Elder-Assist Robotic Suits, From the Real Cyberdyne 121
Tasha26 writes "No, not the one which will end up building terminator robots. BBC's Click brings news of a Japanese company, Cyberdyne, which is in the process of building different robotic suits to assist the elderly in accomplishing simple body tasks such as walking and lifting. Even though still in R&D, this video (@3m15s) shows a pretty promising future for the elderly."
Hardly new tech (Score:2, Interesting)
I love robotics, but so much biochem hate... (Score:4, Interesting)
I have nothing against advancing robotics, whatsoever.
But, many of the problems with the elderly being physically infirm can be treated with steroids. Society has this bizarre view of steroids of being a horrible drug causing anything from cancer to rage to psychotic episodes. The DEA has it listed as a Schedule III drug, which carries a worse fine for possession than Xanax, Rohypnol, Valium and Halcion. Anabolic steroids are on the same DEA classification as LSD. From a legal standpoint, they view as equal what is essentially a drug that increases the rate at which proteins fold to the most powerful hallucinogen known to man.
Give the elderly steroids, and let their doctors monitor them. Keep going with robotics, but steroids are here now.
If you're curious where your drug of choice lands on the DEA schedule, here's a link:
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/scheduling.html [usdoj.gov]
Re:Oh come on now! (Score:1, Interesting)
I hate when marketing weasels trot this tired old line out. It's awfully convenient for them, because by saying 'There's no such thing as bad publicity!", they've effectively stated that no matter what they do or the outcome of their campaign, they were successful.
I'd love it if code worked like that. No matter how many bugs I check in, it's just successful and I pick up bonuses regularly, without having to justify what I did. That'd be sweet.
Anyway, it's blatantly incorrect. I'm pretty sure the Catholic church doesn't jump for joy when a "Priest arrested for raping boys" headline makes it across the news. I mean, you could say "HEY, NO SUCH THING AS BAD PUBLICITY!!!", but believing it would be engaging in unmitigated idiocy.
Then again, unmitigated idiocy is pretty much the sole domain of the marketer.
As you were then.
Re:Oh come on now! (Score:3, Interesting)
I hate when marketing weasels trot this tired old line out. It's awfully convenient for them, because by saying 'There's no such thing as bad publicity!", they've effectively stated that no matter what they do or the outcome of their campaign, they were successful.
There definitely is such a thing as bad publicity, and in my role as a marketing weasel I'm rather sensitive to it (hard to put the right spin on a turd fastball, eh?). Remember the old "Mustang II - Boredom 0" campaign before that car sank into oblivion? Someone omitted the detail of whether or not people remember numbers (Roman numeral or otherwise) as they drive past billboards. Textbook example of "bad publicity". And whenever someone mentions Exxon Valdez, I don't think of a shiny gas pump, I think of the suffering of sea birds. So yes, I can vouch for the existence of bad publicity. You don't want it.
Re:Just what I need (Score:1, Interesting)
Cyborg grandpa manga:
http://www.onemanga.com/Cyborg_Grandpa-G/