Slashdot Mirror
Researchers Create Radio Controlled Humans
utherdoul writes "Say goodbye to remote-controlled cars, say hello to remote-controlled people. Forbes.com (disclosure: I work there) sent a lucky reporter (further disclosure: I am jealous it was not me) to the SIGGRAPH computer graphics conference in Los Angeles, where NTT researchers debuted a device designed to exploit the effects of Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation. As the story explains, when a weak electrical pulse is delivered to the mastoid behind your ear, your body responds by shifting your balance towards it. If the current is strong enough, it not only throws you off balance, but alters the course of your movement. Reading about it really doesn't do it justice -- you have to check out the crazy
video of a remotely controlled woman. (Realvideo)"
Sorry but... I dont do Realvideo... anyone has an AVI or at *least* an WMV?
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
.. I for one welcome our new remote-control weilding overlords, and remind them that, as a devoted member of their volleyball team, disco enclave, and cow wash, I'm perfectly qualified to serve drinks at their orgies, fresh coppertops and all ..
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
Wow, all those pr0n stories about mind control are finally going to be possible!
I, for one, hope women will welcome me as their new remote-control-weilding overlord.
Yes, here's the secret new interface paradigm promised by the Nintendo Revolution. Beware, though!- firmware v2.0 turnes it into an enslavement device, and the rest of us will have to fight an army of 8-16 year olds! (plus a few older /.ers...)
They researchers discuss using the method to generate vertigo and "centrifugal forces" for gamers. If it works in gaming, it will no doubt find a way into simulator training for military operations too. The applications aren't exactly endless, but there does seem to be a market for this.
I wonder if it is painless. Except for the falling over, I mean.
Jesus saved me from my past. He can save you as well.
Wonder if it'll be eventually useful to prevent falls in the elderly...and maybe enhance balance for soldiers in combat...
This must be what all the contrails in the air are about: metal particles expelled in streams by government plains may look like cloudy water vapour, but are not. Once dispersed, the metal bits gently float to the ground level where they are inhaled by humans. These particles were specifically chosen for the way they crystallize inside the bloodstream and brain, giving them a particular shape that responds to specific radio frequencies, allowing the gov to control us.
I approve of the showcasing of this technology: it exposes the very frightening but very real effects of this technology, so no longer can people like me just be called "conspiracy-nutters."
Oooo...picture them in a beowulf cluster.
here[realmedia]
should save you enduring over 20 !! adverts, 2 tracking scripts and 5 advertising companies trying to take your information without permsission
If you want to fight it, all you have to do is go limp.
It can't force you to walk anywhere, it justs makes you tip in one direction or the other, and your automatic walking reflex keeps you under your center of gravity.
The video didn't look all that "crazy". It was just a woman walking around with a dazed expression and silly grin. We can only assume she was under control of the remote.
xkcd.com - a webcomic of mathematics, love, and language.
Sorry, I mean, isn't this what Dick Cheney uses to control George Bush?
Thankyou
It's not the best alternative, but anything's got to be better than Real
Jesus saved me from my past. He can save you as well.
(please remote-controlled-mod-down every "I'm a woman, you insensiti...." reply
I just watched the video and it is way cool.
Unlike those dopey walking and dancying robots which I have no interest in, if Sony would just bring to market the "remote controlled goofy japanese cutey" I would buy one, heck I'd even go for two and get twin models -- they could remotely control each other when I get bored with doing it myself.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
and you can walk like a drunk without having to drink :D :)
isn't sciense marvellous these days
Please?
"Honey, get me a beer?" "I'm busy." "I said... a beer, woman!" *zap* "Thank you." It works in reverse too.. "Honey, can you finish building the deck?" "I'm busy" "I said.. finish building the deck!" *zap* Yknow it really brings new meaning to couples fighting over the remote control....
This would be the perfect gift for any husband.
My powers of prediction tell me that such a position would have an extraordinarily short life expectancy. Particularly, for a slashdot reading marshmellow, that bitches about the editors, while living in his parents basement like a trapdoor spider; pouncing on 2L bottles of Mountain Dew and bags of snackie-cakes that wander too close.
