From: Adrian Tymes (wingcat@pacbell.net)
Date: Tue Jul 30 2002 - 22:29:07 MDT
Phil Osborn wrote:
> OK - why NO comments on the Boeing anti-gravity thing?
Been there. Done that. Wasn't Boeing already looking into it months
ago?
(Sign of the Singularity approaching: it used to be that seriously old
news was what was years ago. Now it's only months. Looking forward to
when that becomes mere weeks.)
> So - patent killer of the day: All those boomers with
> their hot new Sony phones that include video
> capabilities? How about teledriving around Central
> Park from San Francisco? Maybe accompanying your
> friend/date via one of those big model 4-Bys using
> telepresence via the cellular and a couple of cheap
> video cams and microphones, etc.
Hands. And arms. And audio output. And cargo compartments. Effective
telepresence means more than mere presence, it means being able to
effectively interact with the environment. For instance, want to
teledrive to the corner store to buy something? Even assuming the
clerk is hip to that (which, for a mom & pop store, shouldn't be too
hard to establish if it's not already the case), and assuming just
getting your 'bot to the store and back is little problem, your 'bot
still has to navigate to the desired merchandise, pick it up without
damaging it or other merchandise on the shelf, navigate to the front
counter, hand over the required currency, pick up any change and
receipt, then navigate out of the store. A small rover is simply too
tiny to accomplish these manipulation tasks.
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