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)"
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...)
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.
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.
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.
"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....
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.
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!
If you're running Windows, use Real Alternative, http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternati ve.htm works great with Firefox
www.microsoft.com/athome/sec urity/children/kidtalk.mspx Was This Information Useful?
Or, if for some bizarre reason you actually want to install RealPlayer, the BBC offers a spyware/adware free installer for RealOne.
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.
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
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.
As can be clearly seen in the video, the woman being controlled was not wearing a tin-foil hat. No one wearing such a hat has ever been controlled in this way.
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.