From: Phil Osborn (philosborn2001@yahoo.com)
Date: Wed Jul 31 2002 - 19:30:52 MDT
Is size a problem?
Adrian Tymes wrote: "A small rover is simply too
tiny to accomplish these manipulation tasks."
So, make it the size of one of those things that kids
haul around behind them, with a tall plastic box on
top that you unlock for the clerk and automatically
locks when he shuts it over your merchandise. Put
some soft foam or bubble bumpers all round so it can't
hurt anyone - plastic with all the weight down low,
anyway. Payment? Ever hear of this thing called the
internet?
Alternatively, many years ago it occurred to me to
wire dogs or other animals with video and sound and a
control mechanism. Why restrict that seeing eye or
paralyzed assist dog to only doing what it can hear
you tell it to in its limited vocabulary? Teach it to
follow the direction of little buzzers in its head
gear. You see what it sees, hear what it hears, via
RF or cellular cams on the headgear. A big dog like a
husky or German Sheppard can carry a sizeable pack,
and beware anyone foolish enuf to try to rob the
contents.
In either case, the teleshopper will be seeing
whatever is going on and presumeably recording it as
well in case its needed, with an autodelete timestamp
likely, and he or she will be conversing with the
clerk just like they were there.
Here's another thought. Given the hysteria that the
media have generated over the child-snatchers of late,
even though the numbers have remained steady for many
years at about 100 kids taken by strangers in the U.S.
per year, why not use the cellular network for
distress signals? Give the kids a phone that
autoactivates if they stray outside the home cellular
zones and has an easy to reach panic button as well
that sends a message to the police, school personel,
parents, etc., all giving the time and location, and
pointing to the home site or a data site with pictures
of the kid, etc., all encripted and available only to
specific people who you want to know. Combined with
the new video phones out there, this would give
serious pause to any would-be molestors.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better
http://health.yahoo.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 09:15:49 MST