Northwestern University Researchers are developing a robot with sensory whiskers. As eported in engadget- “The whiskers can sense shapes or the flow of liquid, all based on a single sensor at the base of each whisker. Even more impressively, the whiskers can accurately represent the contour of an object, just by brushing across it. There are plenty of uses for the sensors, such as feeling around in the dark, supplementing cameras and avoiding obstacles.” What’s really important here is the de-humanification (yes that’s my new word) of robots. Too many of hte medical robots are build on a humanoid model and we need to expand our thinking to designs that complement not imitate our bodies. I don’t want to see medical robots with hands I want to see graspers and claws and insect limbs and things that enable me to do what my body cannot.
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So, how soon the robot doctors will be the commonplace ting. And acualy do you think there will be a day , when a robot-surgeon could perform an operation without human interacton, just based on it’s own AI program?
How much would you think it will cost?
[…] Prediction 1: Alternative Visualization: This will be the first radical transformation of surgery. I predict a major revolution in endoscopic surgery will be what I call alternate visualization systems. The concept is to develop scopes that can see beyond what our native eyes can see. When this is achieved the scope becomes not just an extension of our human abilities and senses but augments our native abilities — enabling new and unimagined procedures. One example of this is the autofluorescent laparoscope I used for my recently reported research on endometriosis. Previously used in the lung, I figured out a way to use this system in the pelvis where it allowed the visualization of otherwise invisible endometriosis disease. Until now the scopes just gave us ordinary vision through a tiny incision. For the first time the scope technology now sees more than what the human eye can see by itself. Today surgeons are so excited by the introduction of robots into the OR but these are simply extensions of human hands. Alternative visualization is the first step along the path that will lead to technology and robots with non-human or superhuman abilities. […]
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