I just was sent this from a friend via StumbleUpon and enjoyed this. If you are a Star Wars fan, you will too.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back silent movie
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So who wants to control your own personal robot?So who wants to control your own personal robot?
How would you like to control your own personal robot to do your bidding? The new movie Surrogates, starring Bruce Willis, takes this concept to extremes. In the movie, humans link their minds to a robot and control them directly. This is a bit different than being converted to a cyborg like Ray Kurzweil predicts.
As CNN reports:
“Surrogates” director Jonathan Mostow, whose film credits include 2003’s “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” said he was drawn to the concept of surrogate robots as an extension of current technology. And, he said, as he met with scientists, he became convinced that something approaching the concept could one day be a reality.
It seems like the concept of “old fashioned” humanoid robots is finally becoming outdated. I wonder how Isaac Asimov would feel? It is one thing to boss around a robot using the Second Law of Robotics, but actually mind-melding with one, or becoming one is completely different. The main dilemma in Surrogates is that someone found a way to fry someone’s brain before they were able to jack out of the robot they were controlling. This concept is very old, dating back to the old Virtual Reality plots. I was very interested in the movie when I first saw the trailer, but after reading some lackluster reviews, I think I might just wait for DVD.
The critics could be wrong though. Do any of you think I should give it a chance?
Check out the full article via CNN for more information. I found it to be an interesting read.
Blade Runner – Director’s Cut DVD (1997) Directed by Ridley ScottBlade Runner – Director’s Cut DVD (1997) Directed by Ridley Scott
Today marks the release of Blade Runner – The Final Cut, directed by Ridley Scott. Blade Runner is loosely based on the novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” by Phillip K. Dick. Blade Runner has been one of my favorite Sci-Fi movies since I saw the original Director’s Cut at a friend’s house while in high school. He and his brother insisted that it was the only version worth watching. Consequently, I have never seen the original theatrical release with the happy ending and Deckard’s voiceover narration. From what I’ve read, the studio executives were the main influence for those changes.
To commemorate the release of The Final Cut, which I hope to review sometime soon, I will share my thoughts on the Director’s Cut DVD released back in 1997. I had only seen Blade Runner on VHS back in 1995, and was anxious to see it in the higher resolution and sound quality that DVD had to offer. The video is of poor resolution and visibly shakes slightly, which is annoying. The soundtrack is in just 2 channels, failing to utilize the 5.1 Dolby Digital that DVD offered. I’ve watched it several times over on DVD, and again this weekend, and every time the poor transfer sticks out like a sore thumb. This was one of the first DVD releases, so was barebones with no extra features other than a chapter selection. (more…)
Can a computer beat the best Jeopardy players?Can a computer beat the best Jeopardy players?
Tonight with my wife, I watched an interesting episode of Nova titled “The World’s Smartest Machine.” Romantic, right? You can tell we are a couple of geeks at heart. Being a huge fan of Asimov and his robot creations, I am continually amazed at the progress of robotics and artificial intelligence. As a kid I was playing chess as early as the 3rd grade. I’ve always thought of myself as a pretty good chess player. When I heard about a computer that supposedly could beat a world champion chess player, I was intrigued. Garry Kasparov battled IBM’s Deep Blue supercomputer in 1996 and won, however he eventually lost a rematch in 1997. Well, IBM is back at it, this time taking on Jeopardy. Nova takes us behind the scenes with the developers of “Watson,” the next step in AI. I was disappointed when the episode ended and it didn’t say who won. I didn’t realize until logging on PBS.org that the contest actually was taking place while I was watching Nova (on my media center PC). After some frantic Google searches, I eventually came across a Twitter feed with a link to a Youtube posting of the episode. This was not quite 2 hours after the episode aired! Isn’t technology great? I expect the Youtube post to be served a DMCA take down, so watch it soon if you plan on it. In addition to the episode at the end of this post, I’ve embedded the Nova preview and an humorous parody of the challenges Watson overcame during his development. I suggest watching the Nova episode first. If you are at all interested in AI, you must check these out!
Watch the full episode. See more NOVA.
Jeopardy Robot Watson’s Untold Game Show History (VIDEO)
Jeopardy Feb. 14 2011 – Human vs Machine IBM Challenge Day 1 Part 1/2
Jeopardy Feb. 14 2011 – Human vs Machine IBM Challenge Day 1 Part 2/2
There are two more nights to the match, airing Tuesday February 15th, and Wednesday the 16th. Be sure to check them out, along with some live blogging on PBS.org. I find myself rooting for Watson, not because I want to see humans defeated, but because I want to see humans capable of making something smart enough to do it. Who do you think will win? Who do you want to win?