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Google Acquires Boston Dynamics
First time accepted submitter totally_mad writes "The New York Times reports that Google has acquired Boston Dynamics, a company that is primarily a concept robot maker for the military. The robot wars appear to be heating up between the big corporations, with Amazon recently announcing plans to have 30-minute home deliveries using drones. Perhaps Boston Dynamics', or now Google's, Cheetah will outrun the drone!"
Robot cheetah drops package at door step, rings the bell and runs like a scared child before the door can be answered. Just like the hoomans working for UPS and FedEx!
Will they maintain its current (quite lucrative) military business? I can almost see Google becoming a defense contractor, and it would be one way of addressing their "we need revenue streams other than search ads" issue, which has been their main risk on the financial side for years.
But defense contracting would be a bit of a shift in how they like to do business, and I'm not sure a positive one. Alternately, they could just repurpose the acquired tech and expertise towards Google's own robotics projects, and dump the military clients. That would be leaving quite a bit of money and existing business on the table, though, not to mention possibly annoying some politically powerful folks.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
We've already seen some of the incredible Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency droids that have come out of that shop, and one can only imagine what designs might be classified and unknown to the public.
There's the humanoid robot, Atlas.
The RC car with a secret, the SandFlea.
There's the robot that runs faster than any man, Cheetah.
The packmule that can't be tipped over, Big Dog.
And the frightening combination of tech, the robot that runs fast on ANY terrain, WildCat.
It will be interesting to see what Google does with their droids. Their robot shop is being headed by the guy that made Android the most popular smartphone OS, Andy Rubin. He tweeted a link to the New York Times story yesterday, along with the comment, "The future is looking awesome!" Rubin was a robotics engineer for Apple, and the lens company, Carl Zeiss, before starting with Google.
Regardless of your feelings about droids, I think we're going to see huge advances in robotics now that Google is jumping in with both feet.
Wow, this is getting a bit scary. I didn't expect Google to go ahead and snatch up a company like Boston Dynamics. If they pick up Hanson robotics I'm going to be incredibly excited/freaked out for what they might create.
I, for one, would like someone to please tell me when it's time to say "Goodbye" to our new overlords!
Everything and its opposite is true. Get used to it.
Boston Dynamics is a favorite company of mine, they have developed some remarkable technologies. Atlas is easily one of the most advanced bi-pedal robots yet developed - albeit also the stupidest. When I consider that the majority of their R&D seems to be for the military, it makes me more than a little curious what Google plans to do with their new toys. I don't see Google going into the business of military hardware, yet the military has been more than interested in some of the tech they have developed. It boggles my mind to think what Google will do with this.
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
No, they'll develop it into a real-world search engine.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
I was pretty well convinced that the NSA and it's data sniffing what-not has become self-aware and is the first to do so. That may still be the case...
But I'm not pretty sure that the Googleplex is now self-aware and is trying to make itself self-mobile.
Next step, the Nexus-1000 Terminator....
It puts search and destroy in a whole new light.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Too late, name already taken.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
soooo...
lemme see if I got this straight: the company who built skynet has acquired the company that's just built the first cylon? don't see this ending well...
hopefully we at least get to meet the Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, Rekha Sharma & Lucy Lawless models before we're wiped out!
Skynet is already live in China now. They seem to be the early adopters.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9667701/China-using-massive-surveillance-grid-to-stop-Tibetan-self-immolation.html
You can't be ahead of the curve, if you're stuck in a loop.
Google's hardware record is shaky. Unlike their software, most HW projects never venture far from the googleplex. From Glass, to self driving cars, products are long in development with a handful of testers. This is not at all like their bold software formula: buy a cool tech startup, then rebuild it at scale and make $$. Yes, they need a visionary, but also someone that is not afraid to deliver it.
I don't see how there's no overlap with these robots and autonomous cars.
They didn't cancel that program.
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
Along Google's expansion into military "appliances" warfare will be much easier and result in practically no collateral damage.
Imagine the combination of geolocation, autonomous cars and autonomous war drones.
"Terrorists" would frequently be transported into specially prepared killing zones, with specially prepared, hardened parking lots, for optimum munition utilization.
