Sarah Connor was right. The world as we know it will one day be ruled by robots, and mankind will be reduced to desperate pockets of resistance scattered over a barren landscape. I’ve always considered the Terminator mythology to be just that, but today I learn that Cyberdyne is an actual robotics company, and that they’ve developed a robotic suit that can expand and improve physical capability. Oh sure they say that it was designed to help paralyzed people walk again, but we all know the truth. Today it’s robotic suits, tomorrow it’s Skynet. The suit works by detecting very weak biosignals on the surface of the skin, after nerve signals are sent from the brain to the muscles via motoneuron. Cyberdyne elaborates on their chilling creation:
HAL catches these signals through a sensor attached on the skin of the wearer. Based on the signals obtained, the power unit is controlled to move the joint unitedly with the wearer’s muscle movement, enabling to support the wearer’s daily activities. This is what we call a ‘voluntary control system’ that provides movement interpreting the wearer’s intention from the biosignals in advance of the actual movement. Not only a ‘voluntary control system’ “HAL” has, but also a ‘robotic autonomous control system’ that provides human-like movement based on a robotic system which integrally work together with the ‘autonomous control system’. “HAL” is the world’s first cyborg-type robot controlled by this unique Hybrid System.
Now if only they can invent a machine that could add about $30 million to TERMINATOR SALVATION‘s opening weekend.
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