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Robotics Idle

A Wearable Robotic Tail Could Improve Your Balance (gizmodo.com) 69

Posted by EditorDavid from the wag-the-human dept.
Long-time Slashdot reader Ken McE shared a video of a new working prototype for a wearable tail.

Engadget reports: There are lots of companies who make wearable tails for humans, but they're usually for cosplay or other entertainment pursuits. Researchers at Keio University in Japan have created a wearable animated tail that promises to genuinely augment the wearer's capabilities -- not just appearance -- by improving their balance and agility.

The easiest way to understand what inspired this creation is to watch a video of monkeys effortlessly leaping from tree to tree. Their tails not only serve as an additional limb for grasping branches but also help them reposition their bodies mid-flight for a safe landing by shifting the monkey's center of balance as it moves. The Arque tail, as it's been named, does essentially the same thing for humans, although leaping from the highest branches of a tree isn't recommended just yet.... Inside the tail are a set of four artificial muscles powered by compressed air that contract and expand in different combinations to move and curl the tail in any direction.
Though the researchers have built a prototype, their video describes it as a "proposed tail" -- specifically, an artificial biomimicry-inspired anthropomorphic one. So how exactly would the tail controlled externally? The video describes its ability "to passively provide forces to the user's body based on the estimated center of gravity of his posture in order to correct his body balance." So basically, the tail would have a mind of its own, like the arms of Doctor Octopus?

"We also demonstrated a different approach for using the tail other than equilibrium maintenance, which is to change the center of mass of the user to off-balance his posture."
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A Wearable Robotic Tail Could Improve Your Balance More

A Wearable Robotic Tail Could Improve Your Balance

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  • Could such a thing be affordable? (Score:4, Funny)

    by K. S. Kyosuke ( 729550 ) on Monday August 12, 2019 @06:39AM (#59078496)
    You know, pay peanuts, get monkeys...
  • Is it possible that such a tail would tap into a long dormant part of the brain that could actually use such a tail effectively?

    • Re:I provokes the thought (Score:4)

      by Oswald McWeany ( 2428506 ) on Monday August 12, 2019 @07:18AM (#59078556)

      No, because the tail doesn't send any feedback to the brain, nor is it controlled by the brain.

      However, with that said, the brain is very flexible and you could probably attach any appendage to the body and have the brain learn to control it... y'know... if it actually connected to send impulses to the brain and there was a connection to send a signal from brain to appendage.

      Robot tail though... nah... it's just a wearable device that responds by itself and isn't directly controlled by the user.

      • Yes, but still, balancing with even an artificial appendage in that particular position may have special meaning to the brain due to the evolutionary shaping of the brain and the presence of a tail in the evolutionary path of the human being.
        • Maybe, I think one of the reasons humans do so well is that we're born way early compared to other mammals and so that level of plasticity may mean that the parts that would've done anything interesting with a tail get co-opted into finding Netflix on a stray iPad more effectively.
      • I think your brain would adjust to the balance provided by this tail and change it's heuristics for how much it needs to compensate for any given motion. It's not like it would know there's a tail there, but it would know that it can relax some of those muscles it had been tensing before. i guarantee that if you used this enough, once you removed the tail, you'd fall over a bunch.

    • So basically, the tail would have a mind of its own, like the arms of Doctor Octopus?

      Just don't release the Doctor Octopus edition. Feedback to the brain from a Doc Ock tail might not be the safest.

      • So basically, the tail would have a mind of its own, like the arms of Doctor Octopus?

        Just don't release the Doctor Octopus edition. Feedback to the brain from a Doc Ock tail might not be the safest.

        Give me 8 of these and I can be the Man o' nine tails o.0

  • Huge Market (Score:3)

    by tinkerton ( 199273 ) on Monday August 12, 2019 @06:59AM (#59078530)

    for you know, augmenting the capabilities of the wearer's tail with inflatable parts. I've seen ads.

  • Backward evolution (Score:3)

    by TJHook3r ( 4699685 ) on Monday August 12, 2019 @07:08AM (#59078538)
    I've seen plenty of arguments that humanity is actually getting stupider, evolution running in reverse. Here I think is the next great leap backwards!

    • I've seen plenty of arguments that humanity is actually getting stupider, evolution running in reverse. Here I think is the next great leap backwards!

      It isn't actually reverse, as intelligence is not necessarily the key to reproduction. Plain old living long enough to reproduce and raising children to reproductive age before death is all nature needs.

      It is possible we are living in a golden age of humanity before returning to pre-civilization conditions, as our intelligence wrestles with out "lizard brain".

