Slashdot Mirror
Mood-Sensing Computer
handy_vandal writes "'A team at Vanderbilt University is ... developing a robotic assistant whose goal is .. [to] respond to the moods of its human master.' For use on the battlefield -- e.g. when a soldier is overcome with anxiety."
iMac's that change color based on your mood? That's clever marketing.
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
Sir, it seems the entire 3rd Division is feeling a little anxious.
You will also note that most of the Marines in the 187th Expeditionary Force are also nervous about their impending landing.
Lastly sir, the pilots have... the heebee jeebies.
Impending War/Risk of painful death == anxiety
ZOMG I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS ON MACINTOSH VERSUS WINDOWS, VI VERSUS EMACS, AND HOW YOU'RE NOT A DORK
hi, i'm Hal, and i'm really sorry your windows box got hacked. want a beer?
I don't know about you guys but if I am having a panic attack the last thing I want to do is talk to anyone. You just want to get out of where you are, fight or flight. Having a robot asking me questions about how I feel really wouldn't ease any of my anxiety. Although a nice feature would be for the robot to dispense some xanax.
A computer that understands what it means when I hold a shotgun to it.
My postings are informational and does not constitute legal advice. Act on it at your risk.
"The human commander may get into trouble but be unable to ask for help," said Nilanjan Sarkar, team member and assistant professor of Vanderbilt University's Department of Mechanical Engineering.
"In cases like these his robot assistant will be able to detect his stress and either communicate the need for assistance or assist in some way itself."
So, if the machine can do that, what's to stop some meathead Pentagon desk-bound General from deciding that having a fallable commander on the field is worth it?
I know it's a stretch, but not that much of one...
Of course, I don't think we will ever get rid of the human equation in the battlefield, and nor should we.
I have the part in Ender's Game in my head where Razor Mackham talks to Ender about the importance of having individual command, instead of one central brain...
IN SOVIET RUSSIA, sig changes you!
http://saveie6.com/
"It looks like you're trying to take cover under enemy fire. Do you need some help taking cover?"
"Einstein argued that [...] God is not capricious or arbitrary. No such faith comforts the software engineer." ~ Brooks
If it can cater to that need ... then it is DEFINANTELLY slashdot worthy and should be expanded to a market far wider than the military.
Ignore the "p2p is theft" trolls, they're just uninformed
It'd be sad when one day your computer will be telling you, "I'm not in the mood, I have a headache."
My postings are informational and does not constitute legal advice. Act on it at your risk.
that they are nervous because they know they are about to GET SHOT AT? I mean, seriously, most people who are in that situation are a little nervous, I'm sure...I'm nervous they're gonna reinstate the draft...
====
Crudely Drawn Games
So when you're drunk it can stop you from driving.
And if you're really drunk it can keep you from calling exgirlfriends.
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
Ultimaly doesn't this cause more stress for the soldier? It's one more thing to worry about. If the computer says that your stress level is 10 percent above the norm for a battlefield soldier do you miss a promotion? The information would definately be factored into evaluations. The benefit is questionable but the potential is there for abuse.
The government will buy ANYTHING that sounds cool, whether or not they need it.
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
Computer: "Sir, I have noticed you are feeling a little horny today, and have downloaded some pr0n for you..."
User: "Gah!...How many times do I have to tell you???! I only looked at the dwarf stuff once out of curiosity."
Computer:"Sir I notice you are becoming slightly irritated.... perhaps a wank will calm you down? Observe the dwarf pr0n.... Observe the dwa.. #clik#
Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
Many people have suggested that, but without the going on the battlefield, and no robot needed. How great is that? Shoot me up!
"I don't know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots." George HW Bush
Sex - Find It
That's what I would want.
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
Sounds like a great way to reduce the soldiers' stress levels.
Commander: Listen up, men! You will notice in your equipment a new MOOD SENSING ROBOT. In the event that you are under DEADLY ENEMY FIRE it will sense that you have anxiety, that you are SCARED TO DEATH and broadcast this to the whole batallion. If you break one, we will take it out of your paycheck. Now move!
Hmmm... your windows box got hacked once, now you want to be drinking/drunk while you format/reinstall? It wasnt secure before when you were sober, imagine what happens when you install when drunk...
The Doormat
If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
People that don't experience anxiety or fear in combat are either (a) too stupid to know better...which means they'll probably be dead soon or (b) are probably clinically insane.
Now, don't get me wrong -- combat is the most intense adrenaline rush that you can possibly experience. It's the real-world version of "fight or flight" over and over and over again. Continuously...for hours and days and weeks. And for some people, that adrenaline rush is enjoyable and addictive. But, as an avowed adrenaline junkie, combat is an adrenaline overdose.