Gee, this should be posted in Your Rights Online :-)
And send that woman right to my bed!
OLPC Australia
Dick controls Bush, it's just the natural way.
Dick controls Bush, it's just the natural way
Keep telling yourself that, nerdboy.
Imagin the possabilitys
Women aren't for nerds :)) :))
Just like the title says, radio-controlled
That's the only snatch you'll be getting
ASF
RAM
When I tell an object to delete this, am I killing it or telling it to kill me?
must... watch... video... can't ... control... own.. movements...
ahhhhh!!
So, we have androids that look and feel alot like humans (earlier /. article),
and now we have people that act like robots.
this is getting a little too weird for me.
--- Caffeine is directly responsible for some of my greatest ideas, and some of my most embarrassing moments...
mplayer http://images.forbes.com//video/fvn/misc/radiocon
err... my Japanese isn't too hot but I think the commentator in the clip refers to the device as the "parasite human".
Is it just me or is this really sinister?
They also relate it to robotics research... human robots..
Also it looks like it should be easy to build into standard audio headphones.... perhaps they already have!.... dun dun DUHHHH!
Ah, so thats how they controlled Spock in that episode :D
The sea changes color, but the sea does not change.
One can imagine some cool applications for this sort of thing...
- Computers that help people avoid falling down if they, for whatever reason, have lousy balance or slow reaction. Perhaps it could help older folks for whom falling down can be a serious risk.
- When the officer says "Walk on this line with one foot in front of the other," I'll say "Yes sir, anything you say, just let me put on my special balance-assist eyeglasses."
- A game like Dance Dance Revolution might use this to help teach you to get jiggy. And games, or better, IMAX movies, could use it to provide an increased sense of motion.
- Maybe it could help reduce motion sickness? Sort of like noise-cancellation technology, but for your sense of balance.
http://images.forbes.com//video/fvn/misc/radiocont rolledhuman.rm
Well, the thing didn't show up in my firefox.
I love Real
It works
You can turn off rather easily all those adverts
Consumes less CPU than FLASH(tm)
less clumsy UI than WinAmp
I don't do WMA/V via M$ media player, thats the road to virus hell...
My HK$6
I work for Real. I should have included that in my reply.
I now believe that prayers CAN be answered.
Read reviews of shopping cart software
Video has been mirrored in WMV here:
n s.wmv
http://data.coolnicks.co.uk/Radio_Controlled_Huma
If we all recall the remote controlled cockroaches, I guess this is V1.1+
Go Away! Not for Sale
See, for instance, http://jp.physoc.org/cgi/content/full/517/3/631 a paper from 1999 with the title "Galvanic vestibular stimulation: new uses for an old tool" Best,
In all honesty i think that is the exception to the rule. In all other cases based in reality that i've seen (dude, manga doesn't count), it is the bush that controls the dick.
And your lying if you disagree with me.
Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know when your gonna get food poisoning.
The Japanese are approaching it from the wrong angle. In the US we already have an advanced remote control system that's working on most of the masses.
It's called TV
Seriously.
1) Does the player try to take over any other formats than just Real's own?
2) Does it install an icon to the tasktray?
3) How many desktop icons does it install?
4) How many processes does it startup on boot?
5) Does it integrate the codec into the operating system so that any codec-aware player can use it?
6) How much data does it send back to Real's servers?
7) Is the installation process simple and straightforward with a single checkbox to opt-in? Or is it a long series of dialog boxes with hidden checkboxes all over the place?
8) Does it play videos inline in the browser?
9) When I close the player (assuming it requires opening the player to watch the media), does it try to stay memory resident?
10) Is it still Real that makes this? (this is a deal breaker)
http://www.traktor.com/musicvideos/low/Fatboy_Slim .mov
Here we go. Might be a bit borked on quality to save bandwith, but pretty enough to get picture whats going on. Enjoy.
Dephine URL
It has been known for some time that electrical currents send to the muscles may cause you to move them. In this way you may control the motion directly, not only by throwing someone off balance, but actually make each individual body part bend.
There's a (crazy?) artist who has a show, where he do this. Once he danced a synchronized dance, with an industrial robot. Other times he has benne "dancing" to the response times of the internet (lag).