DOD would receive a weekly auto generated report of kills.
Merry Christmas
autonomous cars make no sense either. wheres the nexus? somebody has way too much money. its a shame because competition sharpens the mind and makes you produce disciplined well designed products. when there's no budget and no competition you just indulge your inner nerd and make products that have great demos in the 'plex then nothing happens.
You're too late. Big Dog is already on your tail.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
And in other news, following a shakeup at the top levels, Google is being renamed Cyberdyne Systems (NASDAQ: CDSYS).
No word yet on whether the motto "Do No Evil" will remain in place or be changed.
Top executives after the shakeup say their new focus will be on merging their artificial intelligence development projects with newly developed tech such as Google Glass and robotics, in order to create life-like avatars. These avatars can be used as surrogates for disabled person, or even to replace human workers in extremely hazardous occupations. There has been speculation as well that these would also be used to gather even more data from the real world to further enhance their marketing capabilities. The military has also expressed in interest in these avatars.
The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
So when are they gonna make a contract with a handsome musciline guy to model for their T series?
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion. -- Spazmania (174582)
wheres the nexus?
Complex software. Recognizing objects in images and video seem to be one thing search, autonomous cars, and military robots have in common.
automated Trucks + automated warehouses + automated factories.+ web store
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
wheres the nexus?
Complex software. Recognizing objects in images and video seem to be one thing search, autonomous cars, and military robots have in common.
that's super, but what's the nexus between robots, autonomous cars, etc, and advertising supported search? the way they make money is by1) providing free services to consumers that are supported by advertising and 2) monitoring consumer behavior so they can place smart ads and make more money from them. where do robots fit in here. how will they be tied to advertising. how will they be tied to data tracking.
just because there's big money in something doesn't mean that all companies need to blindly scramble for it.
"The virtual version of Zoe was created by Zoe Graystone herself using hacked rudimentary emulation software capable of duplicating her own V-World avatar. Graystone programmed the copy - a perfect copy - with roughly 100 terabytes of personal information from other databases. This allowed the avatar to access and translate information from medical scans, DNA profiles, psychological evaluations, school records, emails, video and audio recordings, CAT scans, genetic typing, synaptic records, security cameras, test results, shopping records, talent shows, ballgames, traffic tickets, restaurant bills, phone records, music lists, movie tickets, TV shows and "even prescriptions for birth control" - essentially turning raw data into personality and memory." -- http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/Zoe_Graystone
I assumed that the cars involved :
1) seeing the tech overlap with image search
2) they had the money to do it
3) someone really wanted them
Maybe they can make money, licensing to manufacturers, though I doubt it, it seems manufacturers already have the tech, based on recent news stories. Google appears to have been the first to seriously start testing it in real world rather than tech demos though, maybe they thought they were further ahead. Certainly autonomous cars will increase overall internet usage, thus increasing advertising dollars.
I hope somebody gets to autonomous cars soon, and I think google's work made it come a couple years sooner, even if they don't sell the tech directly, they get 2 years * number of commuters * 1 hour /day * revenue / of internet for bringing the tech two years sooner.
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
In me paying ten extra thousand dollars for a car? In someone richer paying 50 thousand extra dollars?
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
With 8 stitches in my hand, not more than 12 hours ago. I have just gained new respect for multirotors, they are powerful beast.
I really really hope that Amazon puts proper protection in them drones so there are no injuries. The little toy one I have spins at around 5000 rpm with rotors with 16 inches propellers. It can cause serious injuries, just ask my hand.
Who will be responsible if an injury does occur, which they will. If you look at the Amazon prime air demo, the customer asks the drone to descend via his smartphone. Say there is a 5 year old standing under this thing or comes running in its direction, are there smarts in the drone to abort the mission. Who is responsible for the injury, Amazon or the customer who sent the descend order?
.. William Bell or Nina Sharp made a comment?
- Chuq
I think you're nuts. Automating transportation will dwarf the search business.
autonomous cars make no sense either. wheres the nexus?
