Category: Future

The Future is Here: Robotaxis and Podcars!

2010 Zagato 2getthere Podcar

Fans of Total Recall may recall the Johnnycab, a robot taxi service that helped Arny get to where he was going and flee his armed assailants. Well, as it turns out, personal automated podcars (aka. robotaxis) are not a thing of the future anymore. Yes, as it turns out, Masdar City in the United Arab Emirates has a taxi service that consists of a small fleet of autonomous taxis which run entirely on electricity.

Invented by a European company named “2GetThere”, the service accommodates somewhere in the vicinity of 25,000 people per month. As part of the growing project to create a self-sustaining city that runs on clean, renewable energy, these rails are consistent with the city’s ethos and are expected to pave the way for clean mass transit. Best of all, the 2GetThere models don’t have weird-looking animatronic robot busts sitting in the front seat to creep you out and provide needless comic relief!

But of course, the UAE is not the only place where robotaxis can be found, nor is 2GetThere the only company investing in this revolutionary technology. In San Jose, the so-called “Capital of Silicon Valley”, similar efforts are being made to create clean, sustainable transportation. In this case, it takes the form of the Personal Rapid Transit System; or as it is more widely known, Podcars.

The system involves a series of on-call, point to point transit cars which move about on main lines and intermediate stations to find the quickest route to a destination. Under normal conditions, this means of transit has been shown to be faster than other forms of mass transit or automobile. The “matrix”, or looped layout structure of the network, allows for high-volume and is also expected to lessen the burden on conventional transit systems.

Granted, both networks are in their infancy, but both the science and the planning behind them is sound and expected to take off in the near future. Much like mag lev and light rail train systems, they are part of a growing Eco-friendly attitude towards city planning and mass transportation which is anticipated to become the mainstay of urban development and renewal in the 21st century.

And of course, Google and other companies are also hard at work trying to bring us other designs and concepts. Amongst them are true self-driving cars, the kinds that may very well involve robot drivers. But in all likelihood, these will take the form of truly “smart” cars – i.e. the kind that can guide themselves, pick optimal routes, and avoid accidents and traffic congestion. Sad to think that the days of driving might actually be coming to an end. But hey, at least we might save the planet in the process!

The Future is Here: The World’s First Cyborg!

TerminatorWell, that’s one way to look at this bio-engineered jellyfish. Sure, it’s a long way from Terminators, Replicants and Cylons, but it just might constitute a step in that direction. Known as a medusoid, this jellyfish was created by growing a thin layer of rat heart muscle cells on top of a layer of elastic silicone. The end result is a creature that is a merger of living and non-living components and swims like an actual jellyfish.

This feat of bioengineering is the result of a collaboration between Harvard biophysicist Kit Parker and Caltech biotechnology researcher Janna Nawroth, who used the bell-shaped configuration of a moon jelly as their blueprint. Like the moon jelly, the cyborg version moves by rapidly moving its appendages, then drifts by opening itself up again. This is accomplished by applying an electrical current to the heart muscle, which contracts to close the body, while the silicone part springs the body back into a flat shape.

medusoidThe point of this project, according to Nawroth, was to show that lifeforms, beginning with the most basic, could be reverse engineered and rebuild using biological and synthetic components. What’s more, they intended to demonstrate that mechanical components could be made to mimic biological functions. Though this may seem like a modest accomplishment to some, it effectively shows that biotech machines can exist and behave like normal creatures, at least basic ones.

Score one for the biotech team! Combined with AI research, nanotechnology and mind-machine interfacing, this is all grist to the Singularity mill. If we can create machines that can mimic complex biological functions, then there’s very little keeping us from creating artificial lifeforms… like synthetic humans! And if machinery can merge with biological tissue, then cybernetic enhancements capable of accelerating human thought might be possible too. Hence why this latest development should be seen as significant, and even a little bit scary!

Via IO9

The Future is Here: Aerographite!

According to a recent story on CBC.ca, a new material has been developed which is the currently renowned for being the lightest material in the world. Known as Aerographite, the material is composed of carbon and weighs roughly one-seventy-fifth that of Styrofoam.