Now this technology has been explored to see if people can be remotely operated. This could be used to allow people in the field to operate on a patient, remotely controlled by a doctor. Now the doctor is controlling the person in the other end in the same way. Here sensors read the electrical current in his muscles as he moves his hands.
So far the sensibility to do surgery is not possible, but major movement like moving an arm or closing a hand has been successful.
Others have already mentioned the possibility of remote sex. Here your partner can control your arms and hands in the same way as you may control his or hers...
-:) Oh no - not again.
www.rednebula.com
Just watch people as they come down the concourse and try to pass the Cinnabon store... you get exactly the same glazed-eye, vectored walking behavior, and no headset, other than the ubiquitous iPod. Of course, the Japanese approach is carb-free.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
Demon Seed
:) The world's most powerful computer wants to transfer its intelligence into a human life, so he traps his creator's wife into the ultimate X10 house, and brings in a remotely controllable man to impregnate her. The movie is 30 years old, but Koontz updated the book in 2003 IIRC to bring the concepts and capabilities up2date. Once you read it, you'll feel compelled to change the addressable name of your voice-activated home automation system to "Alfred." Its a really fun book to read.
Come on, what kind of geeks are you?
Intelligent Life on Earth
...on thier remotely controlled imitation human.
I want to know how well it handles stairs.
Stop the world; I need to get off.
This just puts a whole new spin on that real life pacman game they play in new york
If Mr. Edison had thought smarter he wouldn't sweat as much. --Nikola Tesla
It's called a television.
This link has nothing to do with the topic, whatsoever.
---- I'm out of your mind!
install real alternative http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternati ve.htm
it's basically a codec that allows you to play realfiles in whatever (may i suggest media player classic, found here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli/ , it's basically a souped up version of the ancient mplayer32. who needs all the shits'n'giggles of that mediaplayer10)
me and my thinkpad, sittin' in a tree, c-o-d-i-n-g...
"This research is taking a totally different approach to the more usual studies into robot technologies of the future, which relate to symbiotic relationships with humans. Traditionally, robots have been designed to give practical support to human activities and ..., whereas the "Parasite Human" [as they are calling it] is being posited as a robot which gives lateral support to human activity through the senses."
:)
It's worth pointing out that it's bloody difficult to translate, given some of the expressions used - my apologies for any inaccuracies.
iqu
is here. Sorry for double posting, enjoy.
Dephine URL
I'm getting married to day in 5 hours and 39 minutes. this would make a perfect gift to me for any ofyou out there wanting to chip in for something!
I'll be waiting for the hot coffe mod of this technology.
And there is any interresting non-evil usage for such a device ?
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
There wouldn't happen to be a mute button with that? Also can I preprogram the remote for bend over and kneel?
I think the invisible hand of the market has its middle finger extended
--A wise old fart named SC0RN
This reminds me of Dalek Robomen.
Really, it would be cool. Two people each with a remote control to their opponent's thingy. First one to fall over loses.
how exactly does a figment of one's imagination save anybody?
http://ticom.tyumen.ru/jokes/itsasony.jpg
At least I think I have. It sure would explain a lot.
I've had an EEG done twice as part of a test for suspected epilepsy. During an EEG, you have a whole bunch of small electrodes glued to your head at very specific points. And then you have someone monitor the activity those electrodes pick up via a computer (or sometimes just dumped to a printer). The output makes it look very much like you're taking a lie detector test (or something seismological).
Anyway, during the last part of each test, while lying there I suddenly felt as if my head were being pulled down and rotated to one side, for 2, maybe 3, seconds. And then a moment later, I'd be struck with the same feeling only towards the other side. It was very trippy -- almost like someone was reaching inside and pulling my soul one way or the other, and my body was being dragged along with it.
I'd always suspected that during this part of the test they were actually applying a voltage to some of the electrodes, instead of just recording voltages. If I'm right, and you're wondering what this feels like, here's the best description I can offer:
You know how when you're holding two magnets near one another (or one magnet and a piece of steel), just at the boundary of when an interaction can be felt? Your fingers feel a very smooth, but very strong pulling sensation. It was just like that -- like a good portion of your head and upper body is being pulled to one side, very smoothly, and very firmly. It's not uncomfortable at all, but if you're doing anything other than quietly lying down, I'm sure it could easily be very disorienting.