There is a military axiom "Train as you intend to fight". Military training is intended to ingrain patterns of behavior that soldiers will fall back on when their capacity for rational thought has been eroded by the stresses of combat. (I will not digress into a discussion of how that training is mostly centered around "how to kill and survive" rather that "how to comply with the Geneva convention and related accords" -- though that might explain why every army has a history of military atrocities).
A computer assistant -- to be effective in combat -- would have to "learn" its user in situations equivalent to combat. If it didn't, it wouldn't react the same in actual combat. And, I assure you, no training simulation comes close to approaching combat. The combination of "If I make a mistake I will die" and "I am actually killing a person" and "I could randomly die no matter what the fuck I do" is not something that can be realistically duplicated outside of the experience. I would also like to point out that soldiers do *not* respond well to "things outside of normal training parameters". The general inclination is to "shoot it" or "evade detection while trying to decide if I should shoot it".
So what we have is (a) a computer program that has "learned" its user in situations less than combat (b) a soldier that has "learned" preset responses to external stimuli -- including the computer. If you throw the soldier+computer into combat, the computer doesn't know how to react anymore -- not correctly anyway -- because it's never "learned" about combat. The soldier will tend to listen to the computer because that's what he's been trained to do...but the computer is going to be offering suboptimal advice/help/whatever...because it doesn't "know" about combat.
There's definitely roles for computers on the battlefield. Trying to provide stress-relief is probably not one of them. Certainly it's an interesting idea. And one day, it might be plausible. But, now, it's not too feasible. I think that computing will have to evolve quite a bit more before battlefield assistants that monitor emotional states and provide feedback based on that emotional state are truly a force multiplier.
"I can tell from the tone of your voice,
Dave, that you're upset. Why don't you
take a stress pill and get some rest."
We could see it coming.
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
All I really want is a babelfish in my ear.
I don't want a mood-sensing doohickey to get jealous!
No, Beowulf clusters can't imagine in Soviet Russia.
soldier: AAAAGGH! My ARM HAS BEEN BLOWN OFF!!!
robot: Your ARM HAS BEEN BLOWN OFF?
soldier: YES!!!
robot: What kind of arm is it??
soldier: OH MY GOD THE PAIN IS UNBEARABLE!
robot: Yippee! Your GOD THE PAIN IS UNBEARABLE?
soldier: WHAT??!!! MY ARM!! MY ARM!!!
robot: Where did you get your ARM?
soldier: IT'S BEEN BLOWN OFF YOU STUPID PIECE OF SH*T!
robot: Is it still BLOWN OFF me STUPID PIECE OF SH*T anymore?
soldier faints from loss of blood
soldier: uhhnnn...
robot: Is the holding of hands a symbolic gesture for humans?
in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni
Whenever I read about projects that will alter the way my computer works to better fit what it thinks it needs, I pray that it will never grace my computer. I use my computer as a very, very powerful tool, and, like any good tool, I want it to do exactly what I say, even if it may seem that I am making a mistake. Don't do anything I didn't tell you to do.
The 'mood' sensing properties of a computer system would be the worst kind of unwanted adaptation. It would change the way my computer works according to something I cannot always control fully. I want to be in control of my computer, so to do that, everything my computer does must be based on things in my control.
-twb
will probably use this mood sensor to detect if the user is pissed so that it simply refuses to show BSODs when that occur...or they'll make it so that when you're happy it shows yellow screens of death that say, "Have a nice day!"
I imagine a couple of white-coated lab workers dressing up some volunteer with probes, then standing back while Igor gets to work inducing anxiety in the subject...
A)bort, R)etry or S)elf-destruct?
Let me get this straight: I'm taking fire, in a trench or something, and I'm supposted to not feel anxiety? What part of a bunch of AK-weilding Afgans screaming at me is supposted to calm me down? Or is the sound of mortars hitting the ground 3 meters from me supposted to be soothing?
Not that this stinks, but this stinks of automated "liquid bravery/no-doze/morphine" delivery. It seems almost tailor-made to be part of an automated battlefield drug delivery system. It could fit into a small beltpack containing a pda sized circuit board, a few vials of specific drugs and a small motorized needle.
:) ?
-If a soldier, whom the pc knows is "on watch" starts to show signs of fatigue, the device automically injects some caffeine or even ephedra.
-If a soldier gets an arm blown off in a trench far from a medic, the device could automatically inject morphine, or even a heavy coagulant to help his wound stop bleeding.
Wonder which branch of the military Vanderbilt has been receiving its recent grants from
It'd be interesting to see if this thing acted in the interest of the individual soldier or the military unit.
