The term "uncanny valley," which refers to the revulsion that humans feel when they see a humanoid robot, has lately been a topic of heated discussion among design engineers, who are increasingly building robots that walk and talk.
More than ever, engineers need to consider the effects on humans as their machines begin to creep into our territory. "If you're going to make your robot human-like, then you've got to make it really, really human," said Tim Root, founder and chief technology officer of VGo Communications Inc., a robot manufacturer, in a recent interview with Design News. "If you miss that, your form factor will be rejected."
Looking at the following slides, it's easy to see how robots are evolving, not only in their ability to do human tasks, but in their appearance. Whether or not they're starting to give us the creeps is another matter, one that varies from person to person.
Click on the image below to start viewing the 16-image slideshow. When you're done, tell us what you think in the comments section below.
Heather Knight, a roboticist and founder of Marilyn Monrobots, is trying to bridge the uncanny valley by adding humor to the robotic repertoire. Her robot, Data, can do imitations of Darth Vader, R2D2, and Buzz Lightyear. (Photo courtesy of Freescale Semiconductor.)
Yes, of course they are different. An organism has to adapt first before evolving which is what leads to surviving in a different environment. Adaptation and evolution are always linked and one depends on the other. The organism that is unable to adapt to changes can't evolve and therefore dies or simply remains behind until it dies.
For this reason it is so important for humans to not fear change, to adapt to new technologies and changes as soon as possible to enable a good evolution of the species, even when the species in question is humanoid robots, which are no more no less than a human creation. So why to fear then?
Take a look at the book June 2508, by James Bhumi. This writer claims to be an uncanny predictor of humanity's relatively near future, due to his study of what is technically and socially possible. His vision is sometimes a bit odd but it's hard to refute his arguments.
One such argument is that there will never be true 'robots' with intelligence, because if such a thing became possible humans would destroy it! He contends that homo sapiens has either destroyed or assimilated every enemy it's come up against, and that is why we have survived this far. He thinks we'll continue to survive in the same way, despite ruthlessly plundering this and other planets. He sees a future where 'valets' perform all the mundane tasks, even superseding the police and prison system of our time. The concepts are worth reading...
Disclosure: I eat lunch with the author once a month and we enjoy a lively interchange of ideas. So I'm not completely unbiased. But I do recommend the book as a source of some interesting brainstorming about the future. And the views on robots certainly seemed to fit into this thread.
Adapt or become obsolete. It's a good rule to live by. I pride myself on my ability to go with the flow, to survive in any scenario. I've been lucky enough not to end up having to test myself in the worst ones though. No battlegrounds. No true starvation. No gangs. No prisons. Even my corporate career was pretty tame. But I still like to think I'm a survivor type, and that adaptability is the key to that.
Definitely. The age old adage of "adapt or die" certainly plays into this. Automation and robot replacements only give us 'meat brains' more productive things to do...
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Has China stolen a march on the West, developing an Internet architecture that is not only based on IPv6, but is also inherently secure from both internal and external attack?
Recently, the Obama administration has been of two minds where privacy rights are concerned. On one hand, you have an administration that vowed to veto CISPA and mandated open data for government websites. On the other hand, you have an increasingly out-of-control Department of Justice on a fishing expedition at AP and demanding legislation to let the FBI wiretap private, encrypted communications and levy fines if a company fails to comply.
The apartment and house sharing service, Airbnb, now requires members to verify their identities by demonstrating a presence on the web, and by either scanning a government ID or entering detailed personal details. Other enterprises should take a close look at Airbnb's verification policies.
Facebook advertising is a lightning rod. It seems neither brands nor consumers are 100 percent happy about the social media site's policies, placement, or procedures. But the real controversy about Facebook ads and promotions is over whether they work.
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
Subsidized handsets, rather than locked handsets, should be the focus of regulators. We're not getting good deals, not fostering innovation, and weakening our power as buyers.
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