Posted on 10/28/2002 3:34:05 PM PST by Nachum
LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists in Britain and the United States will try to shake hands on Tuesday.
No big deal one might think -- only they will be 5,000 km (3,000 miles) apart, using the Internet to connect them.
In a technological first, they will use pencil-like devices called phantoms to recreate the sense of touch across the Atlantic, organizers of the experiment said.
The phantoms send small impulses at very high frequencies down the Internet using newly developed fiber optic cables and extremely high bandwidths.
When a scientist in London prods a screen with the phantom, the sensation should be felt by a colleague in Boston, and vice versa.
"Pushing on the pen sends data representing forces through the Internet that can be interpreted by a phantom and therefore felt on the other end," said Mel Slater, Professor of Computer Science at University College London (UCL).
"You can not only feel the resulting force, but you can also get a sense of the quality of the object you're feeling -- whether it's soft or hard, wood-like or fleshy."
UCL will conduct the experiment on Tuesday with colleagues from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Two scientists -- one in London and one in Boston -- will try to pick up a cube between them and move it, each responding to the force the other exerts on it.
The secret behind the technology is the speed at which the successive impulses are sent -- up to 1,000 Hertz," UCL said in a statement.
"In much the same way that the brain re-interprets still images into moving pictures, the frequencies received by the phantom are similarly integrated to produce the sense of a continuous sensation," it said.
The implications of the experiment could be vast, said UCL, which describes the event as the world's "first transatlantic handshake over the Internet."
If successful, it could allow people to touch and feel each other over the Internet.
LOL! A Woody Allen classic!
BTW, loved your # 19. An uplifting post!
I can foresee a huge surge in telecommunications stocks if this became widely available .. :)
OH GOD, I knew this was coming! (oops sorry for the pun)
Actually I thought of this a few years ago and might have considered trying to patent it but it seemed too scummy.
Man connects with prostitute in south east asia, they both strap on their touch devices, and well you know the rest...
I am sure this technology is coming, oops, will arrive, soon to a computer store near you.
1. Petra Verkaik (obviously)
2. Wonder Woman (mmmmm....)
3. Mary Landrieu (Don't agree with her but she's the Senator I would most like to "touch" via the gizmo.)
4. Beth Ostroski (Just to make Howard Stern jealous.)
5. Salma Hayek (She's going to portray that weird Mexican commie-lib one-eyebrowed artist chick on the big screen but I forgive her.)
6. Sophia Loren (Any way to make the settings of this device so that the chix will feel as they appeared 40 years ago?)
7. Anita Ekberg (See above.)
8. Ursula Andress (As she appeared in "Dr. No")
9. Jennifer Connelly (But only in her pre-anorexiac personna.)
10. All of the Playboy Playmates up to but NOT including the Implant Era.
Sounds like a good way for somebody to make money. That's about all for now.
If you can tell whether you are "touching" a man or a woman from the get-go, then you have problems.
I don't really see this as stupidity. Aside from the prurient uses, think about long distance surgery. What if someone in orbit got struck by a microscopic meteor? This technology, in combination with those that already exist, would allow a trauma surgeon anywhere with a high-bandwidth connection to see the operating area in 3-D, control all available surgical tools, and feel the wound. The same would apply to those living in extremely rural areas (Western Canada or the Outback, for instance), or those that are so emergent that they wouldn't make it to a hospital (an accident on Everest as an example).
Sounds pretty useful to me.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.