Technology is offering many improvements to life quality for persons with disabilities – coming down the pipeline at present is a Spanish-designed wheelchair that can be controlled by thought alone.
Tag Archives: technology
Exoskeleton’s Peak Performance
A Japanese man who has been paralysed from the neck down for two decades has fulfilled his dream of ascending the Breithorn mountain in Switzerland – by being carried on the back of his buddy, who was kitted out with a HAL ‘robot-suit’ exoskeleton that increases the strength of its wearer by up to 80%. The HAL’s inventor plans to develop the system further, with the goal of enabling more disabled persons to fulfill ambitions otherwise inaccessible to them. Now this proof-of-concept is loose outside the military domain, we can expect to see a lot more devices like it in the coming years.
India Plans Robotic Military
The armed forces of the world, as ever, are dead set on using technology to gain an edge on the battlefield. Hence the Indian Prime Minister’s announcement that his country is starting a program to develop “cutting edge technology weapons in sensors, robotics, propulsion systems, stealth and fighting wars through use of remote technology”. I guess anything that means less people have to die is OK by me.
CHANGING THE TUNE by Jason Stoddard
Jason Stoddard’s “Changing The Tune” is a wistful story about youth and regrets, and how techno-utopia fails to live up to its hype.
[ IMPORTANT NOTICE: This story is NOT covered by the Creative Commons License that covers the majority of content on Futurismic; copyright remains with the author, and any redistribution is a breach thereof. Thanks. ]
Changing The Tune
by Jason Stoddard
“Dan, no!” Carolin said.
“You aren’t!” Keith said.
I waved them silent and looked down into the Northridge mall bandchise pit. Several hundred almighties had packed themselves in to see the premiere of Anna Baby No. 137. She was grinding through her rendition of “Always Pure.” Grey heads, bald heads, and newly brown and blonde and black heads were bobbing in time to the simple rhythm.
My handscreen showed all green. No sprites latched to my stream. No visigods watching. No Eyes or Ears tuned to our location.
I thumbed the icon and the music changed. Continue reading CHANGING THE TUNE by Jason Stoddard
CONSENSUS BUILDING by Tom Doyle
Tom Doyle’s nasty new story “Consensus Building” takes on the commercialization of your head space.
[ IMPORTANT NOTICE: This story is NOT covered by the Creative Commons License that covers the majority of content on Futurismic; copyright remains with the author, and any redistribution is a breach thereof. Thanks. ]
Consensus Building
by Tom Doyle
Irena’s head chip woke her like a slow sunrise, a gradually rising voice cooing “good morning” inside her mind. Damn, two flaws already. The first was last night — too many weird dreams had interrupted her sleep. She would have noted the dreams in her alpha test journal, but this morning she couldn’t remember any of them. She must have chewed out her subconscious for shoddy work so it was giving her the silent treatment.
The second, more concrete flaw: she had specifically asked to be awakened with a sudden jolt. She detested the cloyingly sweet morning alarm that did not resemble her own thoughts. Maybe Will McRae in Design could fix it. Continue reading CONSENSUS BUILDING by Tom Doyle