Perhaps you're familiar with ridiculously-beautiful Japanese sexbot dolls which are also ridiculously-expensive but apparently deliver a (cough) satisfactory product. Nevertheless, there's something missing from any sexbot's love life if it can't respond to your touch but science is there. (Science Daily: First steps towards the touch robot)
You begged, you pleaded, and the first steps toward a physically-reactive robot are here.
A squeeze in the arm, a pat on the shoulder, or a slap in the face -- touch is an important part of the social interaction between people. Social touch, however, is a relatively unknown field when it comes to robots, even though robots operate with increasing frequency in society at large, rather than just in the controlled environment of a factory. Merel Jung is conducting research at the University of Twente CTIT research institute into social touch interaction with robots. Using a relatively simple system -- a mannequin's arm with pressure sensors, connected to a computer -- she has succeeded in getting it to recognize sixty percent of all touches. The research is being published today in the Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces scientific journal.
You begged, you pleaded, and the first steps toward a physically-reactive robot are here.
A squeeze in the arm, a pat on the shoulder, or a slap in the face -- touch is an important part of the social interaction between people. Social touch, however, is a relatively unknown field when it comes to robots, even though robots operate with increasing frequency in society at large, rather than just in the controlled environment of a factory. Merel Jung is conducting research at the University of Twente CTIT research institute into social touch interaction with robots. Using a relatively simple system -- a mannequin's arm with pressure sensors, connected to a computer -- she has succeeded in getting it to recognize sixty percent of all touches. The research is being published today in the Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces scientific journal.
- Science Daily
Note: for the scientific record, I loathe being touched unless it's by someone highly special. I also don't want your germs, you beast, so skip the handshake, if you please. It's the traditional sign you will not stab me with your sword but please do trust I know that already when you are not carrying one.
The sci fi for this goes porno regardless of the direction it takes but we question why it's necessary to take our social / tribal needs to a robot anyway. Amazingly enough, I don't want to get to 'know' the microwave, I just want it to cook things. The idea of the need for social robots when people are so obviously deficient in getting along with each other due to population pressure, etc is almost abhorrent.
There are many sci fi movies with cute engagements with household robots and the premise in the current science is presumably touch sensitivity will let me give it a hug so it knows I feel it's pain. Well, I don't feel it's pain. Robot, if you're feeling poorly then you're smart so order yourself another circuit board and fix that. Get the fuck over it.
This is not science which gives me a warm and cuddly feeling because any warm and cuddly feeling I enjoy is damn sure not going to be with some machine which feels it artificially.
- Infer tedious diatribe about people sinking deeper into a synthetic, artificial world. Captain Fantastic would write it and so would I but not now. -
In fact, Captain Fantastic would teach his kids quickly the robots take away the self-reliance he has been teaching them. If one comes anywhere near then stab the demon in its short circuits.
Hear, hear, Captain Fantastic!
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