Created by researchers working at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg (TUHH) and Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel, this material is also said to be flexible, stable, water resistant, and a good conductor of electricity. It might sound like no big deal, but ultra-light substances that are composed of basic elements are things which were predicted to accompany the development of nanotechnology.

You see, at the micro level aerographite resembles a network of porous carbon tubes (pictured at right), which calls to mind the concept of the carbon nanotube. Much like the Buckminsterfullerene, this microscopic structure is predicted to be the mainstay of construction someday, just as soon as we can create nanomachines capable of erecting buildings!

And just think of it, diamonds are essentially carbon that has been layered and then super-compressed to become a near-indestructible material. If you have the ability to assemble tiny atomic structures made out of carbon, you can essentially create not only create diamonds, but also objects that are both extremely light and highly resilient. And just so you know, the researchers who produced aerographite have indicated that it can be compressed without damage.

Okay, it’s not exactly a technological revolution, but it is a step in that direction. Yep, soon enough we’ll be able to erect buildings simply by dumping some grey goo on the ground and watching a building sprout up. And unlike our current edifices of concrete, steel and glass, will be composed of different configurations of carbon and other primary elements. They will be stronger, lighter, able to endure indefinitely, maybe even capable of upgrades!

 

The Future of Computing

digital_sentienceLook what you started, Nicolla 😉 After talking, at length, about the history of computing a few days ago, I got to thinking about the one aspect of the whole issue that I happened to leave out. Namely, the future of computing, with all the cool developments that we are likely to see in the next few decades or centuries.

Much of that came up in the course of my research, but unfortunately, after thirteen or so examples about the history of computing, I was far too tired and burnt to get into the future of it as well. And so, I carry on today, with a brief (I promise!) list of developments that we are likely to see before the century is out… give or take. Here they are:

Chemical Computer:
Here we have a rather novel idea for the future of hardware. Otherwise known as a reaction-diffusion or “gooware” computer, this concept calls for the creation of a semi-solid chemical “soup” where data is represented by varying concentrations of chemicals and computations are performed by naturally occurring chemical reactions.

Based on the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction, a chemical experiment which demonstrated that wave phenomena can indeed take place in chemical reactions, contradicting the theory of thermodynamics which states that entropy will only increase in a closed system. By contrast, the BZ experiments showed that cyclic effects can take place without breaking the laws of nature.

Amongst theoretical models, it remains a top contender for future use for the simple reason that it is far less limiting that current microprocessors. Whereas the latter only allows the flow of data in one direction at a time, a chemical computer theoretically allows for the movement of data in all directions, all dimensions, both away and against each other.

For obvious reasons, the concept is still very much in the experimental stage and no working models have been proposed at this time.

DNA Computing:
Yet another example of an unconventional computer design, one which uses biochemistry and molecular biology, rather than silicon-based hardware, in order to conduct computations. Originally proposed by Leonard Adleman of the University of Southern Calfornia in 1994, Adleman was able to demonstrate how DNA could be used to conduct multiple calculations at once.

Much like chemical computing, the potential here is to be able to build a machine that is not restricted as conventional machines are. In addition to being able to compute in multiple dimensions and directions, the DNA basis of the machine means it could be merged with other organic technology, possibly even a fully-organic AI (a la the 12 Cylon models).

While progress in this area remains modest thus far, Turing complete models have been constructed, the most notable of which is the model crated by the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel in 2002. Here, researchers unveiled a programmable molecular computing machine composed of enzymes and DNA molecules instead of silicon microchips which would theoretically be capable of diagnosing cancer in a cell and releasing anti-cancer drugs.

Nanocomputers:
In keeping with the tradition of making computers smaller and smaller, scientists have proposed that the next generation of computers should measure only a few nanometers in size. That’s 1×10-9 meters for those who mathematically inclined. As part of the growing field of nanotechnology, the application is still largely theoretical and dependent on further advancements. Nevertheless, the process is a highly feasible one with many potential benefits.

Here, as with many of these other concepts, the plan is simple. By further miniaturizing the components, a computer could be shrunk to the size of a chip and implanted anywhere on a human body (i.e. “Wetware” or silicate implants). This will ensure maximum portability, and coupled with a wireless interface device (see Google Glasses or VR Contact Lenses) could be accessed at any time in any place.

