I got email about a new book, "Robo Sapiens: Evolution of a New Species,"
by Faith D'Aluisio and Peter Menzel. According to the promotional
material:
Around the world, scientists and engineers are participating in a
high-stakes race to build the first intelligent robot. Many robots
already exist -- automobile factories are full of them. But the new
generation of robots will be something else: smart machines that
act like living creatures. When they are brought into existence,
science fiction will have become fact. What will happen then? With
our prosthetic limbs, titanium hips, and artificial eyes, we are
already beginning to resemble our machines. Equally important, our
machines are beginning to resemble us. Robots already walk, talk,
and dance; they can react to our facial expressions and obey verbal
commands. When they take the next step and become fully autonomous,
what will they do? Will we be partners or rivals? Could we meld
into a single species -- Robo sapiens?
In Robo sapiens, Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio present the next
generation of intelligent robots and their makers. Accompanying
brilliant photographs of more than one hundred robots is an account
of the little-known, yet vitally important scientific competition
to build an autonomous robot. Containing extensive interviews with
robotics pioneers, anecdotal "field notes" with behind-the-scenes
information, and easy-to-understand technical data about the
machines, Robo sapiens is a field guide to our mechanical future.
Might be interesting for someone to read and report on it.
Hal
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