If I'm right, then this a method apparently used to prompt epileptic activity in people prone to such things. What kind of disclaimers are going to be included with a product like this? And, more importantly, if someone doesn't realize the potential effect and that they are prone to it, are they going to be able to include some kind of cut-off if the wearer suddenly experiences an epileptic episode?
Whoever designed level 61 in Frozen Bubble is a sadistic bastard.
Despite what the summary would imply, this device doesn't take over your body and completely control your movements. I was at SIGGRAPH and tried it out -- it just throws off your sense of balance, making it hard to walk in a straight line. The effect isn't strong enough to make you fall down, and you could probably learn to compensate for it pretty quickly if you tried.
The effect is good enough for video games, though -- as part of the demo they put you in front of a driving sim, and use the device to simulate the centripetal force when you go around corners. It was pretty cool.
For most people, it seemed to be painless, but after a little while my skin started to sting where the electrodes where attached.
If the units were smaller and automated, they could prevent prison escapes. Whenever a prisoner leaves a certain area, it would direct him back or force him to stop walking.
Then the ACLU complains.
True, you can alter their sense of balance and change their direction, but to get this all to work, you have to have them keep walking all the time forward, right? Not like this technology will be put towards good use for society - I could see it being abused in many wicked and evil ways (no, seriously).
Without absolutely control over the limbs, this device is pretty much a nausea-inducing and person-'tripping' device, and I hope it stays that way (as cool as it is, but think about the pros and cons).
...until it comes with a MUTE button.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
---
What subliminal message?
Generated by SlashdotRndSig via GreaseMonkey
Why is it that when you believe something it's an opinion, but when I believe something it's a manifesto?
I haven't seen anyone comment about this possibility.
Imagine sitting in a comfy chair in front of a big screen, and having this device give you "tilt" sensations co-ordinated with the on-screen action. I would pay for that, once a bit of testing has been done to ensure that there are no long-term effects (like walking drunk all the time!).
ASF
RAM
---
What subliminal message?
Generated by SlashdotRndSig via GreaseMonkey
Why is it that when you believe something it's an opinion, but when I believe something it's a manifesto?
It's actually quite fun, and quite a promising technology.
You have a convinient little "volume" control attached to the system so you can choose how strong you want it to be, and if you turn it all the way up, it's very hard to walk straight, and if you don't fight it, you can almost fall over.
After they would make people look silly in a public demonstration with the remote control, they show different applications by hooking it up to a racing game and a music demo. Being a Gran Turismo fan, being able to feel the cornering force somewhat was quite nice.
There was one significant problem with the system however. They need a better method for delivering the electrical current than was used in the siggraph demo in which you had to wipe behind your ears with a wet towel. After the moisture evaporated it would start to burn, and my headset was somewhat painful by the end.
I'm sure that's not too large a hurdle to overcome, especially for home users vs. a public demonstration to hundreds of conference attendies.
you cannot dodge the quad laser. jumping is useless.
obviously u dont know much about japan.
Area Man Constantly Mentioning He Doesn't Own a Television
http://davefaq.com/Opinions/Television/Onion.html
I envisioned this sort of things being used for far far future battlefield applications. For example, a high altitude drone with IR sensors could guide a squad through a jungle to their target by buzzing the right or left side of their suits - much shorter radio transmissions than having to say "now he's moving south". With practice you could train soldiers to do a broken field sprint through a (friendly) minefield with gentle buzzes telling them where to step. With sensitive enough sensors you could (theoretically) also be able to detect an inbound bullet quick enough for a reflexive action to turn a clean headshot into a glancing blow or be told roughly where that inbound shell is going to land. Fighter pilots would also benefit if, in additional to visual, radio and radar they had a suit telling them exactly where the bad guy (and his missiles) were.