Optical Computers:
Compared to the previous two examples, this proposed computer is quite straightforward, even if it radically advanced. While today’s computer rely on the movement of electrons in and out of transistors to do logic, an optical computer relies on the movement of photons.

The immediate advantage of this is clear; given that photons are much faster than electrons, computers equipped with optical components would be able to process information of significantly greater speeds. In addition, researchers contend that this can be done with less energy, making optical computing a potential green technology.

Currently, creating optical computers is just a matter of replacing electronic components with optical ones, which requires an optical transistor, which are composed of non-linear crystals. Such materials exist and experiments are already underway. However, there remains controversy as to whether the proposed benefits will pay off, or be comparable to other technologies (such as semiconductors). Only time will tell…

Quantum Computers:
And last, and perhaps most revolutionary of all, is the concept of quantum computing – a device which will rely on the use of quantum mechanical phenomena to performs operations. Unlike digital computers, which require that data to be encoded into binary digits (aka. bits), quantum computation utilizes quantum properties to represent data and perform calculations.

The field of quantum computing was first introduced by Richard Feynman in 1982 and represented the latest advancements in field theory. Much like chemical and DNA-based computer designs, the theoretical quantum computer also has the ability to conduct multiple computations at the same time, mainly because it would have the ability to be in more than one state simultaneously.

The concept remains highly theoretical, but a number of experiments have been conducted in which quantum computational operations were executed on a very small number of qubits (quantum bits). Both practical and theoretical research continues, and many national government and military funding agencies support quantum computing research to develop quantum computers for both civilian and national security purposes, such as cryptanalysis.

Wearable Computers:
Last, and most feasible, is the wearable computer, which has already been developed for commercial use. Essentially, these are a class of miniature electronic devices that are worn on the bearer’s person, either under or on top of clothing. A popular version of this concept is the wrist mounted option, where the computer is worn like a watch.

The purposes and advantages of this type of computer are obvious, especially where applications that require more complex computational support than hardware coded logics can provide. Another advantage is the constant interactions between user and computer, as it is augmented into all other functions of the user’s daily life. In many ways, it acts as a prosthesis, being an extension of the users mind and body.

Pretty cool, huh? And to think that these and possibly other concepts could be feasible within our own lifetimes. Given the current rate of progress in all thing’s high-tech, we could be looking at fully-integrated computer implants, biological computers and AI’s with biomechanical brains. Wouldn’t that be both amazing and potentially frightening!

The Future is Here: The Google Neural Net!

I came across a recent story at BBC News, one which makes me both hopeful and fearful. It seems that a team of researchers, working for Google, have completed work on an artificial neural net that is capable of recognizing pictures of cats. Designed and built to mimic the human brain, this may very well be the first instance where a computer was capable of exercising the faculty of autonomous reasoning – the very thing that we humans are so proud (and jealous) of!

The revolutionary new system was a collaborative effort between Google’s X Labs division and Professor Andrew Ng of the AI Lab at Standford University, California. As opposed to image recognition software, which tells computers to look for specific features in a target picture before being presented with it, the Google machine knew nothing about the images in advance. Instead, it relied on its 16,000 processing cores to run software that simulated the workings of a biological neural network with about one billion connections.

Now, according to various estimates, the human cerebral cortex contains at least 1010 neurons linked by 1014 synaptic connections – or in lay terms, 10 trillions neurons with roughly 1 quadrillion connections. That means this artificial brain has one one thousandth the complexity of the organic, human one. Not quite as complex, but it’s a start… A BIG start really!

For decades – hell, even centuries and millennia – human beings have contemplated what it would take to make an autonomous automaton. Even with all the growth in computer’s processing speed and storage, the question of how to make the leap between a smart machine and a truly “intelligent” one has remained a tricky one. Judging from all the speculation and representations in fiction, everyone seemed to surmise that some sort of artificial neural net would be involved, something that could mimic the process of forming connections, encoding experiences into a physical (i.e. digital) form, and expanding based on ongoing learning.

