Um, good news … ?: Japan-based research and development company Cyberdyne, which sounds familiar because it’s not supposed to be real, has developed exoskeleton technology for humans that is controlled by human thoughts. The up-side: It allows people with little to no function in their legs to walk, using sensors that detect muscular stimulation when the brain thinks of it. The weird-side: What is a company called Cyberdyne doing creating though-controlled human exoskeletons?
It’s bad enough that Google wants to render brain functions obsolete, but for a company in the business of building robots to name itself after an infamously evil killer robot company (in 2004, when everyone knew it was a killer robot company or could look it up on the Internet)? Maybe there was a bad translation somewhere along the lines, and “Cyberdyne” was called “Helpful Human Shell Creations Lab” in the Japanese version of the Terminator movies. But this is either a strange tongue-in-cheek shoutout to James Cameron or a high-budget plea for a cameo on Glee.
By the way: The exoskeleton legs? They are part of Cyberdyne’s full robot suit offering, referred to as Hybrid Assisted Limb®. Or HAL. HAL. I’ll just let that marinate.
(via Gamma Squad)
Published: Jan 11, 2011 01:43 pm