That's missing the point. The educational aspect IS the cool function. Surgeons currently have to learn as they operate, using cadavers as their only close approximation to the real thing, and moving on to real surgeries to hone their skills. However, dead tissue behaves quite differently. A great deal of surgery skill comes from familiarity with tactile sensation...how much pressure to apply when, how fast to go, etc. If they are able to simulate the tactile sensations of performing surgery on living tissue effectively with this device, it will be a huge advance in surgical training.
Wouldn't you rather have a surgeon with his/her tactile sensation and hand/eye coordination skills better honed when he went to operate on you?
Having a teacher for a parent, i have to put in my two cents on this one. Some schools spend their money in stupid ways, but these institutions in no way represent the average school system in this country. Most schools are grossly underfunded, using outdated texts, and paying their teachers little more than they could be making by working at Burger King. Perhaps if there were some slightly higher benefits to choosing teaching as a career, more caring and dedicated individuals than those you speak of would take up the profession. Its one thing to say that they should do it because they care about the children, but its another choice for prospective teachers alltogether when it seems that they are throwing their ability to adequately provide for their own family away for their devotion to other peoples kids.
In short, i dont know much about Minneapolis, but come to Pittsburgh, walk into a city school, take 5 minutes to look at their resources, and then try to say schools have too much money.
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That's missing the point. The educational aspect IS the cool function. Surgeons currently have to learn as they operate, using cadavers as their only close approximation to the real thing, and moving on to real surgeries to hone their skills. However, dead tissue behaves quite differently. A great deal of surgery skill comes from familiarity with tactile sensation...how much pressure to apply when, how fast to go, etc. If they are able to simulate the tactile sensations of performing surgery on living tissue effectively with this device, it will be a huge advance in surgical training.
Wouldn't you rather have a surgeon with his/her tactile sensation and hand/eye coordination skills better honed when he went to operate on you?
Having a teacher for a parent, i have to put in my two cents on this one. Some schools spend their money in stupid ways, but these institutions in no way represent the average school system in this country. Most schools are grossly underfunded, using outdated texts, and paying their teachers little more than they could be making by working at Burger King. Perhaps if there were some slightly higher benefits to choosing teaching as a career, more caring and dedicated individuals than those you speak of would take up the profession. Its one thing to say that they should do it because they care about the children, but its another choice for prospective teachers alltogether when it seems that they are throwing their ability to adequately provide for their own family away for their devotion to other peoples kids. In short, i dont know much about Minneapolis, but come to Pittsburgh, walk into a city school, take 5 minutes to look at their resources, and then try to say schools have too much money.