If the g'vt kept the data on you that google does you'd better believe you'd be calling it "doing evil"
I had an inner ear infection last year, and I went through that. It's way not cool, you seriously cannot stand in one place (or even sit up!) without falling and it's very nauseating to be still or even lie down with your eyes closed. (I must have thrown up at least six times that morning, and I had dry heaves the rest of the day.) It was also very scary because we didn't know what the hell was going on until I had been diagnosed at the hospital.
---
The only thing I hate more than a hypocrite is a person who hates hypocrites.
Generated by SlashdotRndSig via GreaseMonkey
Why is it that when you believe something it's an opinion, but when I believe something it's a manifesto?
... wherein after a ruling of guilty, a small device is implanted in your head. It does wonderful things. A GPS connection keeps authorities aware of where you are. Should you deviate from the terms of your sentence, your balance can be immediately impaired making you incapable of coherent movement e.g. escape, resistance, etc.
Although a recent development, there's still time to get prototypes out to existing cases say, Martha Stewart or suspected terrorists (nothing makes bomb-making trickier than a lack of balance induced long range by powerful shortwave random radio bursts). Of course, this could stimulate a resurgence of the tin-foil hat market.
What is it with the Japanese and remote control of things? Years ago there was an experiment where they controlled cockroach movement via implants. Frankly, there is something vaguely horrifying about the video despite, or perhaps because of, the girl's giggling.
"Consensus" in science is _always_ a political construct.
We already have radio-controlled humans. How else do you explain the stupid actions of Rush Limbaugh listeners?
With GPS tracking Martha Stwewart would not have to complain about that nast ankle braclet she has on, just make her fall over dizzy any time she is out of her cage.
Oh man... all the crazed soccer mom's and dad's would love to get remote controls for their children while they're playing soccer. At least if these jerks had remote controls, maybe it would shut them up.
Japanese research is showing an interesting or disturbing trend. This article was only about cockroach control. The real goal is now more apparent.
"Consensus" in science is _always_ a political construct.
Doesn't it seem odd to anyone else that this information is coming from Forbes?
I am not your remote-controlled consumer! I am a MAN! *zzzap* must. buy. new car.
They've been using Humans and rats
Ummm... why would Jesus need to rescue me from your past?
What the hell did you do to me?
=tkk
Bill Gates - Creationist?!?
I saw it and kind of refused to try it. I'm not sure there has been thorough testing for long term side effects. Maybe it's safe, maybe it's not.
I will say, it's pretty amazing to see people vear off to one side while walking. It's really interesting to see more than one person at a time wear these - syncronized stumbling.
After Automated doors and Cell-phonesb rain/
Star Trek seems to continue to predict
technological developments,
this technology was seen in Star Trek
TOS episode: Spock's Brain:
http://homepage.mac.com/m5comp/trekbits/trekpics/
Where we see Spock being controlled by remote controll
using a device placed on his head.
Me.
I remember in grade school, our teacher got something that would stimulate muscle movement. I think her son may have been in the medical field, and he was able to get ahold of it. A random classmate was selected, and had terminals of some sort put on her arm. The teacher's son started messing w/ the control box, and her fingers started moving on there own. I was pretty intrigued at the time.
In undeveloped countries, the consumer controls the market. In capitalist America, the market controls you.
I remember reading about something like this ~8 years ago in a game mazazine. It was supposed to simulate motion by stimulating the inner-ear as I recall. It was going to retail for ~$100, and you can bet I wanted it. I googled (I think hotbot was my main search engine then actually) for a review a few years later later and I found out the effects were barely noticable. Would be great if this newer technology in use is less gimmicky and more functional for immersion *coughrumblepackcough*.
In undeveloped countries, the consumer controls the market. In capitalist America, the market controls you.
Those who see nascent cyborg in the demonstration should reflect that hivemind and hivedive are worlds apart. Anyway, there's lots cheaper options when it comes to herding humans.
``Tension, apprehension & dissension have begun!'' - Duffy Wyg&, in Alfred Bester's _The Demolished Man_
google it if you are curious.....
eat shiat and bark at the moon
I tried it at SIGGraph last week and here is teh deal. As others mentioned, it only changes your sense of gravity, it does actually control how or where you walk. But with the change in gravity, your stubble in one direction or the other.
