"In just four years, and with $50 million, the Pentagon plans to create a
wearable, self-propelled robotic suit that responds to - and amplifies -
your every movement. By simply strapping themselves into this "exoskeleton",
troops will be able to run faster, jump higher, leap further,"
I just wanted to make some comments about this concept. I have been
investigating something similiar for quite sometime and I think the future
implications of such a 'suit' whether external or internal, are important to
consider. Mainly, since most of us on this list would like to see aging and
disease defeated and be physiological immortal, a whole new realm of things
will then become the enemy of lives, namely accidents. Wearing a protective
suit would thus radically minimize the chance of death caused by accidental
injury. In our meager short lives we dont much consider the chance of death
by falling rocks, car accidents, or even asteroid impacts. A powered
armored suit that also contains an environmental sealed (think SCUBA dry
suits combined with powered armored exoskeletons) and the human biosphere
just radically increased, from the surface of mars to deep sea excursions.
Beings who do not age will have much vaster things to worry about that may
kill them, stellar events, very rare accidents, etc. etc. Anything that
decreases those chances increases the life span of the individual. I think
in the far future, most beings will have these suits of some sort and stay
inside of them most of the time. They need not be uncomfortable either, as
they can easily emulate tactile sensations and the full range of human
movement. Be interesting to see where this goes once immortality and
capitalism start to tug at it.
Michael
-----Original Message-----
From: J. R. Molloy [mailto:jr@shasta.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2001 9:29 AM
To: extropians@extropy.org
Subject: ROBOT: wearable self-propelled robotic suit
POWER DRESSING
http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opfeedback.jsp?id=ns231699#29
To be a member of the US Special Forces you need to be a crack soldier
with superior physical and mental abilities. But that's today.
Tomorrow's soldier will have to be superhuman - to be able to jog along
effortlessly at 13 kilometres per hour carrying a 70-kilogram load for
12 hours at a stretch. For anyone wearing the right clothes, however,
this shouldn't prove too much of a problem. In just four years, and with
$50 million, the Pentagon plans to create a wearable, self-propelled
robotic suit that responds to - and amplifies - your every movement. By
simply strapping themselves into this "exoskeleton", troops will be able
to run faster, jump higher, leap further, and carry awesome amounts of
high-calibre weaponry. We take a look at the "garment" that as well as
turning your average GI into a heavyweight fighting machine, could also
revolutionise the lives of disabled people and those working as
firefighters or in construction, mining and heavy industries.
Read the full feature in New Scientist magazine
AND FINALLY...
Some describe how a wave of sympathy washes over them whenever they see
a road sign referring to a "depressed bridge". Others confess that they
feel strangely moved by the mere mention of an "alarmed door" or
"nervous tissue". These people are suffering from semiopathy. This
week's Feedback column examines a debilitating condition which compels
its victims to over-empathise with objects...
©¿©¬
--- --- --- --- ---
Useless hypotheses, etc.:
consciousness, phlogiston, philosophy, vitalism, mind, free will, qualia,
analog computing, cultural relativism, GAC, Cyc, Eliza, cryonics, individual
uniqueness, ego, human values, scientific relinquishment, malevolent AI
We move into a better future in proportion as science displaces
superstition.
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