Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
DARPA Avatar Program Coming, But Will Soldiers Want To?
How much of your tax money would you spend on a program to recreate Avatar, a movie in which a human is "uploaded" to a robot?* Whenever a science-fictional desire exists, DARPA is ready to meet that desire (and if you don't think so, see my DARPA Project List).
The DARPA Avatar program is not quite like the movie: what they want are “interfaces and algorithms to enable a soldier to effectively partner with a semi-autonomous bipedal machine and allow it to act as the soldier’s surrogate.”
(Neytiri and jake [as an avatar])
You might notice that most of the sites covering this story showed Jake with some sort of macho weapon. But we all know why Jake wanted to stay in Avatar mode - so he could get next to lovely Neytiri.
Which, as it turns out, is a scenario that is at least three-quarters of a century-old. In his 1938 classic The Robot and the Lady, Manly Wade Wellman wrote about a man and woman who met - as a dashing and a beautiful robot, respectively.
My prize robot, tall, dashing would speak and act for me...I turned to where, on my desk, I had set up my controls. To my ears I clamped receivers, upon my eyes I bound the gogglelike televisors that would coincide my viewpoint with that of the robot. A transmitter would place my voice upon those sculptured lips. My hands touched a great keyboard, whence, perfect through long practice, I could direct lifelike motion.
(Read more about Wellman's teleoperated robot surrogate)
Via ExtremeTech; thanks to Winchell Chung for the reminder to do this story.
* (Actually, kind of cloned alien android, based partly on your own DNA, if I recall correctly.)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/18/2012)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 2 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
Robots Need A Better Sense Of Touch
'First, it rubbed my arms...'
Disney Helping Robots Dance
Dance, Robots, Dance.
WaPOCHI Micro-Mobility Robot Follows Like A Pet With Your Bags
To follow the user like a pet while carrying their cargo!
Ultra-Realistic Robotic Arowana Robo-Fish
'Deveet unhooked his catch and laid it on the bank beside him. It was a metal fish.' - Charles Fontenay, 1956.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
California Fireman Arrested For Starting Fires
'Fire is bright and fire is clean.'
Robots Need A Better Sense Of Touch
'First, it rubbed my arms...'
MouthPad Supports Head And Tongue Tracking
'The operation that had transformed half his body... had located the control switchboard in his teeth.'
REALLY Remote Control Excavators
'It takes over a second for the signal to get to the Moon...'
Disney Helping Robots Dance
Dance, Robots, Dance.
Kolors Virtual-Try-On Predicted, And TRIED, By Harry Harrison
'Bill blinked at his own face under the plumed helmet...'
Detecting Drones In Ukraine With Candy (Sukork)
'...a robot detector circuit closed, activating a bell."
Nevada Will Use AI To Decide Worker Benefits
'They had screwed up and been blacklisted by Manna.'
Tether Cryptocurrency Flow Rate US$190Bn Per Day
'Alex did not find it surprising that people... were electronically minting their own cash.'
First Trips To Mars Announced By Elon Musk
'I had determined that my first attempt should be a visit to Mars.'
WaPOCHI Micro-Mobility Robot Follows Like A Pet With Your Bags
To follow the user like a pet while carrying their cargo!
Ultra-Realistic Robotic Arowana Robo-Fish
'Deveet unhooked his catch and laid it on the bank beside him. It was a metal fish.'
GITAI R1 Lunar Rover Like NASA Robonaut Centaur
'...waldoes in the screen followed in exact, simultaneous parallelism.'
Meshworm Soft Robot, With Peristaltic Crawling, Is Getting Better
'Seen close it was not completely flexible, but made instead of pivoted and smoothly finished segments.'
Mushroom 'Robot' Is Just A Start
'Some unknown race ... decided to help them out.'
Tesla Electric 'Giga Train' Operational In Germany
'...the cars are wedge-shaped at both ends.'