      The beginning of "Idiocracy" has a weird ring of plausibility to it

      • Plain old living long enough to reproduce and raising children to reproductive age before death is all nature needs.

        Yay! I don't have to leave the house, till I've done the deed.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      " evolution running in reverse"
      evolution does not work that way.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by b3e3 ( 6069888 )
      Are we not men? We are Devo!

  • This is science! (Score:3, Funny)

    by loony ( 37622 ) on Monday August 12, 2019 @07:09AM (#59078540)

    *mom enters the room and finds her son, nude, something fluffy behind his butt*
    Mom: What the F is this?
    *son freezes, then slowly turns*
    Son: Mom! Get out!
    Mom: What are you --
    Son: Get out!
    *mom backs away*
    Mom: Are you some kind of furry pervert?
    *son drops tail*
    Son: Mom! That was research!
    Mom: What kind of research can you do in your butt?
    Son: I... I... For a mechanical tail that will improve your balance!

  • What about Physics? (Score:3)

    by bickerdyke ( 670000 ) on Monday August 12, 2019 @07:15AM (#59078550)

    A monkey's (or any other proper) tail is a part of the spine and part of the body.

    While using an artificial tail to balance would be a really great idea, the momentum of it's movement would need to be transferred to the body somehow. Anything excess momentum will be an impact on the body. Imagine a seat belt doing a good job of keeping you in your seat, but crushing a few ribs while doing its job.

    • Imagine a seat belt doing a good job of keeping you in your seat, but crushing a few ribs while doing its job.

      If you've been in a crash you don't have to imagine. Seat belts can definitely crack ribs. The alternative is cracking the back of your skull on the front of the steering wheel.

      • Actually meant, imagine such an artifical tail applying force to your body to keep your balance that is connected by some belt like harness. That transfer of momentum would probably be the weak point of such a device.

    • A more important question is, will the tail's movement be integrated with artificial cat girl ears? Millions of neckbeards looking for their true one permanent waifu breathlessly await the response.


      (man,,, I miss 8chan :/ it was up and down for a couple days and now nothing. yea I know about the twitter page)

      • I think those are already available, so once again the nerds are waiting for a technological solution to a social problem....

    • Double the load on the lower body. Whatever you want to cantilever out front, you have to add weight in the back.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Yes, right, improve balance.

    • Came here to say this XD

      Of course it could bring balance improvements at the same time, reducing the odds of having to rush into the ER in a fursuit ;-)

    • they're usually for cosplay or other entertainment pursuits.

      Other entertainment pursuits being yiffing?

      • OK, I have to ask, damn my curiosity: Isn't that kinda ... well ... getting in the way?

      • I have it on good authority that fucking in a fursuit is like trying to get it on while wearing most of a sofa. Sure, it can be done, but you're better off just wearing the accessories. (Collar, ears, &c.)
    • We're all doomed if this works out.

  • I see what you did there, though I hope this device will be mounted on the hips and not supported from a place where the sun doesn't shine.

  • The easiest way to understand what inspired this creation is to watch a video of monkeys effortlessly leaping from tree to tree. Their tails not only serve as an additional limb for grasping branches but also help them reposition their bodies mid-flight for a safe landing by shifting the monkey's center of balance as it moves

    If that's what inspired this creation, then that's great. But in that case, you might want to actually link to a video that demonstrates what they claim inspired it. The video currently linked to shows nothing like that. The video mentions or demonstrates nothing of balance. It's all about using a prehensile tail to grip. There is no movement of the tail in mid air to reposition the body. Every movement of that tail is geared toward quickly getting a grip on the next branch.

  • A Wearable Robotic Tail Could Improve Your Balance

    Or it could knock you flat on your ass.

  • Lawyer in the US: Go stand next to the tail and say "Boo!" Then, when the person spins and it whaps you, we can sue.

  • This is all nice and stuff but... (Score:3)

    by skam240 ( 789197 ) on Monday August 12, 2019 @08:45AM (#59078746)

    This is all nice and stuff but will the tail hold my beer?

  • Wearing a big mechanical tail (Score:3)

    by argStyopa ( 232550 ) on Monday August 12, 2019 @08:50AM (#59078764) Journal

    What a fundamentally silly idea.

    If you're having that much trouble not falling over, perhaps you should sit down?

    • What a fundamentally silly idea.

      If you're having that much trouble not falling over, perhaps you should sit down?

      Can't. There's this damned thing sticking out of my ass.

    • I'm sure there are people with balance issues who would appreciate a device that assists with their balance. While I'm inclined to think a tail's a bit silly, that's what it's designed to do in nature, so it does make sense to mimic that.

