What Future?

Posted by Carol at December 28th, 2007

In November, 2007, the University of of Delaware announced that two its professors “outfitted kid-size robots to provide mobility to children who are unable to fully explore the world on their own”.

Infants with Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism and other disorders can have mobility limitations that disconnect them from the ongoing exploration that their peers enjoy. The tiny robot is ringed with sensors that can determine the obstacle-free roaming space, and will either allow infants to bump obstacles or will take control from the infant and drive around the obstacle itself. The next prototype, UD2, will build on the current technology to provide additional control to a parent, teacher or other supervising adult.

“In this way, we can bind technology and human need together to remove barriers for movement in the environment,” [co-investigator] Agrawal said. They believe the training, robot design and new technology derived from the project will provide the foundation for the first generation of safe, smart vehicles for infants born with mobility impairments.”

At first glance, this project seems to fall lock step in line with the walking chairs and sensor bots that have made assistive robotics a headline-maker throughout 2007.

What differs, however, is that unlike Toyota’s walking chair, the Delaware research was conducted at the University’s Early Learning Center - a daycare that conducted the in-house research for these prototypes.

The larger set of concerns this prototype raises is an old one: commercialization and ubiquity are key to mass adoption of assistive robots, but are hampered by current models of innovation dissemination and the limited set of choices for robotics development - corporate or academic research.

That the Delaware researchers were able to meet proof of concept is no small feat, but a working model does not a viable tool make. Incubation arms and technology transfer units within universities sometimes speed the deployment of store-shelve ready models, but often this comes at the cost of retained IP rights.  By contrast, corporate incubation units focus on fiddling with expensive showpieces designed not for commercialization but instead to grab media attention, demonstrate thought leadership and, of course, secure valuable patents.

Posted by Carol at February 23rd, 2007

Four years since its original prototype, I’m greatly anticipating the deployment of DartMail, a type of RFID-enabled file transfer system attached to, you guessed it, a dart.

See this video for a demo.

Posted by Greg at October 10th, 2006

It has been a long time coming, but I’ve finally found time to post my MA thesis, Dying to Live Forever: Challenging representations of radical life extension.

From the abstract:

The idea that bio- and nanotechnologies could drastically extend human lifespans is gaining currency, both among supporters and opponents of the potential technologies. Loosely organized immortalist groups are under political fire from all sides, faced with opposition from well-organized conservative, religious and environmentalist groups. If they do not find political allies soon, immortalists may find that the technologies they have such high hopes for are banned before their potential can be realized.

This thesis explores the culture of those who believe that human lifespans should be open-ended and propose technological interventions to keep us youthful and prevent “involuntary death.” A study of mythological and fictional tales of immortality lays the groundwork for an examination of immortalist discourse. Through Serge Moscovici’s theory of social representations and Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis, the beliefs and attitudes of immortalists are explored and suggestions are made for improving engagement with potential political allies.

A special thanks to BJ Klien at the Immortality Institute, the participants on the ImmInst forum, and to Dr. Aubrey de Grey for your participation in the project. I sincerely hope that my work proves useful to the immortalist community, or at least provides interesting fuel for discussion.

If you have any feedback, comments, or want to give me a book deal, please leave comments here or email me at gmcmullen at gmail dot com.

Posted by Greg at August 21st, 2006

What Future? has been slow to pick up again, mostly because of my move to Vancouver. Now that I’m here, I’ll be posting far more frequently.

The thesis is complete, and it will be available here in PDF format as soon as I scan my ethics approval, along with mp3 files of the interview I conducted with Aubrey de Grey.

Posted by Carol at July 21st, 2006

Got nothing to do next weekend? Go to Toronto. Enjoy the smog, and while you’re there be sure to check out the World Future Society’s annual conference.

Why?

• Free Career and Job Counseling
• Sessions on women as Futurists in the 21st Century (let’s roll, bitches)
• Oh yeah - and a closing keynote by Ray Kurzweil. Yep - THAT Ray Kurzweil.

Posted by Greg at July 13th, 2006

First and foremost, my thesis is finished. It’s called Dying to Live Forever: Challenging representations of radical life extension. My defense is on August 2, 2006. After that, expect to find a PDF of the entire thing available here. I’ll also be posting two hour-long recordings of Dr. Aubrey de Grey, one the interview I conducted with him and one a recording of a lecture he did here in Calgary on February 10, 2005. I’ve also got an article on life extension technology coming up in a special edition of the University of Alberta Health Law Review. I’ll link to that as soon as it’s available publicly.

I’ve been quiet lately, but I’ve still been writing. I’ve got a couple of short stories in the works that I’ll be posting here in the next couple days or weeks. They’re both near-future post-cyberpunkish things, one on identity theft and one about how digital rights management might be necessary for individuals.