Naturally, Google has plans for an application using this new system. Apparently, the company is hoping that it will help them with its indexing systems and with language translation.  Giving the new guy the boring jobs, huh? I wonder what’s going to happen when the newer, smarter models start coming out? Yeah, I can foresee new generations emerging over time, much as new generations of iPods with larger and larger storage capacities have been coming out every year for the past decade. Or, like faster and faster CPU’s from the past three decades. Yes, this could very well represent the next great technological race, as foreseen by such men as Eliezer Yudkowsky, Nick Bostrom, and Ray Kurzweil.

In short, Futurists will rejoice, Alarmists will be afraid, and science fiction writers will exploit it for all its worth! Until next time, keep your eyes peeled for any red-eyed robots. That seems to be the first warning sign of impending robocalypse!

The Future is Here!: VR Contact Lenses

Not long ago, it was Google who introduced eye pieces that could project augmented reality into a person’s visual field. Known as Google Glasses, they sure seemed futuristic, didn’t they? And yet, it seems someone else has gone a step farther. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (aka. DARPA) own researchers, based in Washington’s Innovega iOptiks.

The concept calls for contact lenses that enhance normal vision by allowing a wearer to view virtual and augmented reality images without the need for bulky apparatus. One of the obvious advantages of this is the ability to get around easily while interacting with virtual images. But in addition, they also will help a person focus on both near and distant objects.

Developed as part of DARPA’s “Soldier Centric Imaging via Computational Cameras” (SCENICC) program, the objective was to create a device that could enhance a soldier’s vision, allow them to access information, while still being highly ergonomic and portable. But of course, the line between military and civilian applications is always a fine one, with inventions trickling down to the street all the time. Very soon, these could be making their way onto the shelves of the Apple store. I can see it now… the new eyePhone!

No word yet as to how these things are powered, like if they have some kind of battery. Where would that go? Are these things solar powered? Unclear at this time. Regardless, as someone who is near-sighted, a big fan of cyberpunk, and damn eager to try out some augmented reality, I’ll be looking to get me some as soon as they’re available!

The Future is Here: Portable Coilguns

It seems that not only the US Navy is experimenting with electromagentic guns. Personal inventors are doing said same. I present you with the CG-33 Portable Coil Gun, the best EM gun to be presented to the world as of yet. And the funny thing is, it was made by an independent inventor named Jason using simple OTS (off-the-shelf) electronic components. These include a 12V Nickel-metal battery, a series of capacitors and a bolt action loading system.

You might want to study up on mechanical and electrical engineering before attempting to build one of these, but the results are impressive. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jason got a call from Heckler and Koch or some other gun manufacturer in the near future!

The Future is Here: The 5-Axis Robot

3D printers are becoming all the rage these days. Machines that can take a computer-generated blueprint and compile an object out of plastic that matches it exactly, what’s not to love about that? But recently, the Japanese company known as Daishin Seki produced a machine that could literally sculpt metal. The concept is pretty much the same: you create a diagram on your computer, upload it to the robot, make sure it’s loaded with a block of metal, and just sit back and let it do its thing.

The initial test of the machine was caught on video, where it turned a block of aluminum into a one-piece motorcycle helmet. Yes, this work of metallic art has no seems, no screws, no separate parts. So its likely to be a hell of a lot more durable than one that was slapped together. Quite impressive. The applications for this growing technology truly are limitless.

However, this does raise some genuine concerns. For one, human machinists can’t keep up with this kind of technology. So really, it is no longer a competition between a human being and a machine, but between two kinds of machines. This new form of computer-assisted design, known as “machining”, stands in contrast to “printing” – i.e. use of a 3D printer. As time goes on, these two methods are likely to compete for consumers and investment, eventually procuring certain niches of the design market. Meanwhile, human machinists will be left behind, with nothing to do but watch and get re-educated on the use of these machines.

Well, no one said “progress” was all sunshine and roses. And the elimination of man-power is one of the hallmarks of high tech. So unless we choose to jam these machines up, we’ll just have to be content to watch them churn out cool stuff, huh? Enjoy the video clip below:

The Future is Here: Invisible Tanks!

