of damage which the body can't repair, we go to the doctor. If the doctor experience some kind of damage, so he repairs faulty, there's still checks in place, both within us (skepticism) as well as outside us (e.g. statistics of how well the doctor is performing his job, and I'm sure more as well). There's however no need for all these instances to be separate when it comes to imagining a fantastic system. Also I imagine the system is so simple, or at least we've so much knowledge about it, that it's always possible to repair, so there's no "incurable illness", etc.

For a much simpler example, one could imagine something like a very efficient way to get wireless energy from a satellite orbiting the sun, for the need of energy. An advanced 3D printer, and just picking up random blocks which can be chemically altered into the required compounds.

But anyway I'm not sure if I'm still on topic. :smalltongue:

[Grinner]

*snip*

So let me get this straight. You want to give every robot:

a dehumidifier,
an artificial photosynthesis nanotube array,
a nuclear fusion reactor,
and a 3D printer?

[BaronOfHell]

To be precise, I would like for every automatic system to have a self maintaining component as part of said automation.

Edit: Also with wireless energy transfer, you won't need it for every robot.. but I'm honestly not very keen on discussing such details as I don't find them to be that relevant.

[Grinner]

To be precise, I would like for every automatic system to have a self maintaining component as part of said automation.

I won't say it's preposterous, but I will say that it sounds pretty darn expensive.

[BaronOfHell]

Well I don't know what qualifies for pretty darn expensive, but I'm talking about a dynamic system here and last time I checked, work horses weren't pretty darn expensive... :smalltongue:

The beauty of a self maintaining system is that it does not need money invested for it to be maintained, it does not need to be replaced over time and it does not have to expensive necessarily, but that's more of an engineering task I imagine.