Where this really has an application is in video games and other immersive environments. They had a demo with a large screen race track where you could feel the centripetal force during the turns.
But the skin contact for the electrical stimulation is not ideal. In the remote control walking and the race demo it was fine for me, although I could feel a tingling behind the ears, even at the lowest level. But the music demo was nearing painful and had no effect on my sense of gravity.
Anm
Sorry but SIGGRAPH is all about computer generated graphics, so this video surely is CGI.
Thats what they need to make using this technology.
:P
Put a gyroscope (or heck a simple level would probably work) inside a helmet as a balance sensor and have the electric nodes stimulate the opposite side that the drunk tilts toward.
That way, the drunk can keep his/her balance as they walk home.
DEAD DEAD DEAD DELETE ME
There is nothing I trust about this company. Nothing. I will never support them. Ever.
Even being a computer newb I never trusted the company or the player and managed for 5 years to never instal or watch a REAL video. Quite happily. Then in 2000 I was bored, REALLY BORED. And thought i'd give it a shot to watch a video. After watching it Real associated itself with every file extension possible. It loaded everytime I restarted the computer. The player I did instal sucked ass and you had no control of the stopping or starting of it. I dont even remember but it just felt like I had installed a virus on my machine.
And thats why I have no desire at all to give a shit about this video. Despite my overwhelming interest in the subject.
Slashot being the flagship for the geek community should realize this and never link to anything that is REAL.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070544/Planète sauvage, La (1973)
/nev/dull/c
I for one would be pleased to be your new galvanic vestibular stimulation overlord.
This is terrifying and amazing at the same time.
Could you imagine the military applications, like radio controlled super troop swarms controlled by a team of users playing realtime video games with the controllee, or just the obedience collars for dangerous prisoners, mental patients or even good citizens.
Big brother could build in RFID as well as GPS locating chips into them and have every citizen wear one for their own safety and security...
-- um..
Cthulhu Saves -- in case He's hungry later.
Together with this, we're gonna rule the galaxy, in the form of borgs! Resistence is futile!
REPUBLICANS
I got to try this device while at SIGGRAPH. While it actually does work, and feels wierd, at the moment, it does require a large aparatus to wear, and in most people (according to the notes I saw at the end survey), it is uncomfortable. Then again, you try feeling comfortable with electrical pulses constantly prickling behind your ear.
No I'm not new here, sigh....
P.S. wickedly Funny though.
Letter To Iran
... my Syndicate can begin to take over the world!!
-John Fenley
... for automatically equilibrating drunk people.
If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough. (Alan Kay)
I wasn't impressed. It does give a vague impression of being off balance but it didn't have a very strong effect and it wasn't very directional. When I tried their racing game demo I felt nothing that was in any way coordinated with what was happening in the game. It did give me a vague feeling of motion sickness which continued after I had removed the device. The electrodes also felt unpleasant though the other people I tried it with didn't feel this.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
I am a Ph.D. student at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, Canada. I actually do research using GVS. Here's links to some of our research (Pubmed). GVS 1, :)). What troubles me is that the magnitude of the deviations is so large from the video. We showed that when walking in an open environment (e.g. like in the video), deviations due to GVS (with eyes open) is VERY small (~10 cm over a 3m distance). Even with eyes closed, the magnitude of the deviation was only 30 cm for 3m forward travel. GVS amplitude was set at 3x the threshold required to induce sway while standing (~1.5 mA) and some subjects reported that this could get painful. My main beef with this is that it appears from the video that the researchers were exaggerating the effect for the cameras. This is not to say that GVS does not have useful commercial applications, but this notion of "remote controlled humans" is an exaggeration. We have tried hooking up GVS to a flight simulator and got mixed feelings from subjects, but I believe that if tweaked correctly, this could be an area of application. However, because people react differently to different levels of stimulation, the problem of individual differences, and determining a threshold level might be tricky (also too high of a current can fry your brain, so kids, don't try this at home)!!
GVS 2
GVS 3
(disclosure: I am Carlsen on the papers
I happen to know and use this muscle in another application (sort of)...
