chalmers
Latest
Smoother movements help robots save a lot of energy
Eliminating the herky-jerky movements of robots isn't just good for comforting nervous humans... it helps the robots, too. Researchers have developed smooth movement algorithms that slow the acceleration and deceleration of robots, saving as much as 40 percent of the energy they'd normally use. The trick is to order tasks in a way that lets robots move at their own pace without colliding into each other. Factory robots typically rush through tasks in a rigid order, only to wait for their fellow automatons to catch up. Here, they're more flexible as to when and how quickly they get things done.
Gamers of tomorrow: brains in vats [update 1]
From my favorite (private) discussion group comes this summary of Chalmers and Bostrom, written by a lawyer friend of mine: "Have you considered that if we assume computers can at some level of technology run an accurate simulation of the universe, then it's a virtual certainty that at some time somewhere in the universe, models will eventually be running? He continues, "Indeed, it's in fact likely that many models [of the universe] will eventually run, such that the odds that we're living in the "real" universe are exceedingly small. In other words, assuming that a computer network could eventually model the operation of ten million universes -- and there's probably no reason to assume that it couldn't -- consider how low the chances are that we're in the single real one." /em takes a deep hit, then croaks, "So you're saying that today's game designers are tomorrow's gods of universes? Whoa." But what form might this "living" take? At first, we'll consciously choose to spend some portion of our waking lives in these virtual worlds. That's happening now when gamers play World of Warcraft. Then we'll spend time in them out of habit, as we spend time today on the internet without really thinking about it. Eventually, we'll figure out how to engage our minds in these worlds even as we sleep. Once we've achieved that, some will choose never to wake, figuring it more fun to set their body to rest while their minds romp in well-designed simulations. Brains in vats. That's where gaming's headed. Brains in vats! [Update 1: Changed Bostron to Bostrom. The simulation updated his birth certificate instantly.]
