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
 |
Rity - Sobot Longs To Be Near You
Rity - a software robot (or "sobot") - can transfer itself from one computer to another to serve his masters; Kim Jong-Hwan, director of the Robot Intelligence Technology lab and the other researchers in Korea's Institute of Advanced Science and Technology.
Rity is an autonomous agent, a software program that can transfer itself (upload/download) from robots or computers. It can upload itself into a mobile robot - like MyBot, a simplified version of robots used to play in the Robot-soccer association - and then follow its master around physically.
(MyBot with Rity inside)
If its master goes out of reach, it can use cameras throughout the building to search for him, and then upload itself into computers that are close by his master, ready for instructions.
When it appears on a computer screen, Rity takes the form of a cute little puppy.
(The many faces of Rity the sobot)
Rity started out with a simple robotic "genome" consisting of 14 "chromosomes" in 1,800 bytes that control 77 of Rity's behaviors. Rity's behavior can be partly shaped by training; the sobot's "personality" is a result of not just training, but all other environmental influences.
The ultimate goal is for everyone to have a sobot - an intelligent agent that knows all of your needs, and follows you around to help you with whatever you do.
One of the earliest descriptions of an intelligent agent is found in Frederik Pohl's amazing 1965 novel The Age of the Pussyfoot, a novel set several centuries in the future. Every person had a special device called a joymaker that allowed him to be in constant contact with the network - and his intelligent agent, which was based on his interests profile.
"...Have you filled out an interests profile?""I don't think so."
"Oh, do! Then it will tell you what programs are on, what parties you will be welcomed at, who you would wish to know. It's terrible to go on impulse, Charles," she said earnestly. "Let the joymaker help you."
He discovered that his own teacup had been replenished and he took a sip. "I don't understand," he said. "You mean I should let the joymaker decide what I'm going to do for fun?"
"Of course. There's so much. How could you know what you would like?"
(Read more about the interests profile)
In the novel, human beings were entirely dependent upon joymakers for every facet of their lives. Computer scientists speculate that some sort of intelligent agent software will be needed to find what they need when there are too many choices for a person to reasonably search through. (For now, we have Google!)
Perhaps readers can think of other examples in which computers were familiar with their master's preferences, or which downloaded themselves into different bodies for service.
From Wired.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 12/3/2006)
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 ( 5 )
Related News Stories - (" Artificial Intelligence ")
Light Society: Simulates Earth-Scale Society With A Billion AI Agents
'The king, an old hand in the running of tyrannies, instantly grasped the directions...' - Stanislaw Lem, 1965.
Collective Superintelligence Is At Hand!
'Maybe the individual intelligence of each Cubic pools into a group intelligence...' - Edmond Hamilton, 1942.
AI Operates An Excavator
'So far as I could see, the thing was without a directing Martian at all.' - HG Wells, 1898.
Grok And The City Fathers From 'Cities In Flight' By James Blish
'Chris, the City Fathers are not interested in your welfare; I suppose you know that. They're interested in only one thing: the survival of the city.' - James Blish, 1957.
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
Prairie Madness - And Space Sickness
'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...'
Can Stratospheric Aerosol Injection Control The Weather?
'...I saw a nice black heavy-looking cloud sailing by just now, and I can get the electrical machine out in five minutes to draw it down.'
SETI Suggests Prospecting The Solar System Without Landing
'From a distance it could resolve the cosmic rays reflected from various substances.'
Wolfram Alpha Mathematica Predicted by Science Fiction in 1948!
'The answer to the dumb student's prayer.'
Cislunar Space And The Space Lanes of Golden Age Science Fiction
'He had travelled the space-lanes of the solar system for the greater part of his life...'
NASA Moonbase Update
'The dinner was excellent. It was completely vegetarian — grown in specially prepared gardens in this Moon base...'
Neuralink Will Allow Humans To Communicate With ... Animals?
'Telepaths had their sensitiveness enlarged to an immense range by the pin-sets, which were telepathic amplifiers adapted to the mammal mind.'
Special Lights For Driverless Cars!
'That light is actually the Anamorphic Equalizer...'
'Old People Began to Cross The Continent In Their Own Cars'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
Harrison Bergeron, Illustrated And Practiced
'But he didn't get very far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts. George winced...'
Starfall Manufacturing Drugs In Space
'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.'
The Solar Oberth Slingshot
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?'
'Maybe The Woman Of Your Life Is Still Under Production'
'The Dillard people had performed a miracle and put all the works in a girl-modeled case.'
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'
Epirus High-Power Microwave Defeats Drones
'...the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and Then one toppled and fell. Then another.'
Cloud Of Space Rubbish From China's Long March Rocket
'Within seconds the material was spread out over fifty yards, in a matter of hours it might occupy several cubic miles of space...'
