Recently I’ve been interested in getting a dog. Not just any dog or breed but a specific one which my family, even before we went to purchase him, came to name as Jack. While we discussed owning a puppy someone else felt like wise about Jack and when we returned to see him he was gone. We have looked at other dogs but none have the same characteristics or personality of Jack. So as I researched new technologies this semester I kept coming across numerous advances in robotics. While there are some significant developments in the medical field where humans can control and feel with artificial robotic limbs this week’s blog will focus on other potential uses of robots.
For starters, Boston Dynamics’ “Big Dog” caught my eye. I highly recommend watching the video clip by clicking on the link below the picture. Here is a low maintenance dog, capable of walking on ice, could carry & pull things, is able to dance and provide numerous hours of entertainment. It could go for walks or jogs, carry a radio or TV, even carry me if I got tired; the ultimate companion. Except for bringing it into the house; here Boston Dynamics has created “Little Dog.”
As I continued to ponder the concept of a robotic dog, Little Dog just didn’t seem as interesting as Big Dog. And neither seems to have the personality of Jack. Will Boston Dynamics add bio-technology to their robotic creations to give them life like characteristics? It remains to be seen; the majority of their efforts are currently toward supporting the military versus making household pets.
In comparison, others are making robots to compete in such events as Hawaii’s Ironman-Triathlon. http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/robots/pint-sized-bots-with-human-foibles-take-on-hawaiis-ironman-triathlon
Tomotaka Takahashi’s athletic robots are designed with extra motion features to give them human like characteristics. “’It’s irrational, but it looks more natural,’ Takahashi says.” As I continued to look into robots with human characteristics I came across a convention sponsored by the Society of Robots - http://www.societyofrobots.com/ - that occurred in Washington D.C. in 2008. Here, the MANOI Robot demonstration is displaying human characteristics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6uB-ggxF8g&feature=related
Researching these robots led me to the following hobbyist web site: http://botmag.com/articles/manoi_1.shtml .
But can these little guys or gals – I’m uncertain how else to call them - be a useful technology? I return to Boston Dynamics which has created “Petman.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mclbVTIYG8E&feature=player_embedded
While it looks like Petman can serve the military, a true sign of success is being able to market new technology to the general public. So what are the possibilities? Entering Petman in the Iron-man competition is one. Then I wouldn’t have to think about competing or feeling guilty for not entering; why try if one is bound to lose to a robot? My other thought was of Woody Allen in the movie “Sleeper,” where he plays a comical robotic servant. Another notion was of the television series “Battle Star Galactica,” where the Cylon robots attempt to exterminate the human race. Then, over the weekend while watching Sunday night football it came to me. A new innovative use for this technology would be to create robotic football players and have these teams play each other.
As I explored this concept the more sense it seemed to make. Instead of having human athletes getting seriously hurt, i.e. concussions, robots could play and it wouldn’t matter whether they were damaged or not, so long as they didn’t consist of bio-technology which would raise many legal, social & ethical questions.
Football could even evolve into a more violent version with fewer rules since the players would be machines. There would be no salary negotiations, unions, negative off the field publicity and player strikes. Maybe even the price of tickets would go down? The ROI surely would be good? The concept could even be expanded to robotic cheerleaders, maintenance and concession stand staff. The possibilities are limitless. And as humans we could all sit back and watch the show. “Panem et circenses.”
But then the thought of what else human kind would do if robots did everything occurred to me? I couldn’t think of much. What I did think of, was what else robots could do; “Deus ex machina.” They may fight, entertain, serve, build, cook and even become like us. Robots like the Cylons might find us a nuisance and try to destroy us. Or, returning to “Star Trek”, in particular the “Next Generation” series, robots like Data may even envy our humanness and strive to be like us. And all I wanted was a black & white dog named Jack.
Lorem ipsum – CDamian (11-15-11)
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