  • Japan (Score:3)

    by PPH ( 736903 ) on Monday August 12, 2019 @09:00AM (#59078792)

    The first step on the way to tentacles.

    • Tentacles: the all-purpose appendage! Appropriate for work and play! Upgrade to our iChromatophore(tm) option for formal dinner engagements.

  • You know the type, always hunched shoulders or slouched. If people actually walked and sat with a straight back, they wouldn't have this problem

  • Big problem (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Arthur Vandelay ( 4744457 ) on Monday August 12, 2019 @09:27AM (#59078882)
    Wont this just knock stuff off the coffee table?

  • The site Halfbakery lets people send in ideas, often ridiculous ideas, on which everyone comments and votes. "Tales For All" is one of the top two ideas ever submitted -- it has so many advantages!

    https://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Tails_20For_20All

  • Great. Next will be a wearable robotic fur to keep us warm during the cold winter.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Problem Solved! (Score:3)

    by sdinfoserv ( 1793266 ) on Monday August 12, 2019 @10:24AM (#59079054)
    I can't tell you how many times i tripped going up the stairs carrying things and said to myself, "Self, If only I had a tail!"... my prayers are answered.

    • I can't tell you how many times i tripped going up the stairs carrying things and said to myself, "Self, If only I had a tail!"... my prayers are answered.

      Undoubtedly while humming the tune from the WoZ, "If I only had a brain*".

      * No insult intended. It's just what went through my mind when I read it.
      ** And now I can't get it out of my mind.

  • This is cool and novel from a technology standpoint, but would be difficult to get people to actually use from a social standpoint. Can you imagine the abuse that a tough, blue collar factory or warehouse guy would get from his peers if he were to strap this on? I would guess enough that he would choose to go without.

    • I'm sure you'd look rather odd to people from the 1800s in 2019 business casual. If mechanical tails are effective, they have every bit the chance of being popular that bowler hats had.

      One of the many things I appreciate about Star Trek are the ridiculous outfits. It is supposed to be the distant future. They're not going to be taking 21st century advice for their wardrobe and prosthesis unless they're hipsters.

      So it might not be a thing today, but given enough time and refinement it still has a chance of

  • Cue the Rule 34 video links in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

  • Response time (Score:3)

    by Nkwe ( 604125 ) on Monday August 12, 2019 @10:58AM (#59079170)
    Watching the video it there appears to be a significant lag between the person moving and the tail compensating. Animals with real tails move them simultaneously with their other limbs and body positions, causing the tail to be a benefit to balance. I suspect that any real delay of artificial tail movement relative to other body movements would make it difficult to achieve a stable balance system. Industrial and other control systems [wikipedia.org] use techniques to prevent oscillation [wikipedia.org]. While control system logic could be used, I wonder if it would be fast enough to help human balance rather than hinder it for motion activity of any speed, such as running or jumping.
  • I'll be happy living in the age of golden tails.

  • Because the majority of people with balance problems are elderly. Oh, a few with inner ear issues or nerve disease also have balance problems.

    But the elderly are the ones that have falls - and worse, break brittle bones when they fall.

    Somehow I can't see an horde of grandpas and grandmas wearing balance tails

  • Do we devolve back into monkies or do we make it mandatory to set aside intelligence with this inanety? Let me know when you figue out how to incorporate sharp foot claws so I can be a velociraptor. Or is that for the police/military only?
  • I thought we evolved to lose them for the reason we don't need them at least in our normal lives. Even for any special purposes - athletics, defence I dont really see this going lot further though..

  • "... an artificial biomimicry-inspired anthropomorphic one."

    "Anthropomorphic" means "man-shaped", so how can a tail be anthropomorphic? Are they trying to say it's kind of like a monkey's tail?

  • Are we not men? (Score:3)

    by Drunkulus ( 920976 ) on Monday August 12, 2019 @01:54PM (#59079858)
    They tell us that
    We lost our tails
    Evolving up
    From little snails
    I say it's all
    Just wind in sails Are we not men? We are Devo
    Are we not men?
    D-E-V-O

  • "A Wearable Robotic Tail Could Improve Your Balance"

    Sure, and a wearable robotic dick could improve my love life, but I ain't gonna get one of those either.

  • So could a long pole, you know, like the kind people use when trying to tightrope over a waterfall. Should we all graft a pole onto ourselves? Do we all need to tightrope over the Niagra falls? Are we all falling down stairs suddenly? If someone needs extra balance why not just graft another fucking leg onto him and we can all call him tripod? What a stupid fucking article. Do three points of stability help more than two? Umm, not sure, let me check. Do we need it? Umm, no, otherwise we would have

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