Isn't it obvious? Few people will pay $100,000 extra for a self-driving car... but lots of people would pay $100,000 for a bipedal robot that not only chauffeurs you around town in your existing car, but also does light housecleaning and yard work. ;)
I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
As long as it follows the three laws
http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_122278&feature=iv&src_vid=VXJZVZFRFJc&v=mXI4WWhPn-U
So, now can they just load the driving software into Atlas? instant marketable product...buy a driver for all the benefits of the AI driving without having to buy a new car!
Or load the same software into Cheetah and it can run deliveries down streets and right up to your door! That will show Amazon!
AB HOC POSSUM VIDERE DOMUM TUUM
Good point on how we should invest our efforts in productive directions. More by me on that:
http://www.pdfernhout.net/recognizing-irony-is-a-key-to-transcending-militarism.html
"There is a fundamental mismatch between 21st century reality and 20th century security thinking. Those "security" agencies are using those tools of abundance, cooperation, and sharing mainly from a mindset of scarcity, competition, and secrecy. Given the power of 21st century technology as an amplifier (including as weapons of mass destruction), a scarcity-based approach to using such technology ultimately is just making us all insecure. Such powerful technologies of abundance, designed, organized, and used from a mindset of scarcity could well ironically doom us all whether through military robots, nukes, plagues, propaganda, or whatever else... Or alternatively, as Bucky Fuller and others have suggested, we could use such technologies to build a world that is abundant and secure for all. "
The question is, how much is Google part of the problem vs. part of the solution? I discuss here in relation to Google's "Virgle" Mars settlement April Fools joke of 2008: http://www.pdfernhout.net/a-rant-on-financial-obesity-and-Project-Virgle.html ... :-( That fear is still the fundamental basis of the two biggest institutions almost all of us spend almost all of our time (school and work). And so *fear* is what keeps more people from doing space settlement given how interesting it is and how much prosperity our mostly automated productive systems can pump out -- whether those free people work on OpenVirgle or choose another approach or another related good cause (Earthly sustainability). ... And it is likely fear that holds Google back from becoming a post-scarcity organization despite the continuing rush of exponential growth in technological capacity its planners surely must be predicting: ...
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So what am I really saying?
That we as a society are not going to happily get to Mars or the Asteroids or other star systems, or even just fix up Space Ship Earth, until we come to see the love of money as the problem, not the solution.
Or as made clear by Iain M. Banks:
http://folk.uio.no/thomas/po/the-culture.html
"Money is a sign of poverty, meaning that money only has a function in a scarcity economy, and therefore its existence betrays a pre-abundant (poor) society."
And so financial obesity is part of the problem, not the solution.
That $600 billion a year is spent essentially from fear of the human potential. From fear of "OpenVirgle". From *fear* the kids might actually figure out how to go to Mars instead of being profligate consumers and obedient cannon fodder soldiers.
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Intelligent mobile robots are near to totally transforming our society. And the transition might be quicker than we might expect, as robots can go from worse than human to better than human at some task almost overnight when there is an R&D breakthrough in some area. Here is one such example for manipulation, tossing and catching a cell phone:
http://www.hizook.com/blog/2009/08/03/high-speed-robot-hand-demonstrates-dexterity-and-skillful-manipulation
One thing most people do not yet understand about robotics (especially in the hands of some place like Google) is that if you have millions of networked robots, all learning independently, they can pool that learning over the network. And that network can then learn very quickly. And so "performance" can improve very quickly, with millions of trial-and-error expe
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
Automated cars means all that wasted time consumers spend paying attention to the road can be redirected to Google services and ads. But really where the big money will be, is space mining. Teams of Autonomous vehicles, with enough smarts not to get stuck making Google doodles on the moon.
No, this is just Google admitting their driverless car project is a failure. So they'll replace the car with a real Android driver that will chat you up while driving you to work, "Sir, there's they're having a 50% off sale at XXX.com. Would you like me to get you a promo code?"
Google bought out Motorola Mobility a while back and I got excited about that. From a buyer's point of view, I haven't seen anything cool come out of it. I don't expect much different with this.
If we colonize Mars, it won't be the World Wide Web anymore. UWW?