This robotic wheelchair has sensors and the necessary programming to autonomously follow a walking companion, easing the process of moving around in a wheelchair.
(Robotic wheelchair)
This wheelchair is a prototype created at Saitama University‘s Human-Robot Interaction Center. The robotic device is also able to avoid obstacles.
The capacity to autonomously follow someone around was an integral part of one of my favorite fictional devices - the autoporter from John Brunner's The Shockwave Rider:
...he nabbed an autoporter and - after consulting the illuminated fee table on its flank - credded the minimum: $35 for an hour's service...
From now until his credit expired the machine would carry his bag in its soft plastic jaws and follow him as faithfully as a well-trained hound, which indeed it resembled...
(Read more about Brunner's autoporter)
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Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI
'Stasis, cold sleep, hibernation, hypothermia, reduced metabolism, call it what you will - the logistics-medicine research teams had found a way to stack people like cordwood and use them when needed.'
Deflector Plasma Screen For Drones ala Star Wars
'If the enemy persists in attacking or even intensifies their power, the density of the plasma in space will suddenly increase, causing it to reflect most of the incoming energy like a mirror.'