Posted on 05/12/2015 6:36:43 AM PDT by Daffynition
Here’s some seriously bad news for lovers of man’s best friend.
A leading animal welfare researcher has claimed that the rise in global population will lead to real animals becoming the reserve of the extremely wealthy, meaning that the rest of us will turn to ‘robot dogs’ for companionship.
(Excerpt) Read more at metro.co.uk ...
Well, not until I get my flying car, mr. Futurist.
It’s alive!
That’s the coolest robot video I’ve seen yet. It’s from a few years ago. I wonder where they’re at now.
Robot woof woof ping!
10 pts if you can name the movie:
“you think I could afford a real snake?”
My name is Rags, woof, woof, woof!
This is just stupid.
I own one of the first AIBO robodogs. SONY built 10,000 for the second run, and got 130,000 orders - I didn’t think I’d win the 1:13 odds to get one.
It was...amusing. Not quite compelling. It was fascinated by Christmas tree lights. Self-charging (finding its way back to the charger when needed) was a vital feature it didn’t have; you don’t want to have to find & move it every few hours.
Upon getting married, I put it on the charger and left it (newlyweds having other things to do). Then we got a dog, a real one. The AIBO remained on the charger, unused. One day I turned it on to see how they would get along. Little Teddy absolutely FREAKED OUT - as in: you imagine how you’d react if your furniture just started wandering around for no apparent reason. Live pet won, AIBO is on a shelf.
You think a skin-job like me knows movies? :)
I would miss the drool and the shed hair all around. Not.
+10
No way in heck a robot doggie can be compared to a real live doggie. Can a robot doggie make me howl with laughter after I feed it peanut butter? Can a robot doggie snuggle? Can a robot doggie stare completely perplexed at his butt after he clears the room with a fart? Nope.. I’m sticking with my live canine buddies....
Hah! I just heard that clip as a sample in a song this morning.
Blade Runner
http://www.bostondynamics.com/robot_bigdog.html
BigDog runs at 4 mph, climbs slopes up to 35 degrees, walks across rubble, climbs muddy hiking trails, walks in snow and water, and carries 340 lb load.
Development of the original BigDog robot was funded by DARPA. Work to add a manipulator and do dynamic manipulation was funded by the Army Research Laboratory’s RCTA program.
Was it from Blade Runner?
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