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Robotic Suit For Rent In Japan
xTantrum writes with an AP story that begins "A robotic suit that reads brain signals and helps people with mobility problems will be available to rent in Japan for $2,200 a month starting Friday — an invention that may have far-reaching benefits for the disabled and elderly."
I, for one, welcome our new $2,200/month Robotic Suit Overlords.
'an invention that may have far-reaching benefits for the disabled and elderly'
Not for $2200/month it won't.
Cyberdyne, a new company in Tsukuba outside Tokyo, will mass-produce HAL.
Cyberdyne? Will produce HAL? Outlook not so good.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
and _their_ "mobility problems"?
Anyone remember what happened the last time we let Cyberdyne make anything remotely robotic? :-)
Ian Ameline
"Why's this damn thing taking me to the ledge. Stop! Hey! Stop it!" "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that..."
Sounds pretty cool at first, but I'm not sure I like the idea of the elderly zipping around on Cyclones. Please don't equip them with the missile racks or cloaking devices.
What weapon systems come with it? I didn't see any listed, but I'd have to assume it at least has flamethrowers or some sort of rockets.
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
I think the article missed the feature where the wearer powers up, screaming while an animated background appears.
Be you Admins? nay, we are but lusers!
can I get insuraNCE on this thing. I'm going to need it.
It isn't really reading brain signals. From the own company's website, they say the system detects signals on the surface of the skin (of what is intended to be moved). That is why they demonstrate it with partially paralyzed people. If the spinal column cannot relay any signal at all to the legs, then the system cannot work.
Iron Man Mark I now available to the general public.
God, if only I had them! I rofl'd.
Not to mention it will make you look like TRON:
http://www.cyberdyne.jp/english/robotsuithal/index.html
What's not to like?
So can these things be hacked, say to increase the response speed by a factor of 10? It would either kill your granny in the most hilarious way or else it would make her into a superhero. Either way a great video on youtube.
Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
come in a pink Yumiko Shaku edition?
so that means when i'm old, i get to have one of these probotector suits? after all i'm close to death then, with nothing to lose. that will be so much fun stomping brats and pesky dogs.
seriously, i would make sure these suits can't do much damage. when i was a kid, an old guy punched me in the stomach while i passed him running in the train. guess how that might have turned out if he had one of these battlemechs.
Do not trust this signature.
Bad memories of Exo Man are flooding into my brain...
My web domain.
Sell
Sell
Sell
or you will
DIE
DIE
DIE
depending on how high the window was you jumped from
I hear that the first beta testers are annoyed that to bootstrap the suit, they have to stand in a spread-eagle configuration and yell out "Power Extreme!"
GrpA
Enjoy science fiction? "Turing Evolved" - AI, Mecha, Androids and rail-gun battles. What more could you want?
"Stop them Gromit! They're the wrong trousers and they've gone all wrong!"
My favorite mechanical trouser mayhem.
From one of my favorite short films ever!
Though I have no idea how well known it is out of the UK.
Now if only I could find my copy of 'Electronics for Dogs'.
Roujin Z
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roujin_Z
Fear.
Starbucks, Harbuckle of Breath.
All your elderly are belong to me! (N.B read 'me' as 'Japanese company')
... in 1985? Those were a big boon to old people, too -- have an emergency while out or alone, take out your Brick-sized Rescue Device Which Cost $1,000 and call for assistance. Now a cellphone for old folks costs essentially nothing, weighs essentially nothing, and the #1 problem is that its too hard to use so you see companies making Credit Card Sized Rescue Device With Single Button That Immediately Summons Ambulance To Your Door Which Costs $20.
Give it a few more years of iterative improvement, something the Japanese tech industry excels at. They won't rest until Nintendo can bundle these with their systems, charge $200, make 25% margins, and get ridiculed by Sony, Microsoft, and Apple for being gimmicky and technically inferior to their iPlayBox.
Help poke pirates in the eyepatch, arr.