INFANTRY NODE #1
It appears my human is overcome with
anxiety
MAINFRAME
Okay, this is always a shame to have to
do, but in the interest of the platoon
pull the pin
INFANTRY NODE #1
Grenade pin pulled. Self destruct
sequence initiated.
INFANTRY NODE #2
It appears my human is becoming "aroused"
MAINFRAME:
Neutralize horniness.
INFANTRY NODE #2
Intravenous bromide release initiated.
Clippy: It looks like you are bleeding to death. Would you like some help?
13 year old white supremacists are shitty web designers.
This is an absolutely horrible invention...Just think, before women only "thought" men were near emotionless pigs...Now they will have diffinitive proof...
The one benfit is that, the machine that processes the information could probably be something like a Commador 64, since we tend to have so few emotional states...
Shameless self promotion : The Misadvetures of the in
I notice that you are feeling stressed Dave.
... but only if it can tell me when my wife wants to have sex!
main(){char I,l,O[]={'-',1-1,0,(1<<5)-1,0+'-',-10-1,-10,11-0,
The new generation VCD player should have a mood sensor connected to the fast-forward button.
Finally, a portable that automatically switches to prostitute mode whenever necessary.
I've detected that Microsoft Word has crashed, resulting in the loss of an estimated 4.5 hours of work. Would you like me to launch Counter-Strike?
I've noticed that the development of the sort of robots that we've seen in movies and TV shows is being done in piece-meal by lots of different groups. There's this group, a group working on facial expressions, several groups working on creating a functional and reliable biped model, some other groups working on conversational skills, several companies working on voice recognition, a few working on face recognition, etc. When all of this is put together and we have a fully functional robot, maybe not akin to Data but certainly something similar to the robots in Bubblegum Crisis 2040 (basically sentient construction workers) or Rockman/Megaman (robots that are clearly robots, but with a human shape and face), how many patents will it violate? 20? 40? 80? 150?
I see the need for these specific aspects of humanoid or human-like robots to be concentrated on by dedicated groups with dedicated funding, rather than the entire thing being approached as a single project, but are we ever going to get an actual robot this way? Will these people ever be able to create the sort of functional and useful robot that they envision when they have to not only complete this specific project, but then build the entire rest of the robot themselves, using only their own research and development capabilities?
And before someone mentions that a "robot" isn't necessarily something similar to a human being, please note that this project specifically requires something that can aid a human being emotionally and thus be able to be accepted by a human being as something other than a soulless machine, necessitating that it be something more human-like than a laptop with wheels and a speaker.
Draft registration is important for a couple of reasons
- It keeps the public in the habit of obeying orders.
- If they want to have a big war in a hurry, and the public doesn't want to participate, it's much faster to draft people if you already know where they live.
- If you've don't do mandatory registration in peacetime, lots of people won't obey or register when you announce that you're having a war, and tracking them down is a slow process - it's much easier to do in peacetime when you're not in a hurry.
- It's easier to get people to comply when the risk of registration looks low - "having your name in yet another government database" is easier to put up with that "getting sent to VietNam.".
The reason the US has draft registration today is that Bill Clinton, having been a successful draft dodger and a hypocritical President, didn't want to take the political heat that the Republicans would have given him if he had approved the small amount of funding for closing down Selective Service when it came up for renewal during his term. If he'd had the guts to serve his country by saying "Peacetime Draft Registration is Un-American, let's kill it", we'd be better off. If I remember correctly, the peacetime draft registration was the fault of Jimmy Carter, but it might have been Ford or Reagan.My Draft Lottery Number was something over 300, in the last lottery, and I was classified "1-H", which is a holding category that means that the Army didn't want to bother paying to give me a physical. I lost my draft card some time before I turned 26....
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
"Wouldn't you really rather go to the basement, RIGHT NOW, than up to the 15th floor? Thank you for making a humble elevator so very, very happy...."
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
What dumb idea. Heck maybe a blood pressure gauge would be better - e.g. if I'm losing lots of blood, some drugs might help.
If I were a soldier I'd prefer fancy gizmos that'll help me drastically alter the _enemy's_ mood.
Passive battle gizmos I'd want (not weapons):
1) high res ultrawideband radar
2) passive IR/thermal + NV sensors (UV sensors might be good too - if it's possible to detect off-shelf detergent in battle camouflage)
3) image/sound processing/recognition/location (help spot gun muzzles, detect location of sniper shots - e.g. crack-thump etc)
4) ultrawideband coms - your teammates can "see" what you see, and can help triangulate unknown shots using their sensors.
5) If you want something REALLY fancy, how about
some system that can create a useful artificial metabolic pathway.
e.g find a way to rapidly generate ATP for your muscles from alternative energy sources (e.g. petrol/diesel).
