Idaho
blah blah blah
We don't need an emp, we just need good hackers. They will then be our army
Robots from Boston Dynamics and more
- Thread starter Crispy
- Start date
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
plonk this here cos it worried me
NoXion
Craicy the Squirrel
I find it funny how it sticks its arm/leg in to prevent the door closing itself.
Is it fucking possible to make a non-creepy robot, please?
I think there's a fair ways to go before reaching the bottom of the uncanny valley.
Fez909
toilet expert
I know what you mean by uncanny valley, but it doesn't apply here as that just related to humanoid robots I think?
It should be entirely possible to create a non-creepy, non-humanoid robot without the uncanny valley effect.
NoXion
Craicy the Squirrel
I don't see why such a robot should be impossible, but I don't think the state of the art has reached that point as of yet.
Most humans have an intuitive "feel" for how vertebrates, not just other humans, are supposed to move. I think that the creepiness of these robots comes at least partly from the fact that they violate our instinctual preconceptions regarding how quadrupeds are to supposed to look and act. The robot is obviously performing a balancing act as it moves about, something we normally associate only with organic beings, yet it is clearly mechanical in appearance.
That's before considering the provenance of the robot itself, produced by the kind of technology-oriented corporations that have already brought massive social and economic disruption. That might also be a factor influencing peoples' reactions.
editor
hiraethified
There's also the issue that these creations will have to navigate a world designed for humans so it makes sense for them to duplicate some human physical characteristics - and the animal world is one that's easy to study and learn from. They're efficient too having being developed from millions of years of evolution.
NoXion
Craicy the Squirrel
Well, it would only seem to be necessary in the broadest sense. Unless they're intended specifically to be able to operate machinery designed for human operators, such as the driver seat of a conventional vehicle, a robot only needs to have a chassis capable of moving through human-designed spaces and manipulating objects within said spaces. There's nothing inherent to a set of stairs that demands that any object traversing them have two legs in the plantigrade position. Wheels or tracks can be designed to traverse stairs:
As for object manipulation, I'm disinclined to believe that humans have evolved the optimal configuration. I'm not saying that humans aren't great manipulators in the natural world - we're probably the best animals ever in that respect - but evolution by natural selection is a very poor designer, forced to re-jig previous layouts rather than design things from the ground up or go back to the drawing board.
Fez909
toilet expert
Man, I disagree with this comment so much.
Evolution by natural selection is 'design' in tandem with environment. The environment literally shapes what is possible. I don't see how it's possible to get any better than that?
If you'd have said slow, I'd agree. But "very poor"? No way. It's perfect.
NoXion
Craicy the Squirrel
Natural selection requires organisms to suffer and die in order for it to work. Not just in a handful of prototypes, as in the human-directed design process. But all species, all the time, are locked in a deadly arms race with both each other and the environment. It's like trying to design a boat by throwing random objects into a pond and then sticking together whatever manages to float. You might eventually produce a serviceable craft in this manner, but actually planning out the design will produce better results more quickly, especially with the freedom to completely revise the design should your prototyping lead you down a blind alley. Natural selection can't do that; every organism is one in a very long series of slight modifications of whatever came before.
In consequence, evolution produces sub-optimal results. Perfect it is not!
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NoXion
Craicy the Squirrel
I know it's anthropomorphising, but that machine came across as more determined than annoyed. It was programmed to open that damn door, and no insignificant fleshy is going to stop it!
editor
hiraethified
I can't even imagine how much science, maths and engineering went into that.
I bet you say that to all the great dancers!
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
editor
hiraethified
It's my best line.
Wookey
Muppet is not a slur
Holy fuckbags.
I've seen it all. That dog thingy with a murder program would be...very hard to stop without pulling it's tail!
Indeliblelink
\......👁&👁......./
I posted this in the bandwidth thread the other day but might as well plonk it here too.
Mrs Miggins
Eternal
I absolutely love these robots but man, we are so far away from anything even approaching Blade Runner.
joustmaster
offcumdun
It's pretty amazing how good cgi for just a youtuber is these days.
