Science at work

June 15, 2005 11:05 AM

Touch-Sensitive Cyborg
posted by cmicali (21 comments total)

... or 80s porno film? I almost labeled this NSFW... maybe we still should?
posted by cmicali at 11:06 AM on June 15, 2005

touch sensitive cyborg

Is that what the kids are calling it nowadays?
posted by found missing at 11:10 AM on June 15, 2005

The embedded advertising links on that page are creepy, and seem totally random.
posted by OmieWise at 11:12 AM on June 15, 2005

Is it touch sensitive or does it sense where people are in relation to it? From the article it appears to react to movements around it but not necessarily to touch on it.

This is a great idea though, robots and robotics should be aware of their surroundings so that they can not inadvertently whollop people.
posted by fenriq at 11:20 AM on June 15, 2005

Yeah fenriq I wasn't able to figure that out. It talks about touch-sensitive skin in the whole article and the video demo is more proximity sensing than touch. It did say the sensors are infra-red though so it probably can detect objects at some distance (ie it's not pressure sensitive).
posted by cmicali at 11:22 AM on June 15, 2005

Cyborg: A human who has certain physiological processes aided or controlled by mechanical or electronic devices.

This thing is a robot, unless I missed the portion of the article stating it has organic components. Nitpicking aside, this is very interesting technology.
posted by Derive the Hamiltonian of... at 11:56 AM on June 15, 2005

Does that mean that an amputee with an artificial limb is a cyborg?
posted by alumshubby at 12:00 PM on June 15, 2005

I would say so. Read the wikipedia article on cyborgs I linked in my first comment for that debate.
posted by Derive the Hamiltonian of... at 12:08 PM on June 15, 2005

I'd say yes, Alumshubby.

Also - this is pretty cool. I can't wait to see actual prostheses using this technology, especially once it's combined with the research being done on direct mental control of machinery as if it were extra limbs - I can't recall the cite on this, but they've managed to get monkeys to control virtual "limbs" on a computer screen using nothing but their own minds.

So - prehensile tail, anyone?
posted by wanderingmind at 12:41 PM on June 15, 2005

For use in sex toys in 3....2...1...
posted by Smedleyman at 1:16 PM on June 15, 2005

It will be really cool when the ability to manufacture thin flexible sheets of material with a dense embedded grid of electronic cells leads to adaptive camouflage. On the subject of cyborgs and adaptive camoflauge, I highly recommend the Ghost in the Shell movies and series for all your cyborg, A.I., and human augmentation/artificial evolution related philosophy and ass kicking needs.
posted by Derive the Hamiltonian of... at 1:52 PM on June 15, 2005

what a hunk of junk.
posted by gorgor_balabala at 3:08 PM on June 15, 2005

what a hunk of junk
She'll make .5 past light speed. It's fast enough for you, old man.

This cyborg, it vib.... nah, I'm not going there.
posted by Smedleyman at 3:13 PM on June 15, 2005

The ballerina wasn't much more graceful than the robotic arm. I hear when not being filmed dancing with clunky yellow doohickeys, she can be seen at auto shows prancing around Volvos.
posted by ZachsMind at 3:46 PM on June 15, 2005

Isn't this how we ended up with Doctor Octopus? Man and machines should not be allowed to mate.
posted by fenriq at 4:35 PM on June 15, 2005

As fenriq says, a robot that knows what skin feels like would be a robot that doesn't squish people.
Hey, now I can wait for a rat-brained, fly eating robot with skin!
posted by Citizen Premier at 7:44 PM on June 15, 2005

The robot looks like a giant yellow penis.

This is stupid. The door at my local grocery store gets out of the way when I step in front of it. I'm not impressed.

And that hot chick didn't even take her top off.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 8:23 PM on June 15, 2005

I for one welcome our robot overlords.

In other news, wasn't it just the past couple of days that a hospital robot in San Francisco went berserk? When will we ever learn not to meddle in God's domain (assuming that God makes robots)?
posted by Admiral Haddock at 9:27 PM on June 15, 2005

It looks like a retarded Dalek to me.

It also somehow seemed to appear irritated by the annoying dancing woman, "Stop it! Go away! Stop trying to touch me!"
posted by Meccabilly at 2:36 AM on June 16, 2005

Maybe just me...
posted by Meccabilly at 2:36 AM on June 16, 2005

Mark 13 - no flesh shall be spared.

As a feedback system, this would be fantastic for diving. Your computer could feel the pressure on the hull and detect metal fatigue, etc. All sorts of nifty spin off applications on this.
posted by Smedleyman at 11:11 AM on June 16, 2005