Sprint till you run out of fuel. 300ml of petrol = approx 10 megajoules. Assuming sprinting = 1KW. Make that 5KW, assuming horrible conversion inefficiencies and overheads ( power used for artificial cooling, breaking down lactic acid, etc). You could still theoretically sprint for 2000 seconds or till something breaks or you get taken down (whichever comes first).
Heck even being able to max sprint for only 5 minutes can be very useful tactically.
As for nonhuman intelligence, give me a war dog anytime. Highly recommended.
Wired? Get Slashdotted? Mod parent down: karma whore.
Score:-1, Funny
Merge the robot with the old Infocom parser and you get...
Soldier: Aggghh!! They're trying to kill us!
ICPR: Unknown word: aggghh!!
Soldier: Aghhhhhh!
ICPR: I don't understand Aghhhhhh!
Soldier: help!
ICPR: inv -inventory, look, verbose on/off...
Soldier: We must get out of here!
ICPR: Choices are N, S, W, E.
Windows has detected that your mood has changed, press OK to reboot.
It'll be really good when I start to get pissed off at the computer and it then decides to work fine withouth any further questions because it saw me waving a 15Kg iron mallet
[computer]: I see you are browsing RealDoll's website again. I sense you are horny. Would you like me to open a frame with low interest loan vendors listed so you can afford a RealDoll?
[computer]: Ah. now you're looking at goatse.cx again. I sense you're feeling experimental. Would you a new window open with a list of local transgendered dominatrixs?
[computer]: uh.. I see you're looking at buying a new computer. I sense you are fed up..
Trolling is a art,
An adaptive computer interface which dynamically changes based on fear-level may be useful.
Special situations call for special tools. Even in Star Trek (TOG) they have tactical display modes when the ship enters combat.
A heads-up display may typically consume a good portion of the soldiers cognitive and visual capability, displaying squads current location, patrol path, intelligence updates, and other information simultaneously. When the shit hits the fan, the display could automatically change to a reduced information mode with Friendly vs Foe overlays, air support options, etc.
As the solider becomes more engaged in reality, the cognitive load could be minimized and the heads up display optimized to survivial in close combat situations.
Of course, I'm pulling these examples out of my but. Not being a soldier, I can only imagine what heads-up utility would be useful in combat, but keep in mind that most first-person shooters have peripheral displays containing foe-friend radar, weapon magazine loads, and other combat-helpful data.
Of course, a simple tactical mode button would work just as well...
"You have liberated me from thought."
Some people are more Mercurial than others.
I wonder what it would make of some kids I know either on Prozac and/or on a SugarPops buzz?
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
Why on earth would the military need a robotic assistant on the battlefield? Especially one who responds to the moods of the 'master'?
"I am sorry sir, I can't allow you to arm that grenade due to the anger you hold from your recent divorce..."
I think they should reveal the real reason for the research instead of using the military in order to gain funding from some grant or federal cash flow.
--wal
Soldier: Go north
ICPR: You cheer north on.
Chris Mattern
As with the case in Oregon, a costly, unweildly, unfeasible solution is usually a sign of a lack of common sense. Fortunately, there are some lawmakers and leaders who have common sense, but not enough.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Ok, say a guy is in the midst of a furious, raging battle, and this highly expensive gadget senses that his breathing, heart rate and bp are all elevated (duh). It says, "You seem stressed, is there anything I can do?" The guy says, "I want my mommy," or whatever you would normally say in this situation. So what does the thing do? Radio for help? Project a hologram of Marina Sirtis? Seems like the situation would call for something simpler, like a lapel-mounted PANIC button that lights up a blip on somebody's battle board. I'm sorry, but I go along with the guy who said the last thing he would want in battle is a girlfriend asking how he was feeling.
I took a class from the prof who's researching this! It's all signal analysis and designing a control system to respond right? Now can I have an A in that System Dynamics course?
Congrats to Sarkar and the grad students toiling away in one of the weirdest buildings known to man: Vanderbilt's Olin Hall.
I remember he did ask us at the beginning of the course if any of us wanted to work on this project. He said they were going to be using some SBCs (Single Board Computers) not sure if they were PC104 or what.
Vanderbilt MEs... We RULE.
Sgt. Bot: Private! My sensors tell me you just crapped all inside your BDU trousers! Your CO just ordered you to move forward and take that machine gun emplacement! So get moving you worthless pile of camel spit!! What kind of tea party playing, prissyboy, pantywaste are you anyway?! You want to stay here in this foxhole and play grabass with Private Wexler, don't ya?! I'll bet you didn't think I could tell every time your tiny little pencil dick gets hard! Did ya?! Now pick up that weapon and get your goat smellin' ass a' low crawling across that field, you low life maggot!!!