In Judo, when you grab the opponent collar, this is where you put the bone on the back of your thumb to induce (more or less forcibly) a reflexive movement in the direction you wish (on beginners) or a conscient counter-pressure from intermediate fighters , so as to then accentuate the move and throw him/her/it somewhere on his back.
You get an instinctive reaction to avoid pressure on this point, so your body, in trying to protect you, is actually betraying you...
Try it with friends, for fun, don't try it on your sensei, he's gonna make you fly 8p
There are lots of pressure point used in acupuncture, massages and martial arts that have very interesting effects - healing, relaxative, dolorous or just plain deadly.
Google a bit, its quite educative 8)
It takes 40+ muscles to frown, but only four to extend your arm and bitchslap the motherfucker
I saw it at SIGGRAPH and asked one of the researchers what kind of electrical signal was used. He said it was simply a low current D.C. signal between two electrodes behind the ear. The apparratus was built into a pair of hollowed earphones that contained a radio receiver and battery. The controller looked like a stock RC one with a little joy stick to move people left or right.
I didn't ask if the polarity of the D.C. current matters (+ above -, or vice versa), but I think it just stimulates one ear or the other (or neither).
... you will be assimilated. Yes, this is creepy.
...it is the bush that controls the dick.
Wait a sec, was that a political statement or a sexual statement?
Too many zeros, not enough ones
This video is a little more on topic:
l ow.mov
http://traktor.com/musicvideos/low/Plug%20It%20in
Don't tell me - lemme guess. Who's been awarded the contract for writing the software that controls the Verichips and the remote-control devices? Microsoft, I suppose? So THAT's how they'll get people to buy Vista!
--obligatory bad joke post--
I for one welcome our remote controlling overlords...
In Soviet Russia, Humans remotely controll YOU
[ Insert ANY George W Bush/Dick Cheney joke here ]
In South Korea, only old people use remote controlls.
Roses are Red
Voilets are Blus
All my movements
Are controlled by you
karma. feh.
s'wut i sed.
I just got back from Siggraph, and I had a chance to try the system out. Indeed it did seem to be one of the most popular things to check out at Siggraph. I suppose it helped that as soon as people experienced it, they often busted out laughing.
Anyway, the experience consisted of putting on these modified headphones (speakers were removed; electrodes were added behind the ears), wearing the remote-control pack, and waiting for someone to twist the joystick. When that happened, it felt like the floor was being tilted under you, and you wanted to lean to one side or another (depending upon the joystick action).
With the electrode placement as is, it only controls your left-right sense of balance. I asked and they suggested that a differently-placed pair of electrodes could control forward-back, but it's not as effective.
The electrodes tingle a bit when the current is applied. A fried who tried it found this uncomfortable. Someone else said it produced a strange taste in their mouth.
Another demo showed you a video of a racing game, and the electrode current was synchronized to the left and right turns, making you "fall" towards the outside of the turns. Kind of interesting, but the effect was not really powerful enough as the car movement would have you believe.
The final demo just played music and synchronized the electrode current to the music beat, making you move back and forth with the music. This one really just had me leaning my head mostly.
As the demoer pointed out, the sensation is only suggestive, not controlling. It is possible to ignore it if you concentrate. But it does feel very "natural" (like I said, it feels like the floor is being tilted under you).
It's a cool gadget. Main issue now is that there have been no long-term studies of applying this kind of electrical stimulation. Like everything else, I can't help but think that it's somehow not good for you in excess.
Great, now we have the power to make people fall down with out any feet, objects, or drugs. The times we live in...
13 million whoo!
...oh forget it.
...does it still work if you're wearing a tin foil hat?
I wonder if you wiggle it around a bit you can get it to stimulate the inner ear's other parts too? Perhaps a non-invasive alternative to a cochlear implant?
Maybe I could get a date!
"video of a remotely controlled woman"
Would that be Katherine Harris, by any chance? Remotely controlled from Republican National Committee headquarters?
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
A crass capitalist magazine talking about the newest way to control people. Yup, snafu.
Just gotta kick the Slashdot habit now.
This post written under Gentoo-linux with an SCO IP license.
More Like Remote Controlled Inebriation :-)
"Creativity is allowing ones self to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep" - Scott Adams