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GUIs for Robots
kabir writes "OpenGL.org has a link to a fun article over at the Stanford Aerospace Robotics Laboratory. It seems an OpenGL-based GUI has been developed to enable the operation of multiple complex field robots by a single operator. The interaction mechanism was inspired by interface techniques refined in the Real-Time Strategy (RTS) genre of video games. Fifty years from now I expect all wars to be fought by giant robots controlled by teenagers."
The interaction mechanism was inspired by interface techniques refined in the Real-Time Strategy (RTS) genre of video games.
This is interesting. Often it seems the games are ahead of the "serious apps".
One of my friends in high school put together a level in Duke Nukem 3D that was based on our high school. It was pretty accurate. This was pre-columbine, so nobody was thrown in jail for it.
If these game companies just put a little extra effort into retrofitting their game engines for serious purposes, they might sell the same thing for hundreds of dollars a copy. Imagine something like a first person shooter combined with The Sims. You could design your whole house, to scale, and then walk through it.
Click a menu option and output a postscript file to send to the structural engineer and architect for tweaks and approval.
Whoever does this will probably make lots of money.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
There were two interesting stories that come to me. One is Enders game, where teenagers do remotely control the fate of the world. The other series eludes my brain right now. I guess its not late enough at night for it to work. This story basically has the same idea, remote operators control robots in war. The main thrust of this second story is that after a while, the military had found that having the controllers close on the ground was more effective in close quarters combat. The controllers were described as regular (age wise) people. Thus this "new" group of combat soldier was able to beat all others consistently with the same technology.
:).
One question raised, will teenagers/preteen be needed to run this or will "older" people be just fine. The second series talks about the feel of battle and how camera's and tech senses does not quite match what a person can feel about the battle. This raises the question, can a battle really be effectively fought remotely. I suspect we cannot answer these questions until the technology appears and are tried.
On a paranoid note, it is a nice thought we can bring a battle to others without cost to our own troops lives, but when (not if) every one can do that, then civilians will become the target more and more. This effectively makes everyone a military target. End of paranoia (for now
What I think is more likely is that fifty years from now we will see the US decimate more 3rd world countries using robots controlled by teenager, who only think they are playing a game and thus will never reveal what they have done to the media, and in fact no one will ever find out since the press were never informed, and those who try to find out will be detained indefintately without trial for allegedly breaking the latest anti-terrorist laws which prohibit attempting to criticise national defence actions in any circumstances.
Well come to the wonderful future Mr. Bush is building for the world.
"Me and my girl named bimbo . . . limbo . . . spam" - Captain Beefheart.
Fifty years from now I expect all wars to be fought by giant robots controlled by teenagers
In stark contrast to the situation today, where wars are fought by teenagers controlled by giant robots.
-- MarkusQ