..until I have a lightweight, flexible, ultra-thin suit capable of delivering awesomeness, babe-magnetic badassery and courage enough to socialize, like this, I'm simply not interested.
how many chain smoking senior citizens are around?
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
to people taking care of their parents and grand parents?
When did it become accepted to just dump them on the corner for other people to pay for?
Sorry, your statement reeks of political correctness, holier-than-thou, good speak. In other words, total bs.
The simple fact is that a hundred years ago, if not less in many areas, we took care of our relatives ourselves. Our churches and communities would organize events to do so. I fully expect one of my parents to be living with us after they lose their spouse. It just is what is supposed to happen.
Instead we now pretend it doesn't cost anything if the government takes care of them, blissfully ignoring that 30% loss of income we experience every pay day.
Government doesn't do anything that taxpayers don't pay for.
The truth is that we live in a society where guilting others into doing things you cannot afford to or won't do is the accepted means. For the children, for the elderly, for the animals, for the environment, well, damn, why not live up to the high standards you want forced on others.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
America just learned how to make a near successful robot arm and Japan's got a full suit?
A cellphone is not only hard for some old folks to use, it's also hard to use if you have something like a stroke and can no longer figure out numbers or have lost language ability, or are otherwise severely incapacitated.
Modders, please remod the parent to something sensible. It's a perfectly valid argument.
molmod.com - computing tips from a molecular modeling
I'm surprised that nobody has yet mentioned Roujin Z. Written by the same guy from Akira fame, its basically a very advanced hospital bed run amok.
Hint: The internal logic is really a weapons platform!
I, for one, welcome our new robotic geriatric overlords!
{ - Generic Guy - }
how many chain smoking senior citizens are around?
Fewer every day.
Does it come with cat ears and some tentacles?
[ED 209] You have twenty seconds to get off my lawn. [/ED 209]
I want to be japanese when I grow up!
The thing I notice is how close in size the HAL is to leg bones. And it already reads brain signals? We're one step closer to having bionic limbs, excellent.
Oh wow! David Byrne is going to love this!
-
Heh, just what you see, pal.
Anyone who has ever seen the elderly try to drive a car already knows this is a HORRIBLE idea.
FOXTROT UNIFORM CHARLIE KILO
Robotic Suit For Rent In Japan Why did I first read this as referring to a legal case? Possibly involving a Japanese landlord taking a robot tenant to court over unpaid rent.
The problem is that they will be running up against the Laws of Physics. You can make it smaller and lighter all you want, as long as you don't run up against those most enforced of laws.
Phones and video games just have to produce voltages large enough to represent 1s and possibly 0s. Maybe produce some light. You can get away with using less power if you can make the electronics smaller. A nice feedback loop.
This robotic system has to actually lift and move things. Things that are not getting smaller. It takes a given amount of power to lift a 170lb person. You can't make the power requirement smaller. To be mobile, something to generate that power has to be carried along. There are several ways of possibly accomplishing this task, but don't count on any major revolutions.
Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
for $2200 a month I would go help some old people move, that's only about twice what I'm making now working tech support....
where's the iPod dock?
I personally would love to walk around with one of these on the day of scary things. Except for one problem... "Hi Kenny!"
Clones are people two!
It's a short calendar until I am eligible for AARP membership, then I will get one of these suits, and you young farts will be forced to fund Social Security! BWA HAHAHA HAHAH!
Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
They're calling it the Dragoon
So Skulldilocks threw acid on the schoolchildrens' faces, cause somebody from the bible told her to do it!
So, not only is Cyberdyne creating this, they named it HAL? That's like double screwing humanity over.
You might want to give it a wipe with cloth between users. It can get mighty hot in there.
A robotic suit that reads brain signals and helps (nerds) with (self defense) problems.
This suit is now the ultimate power in the universe!
You are using English. Please learn the difference between loose and lose; they're, there, and their; your and you're.
Perhaps you danes shouldn't be so comfortable about your current benefit levels or job surpluses...
