November 06, 2006
Smaller Inflatable Exoskeleton
This tiny girl is wearing what's called a "Power Jacket", which is an inflatable exokeleton that weighs only four pounds.
Japanese electronics giant Matsushita Electric Industrial unveils the prototype model for a "power jacket" to help patients recover from partial paralysis during rehabilitation, at the Home Care and Rehabilitation Exhibition in Tokyo.
This appears to be made by the same folks that did the Muscle Therapy Jacket last year, and looks much more compact (although less sci-fi) than the Inflatable Exoskeleton by Professor Hiroshi Kobayashi. By the way, for those of you who want to get ahold of this for your paralized loved ones, the cost is likely to be about US $17,000 or 2 million yen, although I cannot sell you one so please don't contact me. Seriously, I have no inflatable robotic suits to sell, and all the info I know about them is contained within this article.
[ Link. Found by Mark. Thanks Mark! ]
Webcam in My Left Breast
Strages says "it screamed being submitted". You too can submit links -> igargoyle at gmail dot com.
[ Found by Strages. Thanks Strages! ]
Will Our Grandchildren Be Robotic?
Tonight, from 9:30 to 10:30pm GMT, Adam Montandon from the HMC MediaLab will be joined by Dr Fiona Coyle, Philosopher Dylan Evans and Nick Bostrom, leading spokesman for "transhumanism" on BBC Radio 3. The debate is called "Will Our Grandchildren Be Robotic?", and seems to reveal a bit about the future technologies our future kin may sport. I can't imagine tattoos and piercings will be all that shocking in the future, so what will our children and our children's children do to get attention with their peers?
The broadcast is part of the BBC's Freethinking festival, and for those of us who aren't in the United Kingdom, the show will be up for the next seven days.
I'm looking forward to it!