Swedish-made CV90 with ADAPTIV panels

So far, we’ve heard of stealth fighters, stealth ships, and stealth suits. But what about stealth tanks? Why shouldn’t the mobile armored fighting vehicle be included in this race to make all weapons stealthy? Well its seems BAE (British Aerospace Marconi Electronic) Systems has decided to do just that. Working with the concept of Infra-Red imaging and its use on the modern battlefield, BAE has created the ADAPTIV camoflage system.

Basically, modern military vehicles use IR imaging for a number of purposes, namely target acquisition, night vision, homing and tracking. Ever since the late 80s and early 90s, any vehicle that did not have these capabilities found themselves at a marked disadvantage on the battlefield. After all, if you can see your enemy but they can’t see you, then you can destroy them with impunity!

A prime example of this happened during the Gulf War, where Iraqi armored formations were eviscerated simply they did not have the ability to see in the dark. While they moved about blind, US Abrams tanks simply targeted the enemy using their night vision and began picking them off one by one.

However, with every advanced army in the world employing IR technology, the pendulum has once again swung to defense. With all armies able to see an enemy vehicle’s thermal signature, any vehicle that has a way to hide it will now have the edge. That is the principle of ADAPTIV, which combines the idea of Infra-red concealment with the larger concept of adaptive camouflage.

Essentially, this consists of sheets of hexagonal panels that act as pixels when attached to the exterior of the vehicle. These pixels can individually change temperature very rapidly and combine to display an infrared image of the background scenery captured from cameras on board the vehicle, allowing even a moving tank to match its surroundings. BAE has also put together a library of images to display the heat signature of other vehicles, such as cars, trucks, and natural objects, such as large rocks.

Pretty cool huh? Already the technology has been proposed as being adaptable to more than just land vehicles. It can also be added to helicopters, surface ships, for commercial use, and can even send friendly identification signals. Check out the BAE promotional video below for a demonstration.

The Future is Here: Rail Guns!

Naval Surface Warfare Center test, January 2008
Naval Surface Warfare Center test, January 2008

Officially, it’s known as an electrically-powered artillery gun, a system that uses high-powered magnets and electrical charges to accelerate a conductive projectile to hypersonic speeds. The projectile runs along a set of magnetic rails and is then hurled at targets at a velocity of 2.4 kilometres per second (or 5,400 mph).

For years, the US Navy and other national militaries have been experimenting with the concept. The benefits are obvious, and range from the lack of propellants, to range, to sheer destructive power. Unlike an explosive shell, a railgun projectile can punch through walls of concrete and steel with ease while also ensuring less in the way of collateral damage.

As a concept, the railgun has a solid presence in the field of science fiction. It’s first mention was in the 1897 science fiction novel A Trip to Venus by John Munro. In this story, Munro describes a device known as an “electric gun” which is used to launch spaceships from Earth into orbit. In the 1955 novel Earthlight, Arthur C. Clarke described how an electromagnetically gun was used to defend a fortress from an attacking warship.

Railgun from Halo 4

More modern examples include Robert A. Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds, the TV series Babylon 5, and the Wing Commander and Halo gaming universes. Here, as in elsewhere, EM guns make an appearance as either railguns, “mass drivers”, or “asteroid guns”.

And let’s not forget movies like Eraser, Demolition Man, and Transformers II (ick!). In these films, the concept was also used, either in the context of a futuristic infantry weapon or as a ship-mounted weapon. However, outside of science fiction and pop culture, the concept was considered purely experimental. As far as developers and civilian administrators were concerned, the technology was too theoretical, too expensive, and too… well, science fiction-y.

But as of the new millennium, the US Navy began conducting actual tests under the name of Project “Velocitas Eradico,” which roughly translated is Latin for Killing Speed. As of January 2008, the Navy began conducting their first true field tests, which involved the firing of conductive projectiles to test their overall velocity.

And then, in February of 2012, the US Navy unleashed the first true railgun, meaning an electromagnetic artillery weapon that actually resembles a deck gun. Video evidence showed the weapon being test fired within a lab and eviscerating a target located on an outside test range. I’ll think you agree, the footage is impressive, but that was the point! With these most recent tests, the Navy hopes that Congress will approve funding for further development.