According this, the danish banking crisis is the worst in europe...
http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2008/09/danish-banking-crisis-worst-in-europe.html
and daydream about base-jumping from the tallest building
I was reading about this kind of brain-sensing technology in Discover magazine. The next step is to replace the cybernetic limbs with stimulators that will activate the user's own muscles, so the whole thing will be essentially invisible on the outside, and a whole lot lighter. It's a way of getting signals out of the brain and into the muscles while bypassing the damaged spinal cord. Maybe a small amount of electrical power would be needed, but it'd be cool if they could tap into or reproduce the body's natural electrical impulses.
Drill baby drill - on Mars
You can't make the power requirement smaller.
Yes you can, you just tell granny she has to move slower.
As an aside, it's understandable but very disappointing how slow progress is with battery tech. I keep reading all these headlines about increased power, but hardly anything about energy density.
But you can build robots to build the robots, reducing the cost of production, if not the materials that go into the production.
'To be mobile, something to generate that power has to be carried along.'
Minor correction:
To be mobile, something to store that power has to be carried along.
The power can be generated by existing power infrastructure. The bot just needs to store it. And while generator technology may not be making leaps and bounds rechargeable battery technology has major advances around the corner.
Elderly crime fighters? Packing Gattling RoboGramps heat that shoots out of their arm?
I hate being bipolar; it's awesome!
If this suit keeps the rain out, then all it takes is one of them and a gym membership (with showers and lockers) to replace an entire apartment. I'd bet the average Tokyo apartment rents for more than $2200 a month, and even "coffin hotels" probably charge more than $75 a night. Included in the suit's rent is not just protection from the elements, but super strength!
--
make install -not war
Things that are not getting smaller. It takes a given amount of power to lift a 170lb person. You can't make the power requirement smaller.
True, but you can make the power supply and moving parts more efficient.
If you reduce the amount of energy wasted to friction, heat, and so on then you can always have room for improvement.
Secondly, it doesn't take that much energy to move a 170lb person if you factor in greater efficiency (remember your high school physics class about fulcrums, pulleys, and ramps) with the environment and use secondary motion to capture regenerative energy.
If you think about it, a human body itself doesn't burn through that much calories just to move itself up a flight of stairs so its quite possible to make something at least as efficient as the human body and not break the laws of physics. Considering the inefficiencies of evolution, I don't think its that far fetched to design a robotic systems that do way better.
That depends an awful lot on just which cell phone you are looking at. There are some models that are fairly large and dead simple. Some of them don't even have ONE pre-programmed memory, and have keys larger than those on my keyboard, which digits that take up the entire key in black and white for sharp contrast.
No special functions.
That may be just a little bit too simple. I think the keypad should have 3 or 4 special keys that each dials a preprogrammed number.
1) Non-urgent assistance/Family (Pink)
2) Emergency assistance-medical (Red with small white polka-dots).
3) Fire (white with red flames)
4) Police (black & white checks)
The color scheme is basically arbitrary, but it's intended to be easily distinguishable even by color-blind people. The particular choice of four options is also nearly arbitrary. Places that divide the services differently would have a different selection of four preprogrammed choices.
Note this is still basically just a phone. Nothing fancy. I didn't even include an automatic redial. It's got a standard phone keypad, with four extra function keys. And each key is about 3/8" X 3/8", which allows large easily visible letters.
But that's just my design. There are simple, easy, phones on the market. There's also phones on the market that are super-glitzed to where most users can use less than half the features, and the elderly can't use at all.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
Yes, but...
Battery improvement has been slow, but recently there have been many encouraging signs. I'm most impressed by reports of progress in super-capacitors. They don't use any unusual metals to hold the charge, though they do depend on extremely precise manufacturing (which raises the price, at least for now).
OTOH, I don't expect volume shipments of super-capacitors within the next five years. (But would I know? I only know what the official reports say that the science press finds interesting. It's not something I follow as a specialty.)
It's not clear that super-capacitors will ever hold more power than an advanced battery, but it looks like they can be recharged more quickly and more often (essentially forever). I'm not sure this is what an electric car needs, but it sounds perfect for a mobile device that will often be near an electric outlet.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.