Slashdot Mirror
Survivor Buddy, a Friendly Robot Rescuer
Roland Piquepaille writes "The St. Petersburg Times, Florida, reports that a well-known robot designer, Robin Murphy, a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of South Florida (USF), 'plans to add a heart to robot rescuers.' As says USF, the goal is to develop 'a robot that will be a companion to a person who may be trapped after a car crash or in building ruins following an earthquake, or someone pinned down by sniper fire.' As said Murphy, 'robots can provide not only a sense of being a 'buddy' by playing soothing music or providing other entertainment, the robot also can be the audio and video link between survivor and family.' Murphy will develop this robot with some money coming from Microsoft. But read more for additional references and a picture of Murphy with her robot rescuers."
But it BSOD'd at the wrong time!
While this is an interesting concept it will most definitely fail at this time. Situations that would necessitate this kind of robot are so uncommon. Furthermoroe, the chance that any rescuing authority would purchase such a robot AHEAD of time is so unlikely. Great idea, but if this buys bread and butter, consider a night job.
Just what I want when I'm pinned down by sniper fire. How about some lemon-scented napkins?
It looks like are screaming for your mom, would you like some help?
Get help screaming for your mom
Just scream like a little girl without help
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
"robots can provide not only a sense of being a 'buddy' by playing soothing music or providing other entertainment."
Yes, if I'm pinned in a car wreck and bleeding to death, I would like nothing more than to listen to muzak and hear a recorded voice urging me to be patient.
Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and I'm trapped inside an upside-down car in a ditch with someone who wants to hear soothing music...
I think this robot could easily be a victim of the uncanny valley. If it were too friendly, it would come across as making light of a serious situation and would potentially feel patronizing.
I mean seriously, if I'm trapped under a building, I'm really not going to be in the mood for emotionally bonding with a robot.
To avoid the uncanny valley, the robot needs to be be friendly but not like a dog or person. Instead it should be like a friendly car or other reliable tool that we feel safe using.
I think about the last thing I'd need if I were trapped in a situation where I needed rescue would be some fucking robot to come along and try to cheer me up.
The idea of this seems like MS Office's Clippy, only a hundred times worse. "Looks like you're fucked! Would you like help? I can sing you a song!"
Fuck off and die, Clippy. I don't need a robot to act as a homing beacon or communications device when a simple cell phone or radio is capable of performing the same role. So, unless you can dig me out of here, or actually do something to provide life support, I'm kinda busy right now.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
We're done here.
Erm, they *do* have Mantovani on iTMS, right?
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
Is it self-inflating or do we have to blow it up ourself?
If you've talked to many Floridians, you'll know there's not enough money in the world to teach most of them anything at all.
ResidntGeek
No, you are forgetting that some of the money comes from MS, so the conversation would go like this...
Human: I'm bleeding from my arm!
Robot: Someone is beating you with harm? Deploying pepper spray now!
Human: My eyes!
Robot: You want fries? Now calling McDonalds.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
"Other examples of Sirius Cybernetics Corporation's record with sentient technology include an armada of neurotic elevators, hyperactive ships' computers and perhaps most famously of all, Marvin the Paranoid Android. Marvin is a prototype for the GPP feature, and his depression and "terrible pain in all the diodes down his left side" are due to unresolved flaws in his programming. Ironically, the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation defines a robot as "your plastic pal who's fun to be with".
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy electronic guidebook defined the Marketing Division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation as "a bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first up against the wall when the revolution comes" with "a footnote to the effect that the editors would welcome applications from anyone interested in taking over the part of robotics correspondent." The story notes that a version of the Encyclopaedia Galactica that "had the good fortune to fall through a time warp from a thousand years in the future" defined the Marketing Division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation as "a bunch of mindless jerks who were the first against the wall when the revolution came."
A more useful robot would be one that kills the sniper, or snakes its way out of the rubble (who said that the robot must be humanoid?) in order to lead rescuers to your exact location.
But (duh) people who live in places where snipers are a problem, or places where buildings don't have to be constructed to 100-year earthquake codes, tend not to have the disposable income to spend on personal robots.
Is a vibrator a 'personal robot'? Maybe, if it tells you that it loves you.
Is this Slashdot story a joke? Did I miss April First again? I thought that it was May, maybe I'm just ahead of my time.