1.
Making the limited human unlimited
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| This is the robot which was controlled by the mind of a student |
Just
this week, researchers made the first successful thought-controlled robot
avatar...pretty awesome. So how did it work? Well, the team used fMRI to
scan the brain of a university student as he imagined moving different parts of
his body - the scanner measured changes in blood flow to the brains primary
motor cortex, which the team used to distinguished between each thought of
movement. The long term aim is to create an avatar that would allow people who
are unable to move but fully concious (known as locked in) to interact with the
world using this surrogate body. Although this is still said to be a long way
off, this advance is still amazing. The student was able to control the robot
with his thoughts, while a camera on the robots head allowed him to see from
the robots view. He could imagine moving his legs to make the robot walk
forward and could also turn 30 degrees to the left or right.
2.
Increasing our understanding of the human body
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| The robot legs |
Again,
just this week US scientists developed the most biologically accurate 'robot
legs' yet. These legs arn't intended to be used
by humans, but were made to help improve our understanding of the mechanisms of
walking, which could impact on people with spinal damage that has limited or
inhibited their ability to walk. These legs have a replicated nerve cell
network in the lumbar region of the spinal cord to generate muscle signals.
Previous robotic models mimic human movement, where as this one actually mimics
the human control mechanisms (ie nerves) that drive the movement by stimulating
muscles. This could provide a new way to understand the link between problems
with control of the nervous system and problems with walking.
3.
A robotic impact on the human arts
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| Believe it or not this is Geminoid-F, a robot actor. |
In
what I feel could be the most interesting development, robot personalities are
evolving. Robot actors and comedians have been created in different parts of
the world, which questions the impact robots could have in the area of the arts
- laughter, emotion and entertainment. Realistic human models have been
made and combined with robotics to form realistic human-appearing actors - this
works well as the robots can deliver exact lines at exact times/when prompted.
However, this has been taken even one step further. A robot comedian has been
made which tells particular jokes, measures the laughter response of
the audience and tells more jokes based on the type of humour the
audience enjoys - clever huh? This raises the question of the potentials for
robots in arts, entertainment and even providing emotional support for humans.
So
there you go. Three interesting technological advances making life better for
the human. But there is always debate around technology - is too much of it a
good thing? Will technological advances lead to a lazy world where human health
will deteriorate whilst sitting in front of a 3D television, or will it provide
us with advances like those above which could actually improve our health and well being?
Personally, I air on the side that technological advances do more good than
they do harm, with the benefits outweighing the negative effects. But what do
you think?
References
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