Researchers Claim Sex Robots Will Be Future Of Sex Tourism

LAS VEGAS (CBS Las Vegas) – Are robots the future of prostitution and sex tourism? That’s what two Australian researchers claim.

Ian Yeoman, management professor, and Michelle Mars, sexologist, are researchers at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia. Their work together revolved around the concept of futuristic sex tourism.

The hypothesis? Sex robots would become the leading ladies of sex-for-profit in the seemingly distant year of 2050. - [Full Article]

Defense Department to further militarize U.S. law enforcement with hundreds of military robots

(Image credit: U.S. Navy)

Madison Ruppert, Contributor
Activist Post

Last year I reported on the Pentagon’s 1033 Program, wherein local law enforcement agencies can obtain surplus military hardware through a website, only having to pay to pick up the equipment.

Now, according to the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), law enforcement will be even further militarized through the use of hundreds of military robots acquired by the Department of Defense over the past decade.

According to the head of the eastern team of DLA’s disposition services office, Dan Arnold, the older and more heavily used items will likely be robots for explosive ordnance disposal and surveillance, although some of the hardware is nearly brand new and never been deployed overseas.

According to National Defense, Arnold said to the attendees of the GovSec conference in Washington, D.C., that these robots are just one instance of the surplus equipment that will likely become available as the conflict in Afghanistan supposedly winds down.

Read more »

Defense Dept. commissions 'Cheetah' robot and Terminator-like droid; hummingbird drone also in works

NY Daily News

Boston Dynamics

Boston Dynamics' 'Cheetah' robot will be developed with a flexible spine and head. The company hopes it will eventually be able to sprint at speeds approaching 70 mph.

Boston Dynamics

The Atlas, a human-like droid, will be able to walk through rough terrain, crawl and use its hands.

AP/Saxon

A tiny, drone aircraft designed to mimic a hummingbird, known as the "nano-hummingbird," on display during a briefing at the AeroVironment facility in Simi Valley, Calif.

A Massachusetts engineering firm known for creating futuristic military robots has received multimillion dollar contracts to develop two more battlefield bots for the Department of Defense.

Boston Dynamics, which in 2008 unveiled a four-legged robot called BigDog, has been tapped by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the research and development arm of the DOD, to create a human-like robot and an agile, robotic Cheetah that developers said will eventually be able to run 70 mph.

WATCH VIDEO OF THE BIGDOG BELOW

The human-like bot, Atlas, will have two arms and legs, but no head, and be able to walk and jog upright, climb, squeeze through narrow alleyways and use its hands, Boston Dynamics said.

The Terminator-like droid would represent a step forward from Boston Dynamic's current anthropomorphic robot, known at PETMAN, which is used to test chemical weapons protection suits for the Army.

WATCH VIDEO OF THE PETMAN BELOW

[Full Article]

The real 2001: Scientists teach robots how to trick humans

It sounds like something straight out of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

But, in a chilling echo of the computer Hal from the iconic film, scientists have developed robots that are able to deceive humans and even hide from their enemies.

An experiment by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology is believed to be the first detailed examination of robot deception.

The team developed computer algorithms that would let a robot ‘decide’ whether it should deceive a human or another robot and gave it strategies to give it the best chance of not being found out...

[Full Article]

The robot that visits your cubicle

(CNN) -- When Trevor Blackwell, CEO of a company called Anybots, wants to know what his employees are up to, he sends a robot to their cubicles.

"I can see if people are busy on something -- and then won't interrupt them," he said this week. "Or, you know, if they're doing something that looks interesting, or if they look stuck, I'll have a conversation with them."

This isn't your standard "Office Space" conversation. Blackwell boots up a "telepresence robot" -- which looks like a combination between a Segway and Johnny 5 from those "Short Circuit" movies -- to talk to his employees from his home, 10 miles from Anybots' office in Mountain Home, California.

The 5-foot-6, 35-pound robot contains a video camera, a still camera and a microphone. From a laptop, Blackwell can see everything the robot sees. He hears what the robot hears. And, when he talks, the robot projects his voice.

He drives the robot, called QB, with his computer keyboard. A sensor stops it from running into doors and tables. The robot zips around at 3.5 miles per hour, and its battery lasts up to 8 hours, or the length of a typical human workday, he said.

Watch the company's demo video, and this will all make more sense

Blackwell says that this is how the office of tomorrow will work. Within a year or so, he says, every office in Silicon Valley, California, will have about one telepresence robot for every 10 employees...

[Full Article]

Robot-Inflicted Injuries Studied

(From BBC News)

A future in which robots help around the home could prove harmful to humans, suggests a study.

German researchers studied what happens in accidents involving robots using sharp tools alongside humans.

They used a robot arm holding a variety of bladed tools programmed to strike test substances that mimic soft tissue.

In some cases, the researchers found, the robots managed to accidentally inflict wounds that would prove "lethal".

The tests were conducted to see if a prototype safety system could limit the damage done.

Human subject

The tests involved a robot arm weighing 14kg and a 1.1m reach that was equipped with a variety of bladed household tools including a steak knife, kitchen knife, scissors and screwdriver.

The robot arm was programmed to use the bladed tools to stab and cut a silicone lump, a leg from a dead pig and the arm of a human volunteer.

Striking, stabbing and puncturing tests with the safety system turned off were performed on the silicone and pig leg. Deep cuts resulted in most cases that, the researchers said, could prove to be "lethal" if inflicted on a living subject.

Three researchers from the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics at the German aerospace agency wanted to carry out the tests because they envisage a future in which robots will start to become domestic helpers.

Injuries were significantly reduced when the prototype collision detection system developed by the trio was switched on. This system uses torque sensors to spot when it has hit a different substance and halts movement. It was used to limit damage when human subjects were tested.

Previous studies have looked at what would happen when large heavy robots bump into people. However, the German study is thought to be the first to look at the slashing injuries robots could cause.

The results of the study were presented at the 2010 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, held in Alaska in early May.

Robots And Bees To Beat The Taliban

The homemade IED is the extremists’ deadliest weapon and America is spending billions on trying to combat it. We are granted access to this secret, smart and bizarre world

The soldier breathes loud and fast as he lays a timed charge on an explosive in a Baghdad street. “I want these people to know if they’re going to leave a bomb on the side of the road for us, we’re just going to blow up their f****** road,” he growls, walking away. Before he can reach safety, an Iraqi punches a code into a mobile phone. The explosion sends the soldier flying in a cloud of dust and debris...