
Modest Debut of Atlas May Foreshadow Age of ‘Robo Sapiens’ - jedwhite
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/12/science/modest-debut-of-atlas-may-foreshadow-age-of-robo-sapiens.html?hp&_r=0
======
orta
The NYTimes article had no images of what it looked like, so here's a google
image search of them:
[https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=atlas+robosapien&safe=...](https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=atlas+robosapien&safe=off&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=Rc_fUeG3DcashQenqIHICg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1061&bih=686#safe=off&hl=en&tbm=isch&q=atlas%20robot%20darpa&revid=2035038456&ei=lM_fUfjaLq3P0AXNtIGgAw&ved=0CAwQsiU&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=db45169985757560&biw=1061&bih=686&imgdii=_)

------
chriswarbo
Humanoid robots resonate with the public (in a good way or a bad (Terminator)
way) and it does make sense for human-replacing robots to be humanoid, since
we've built our environment to accommodate bodies like ours, but at the moment
most of the uses of humanoid robots are gimmicks.

Why bother programming a robotic tour guide to point using its finger, hand
out leaflets and walk around, when it's much easier to put a screen and
leaflet dispenser on a set of wheels? Most importantly, a screen and leaflet
dispenser on wheels has much less chance of accidentally decapitating tourists
than a 300lb hydraulic "body-builder" machine.

------
davidw
> “A new species, Robo sapiens, are emerging,”

So... they breed true?

------
erikstarck
There is a little known alternative Turing test or competition if you will,
between man and machine. It says that a team of robots will beat the world
champions in football (soccer) before 2050. I think it will happen sooner.
What do you think?

~~~
venomsnake
Of course it will ... with robots you have no limits on strength speed and
endurance as long as the battery pack can support the unit for 45 minutes. You
have instant communication and perfect positioning. You can also make
superhuman shots with strength and precision.

AI has nothing to do with it.

~~~
ealexhudson
If they have to compete in the same "form factor" then they don't stand a
chance. Professional football is incredibly complex.

(45m would be an absolute minimum, too: actual playing time required would be
more like an hour.)

~~~
swombat
Arguably, a properly constructed set of 11 robots should be able to pass the
ball to somewhere about half-way down the field fairly quickly and
unstoppably, and would then proceed to shoot in exactly the right corner of
the net from halfway down the pitch.

Blocking shots taken at the robot goal (if such a thing ever happened) would
also be a piece of cake given the ease with which we can already program
robots to catch things thrown at them.

------
nawitus
Minor note: what's up with all the low-resolution photographs? Pretty much all
news websites seem to be designed for 640x480 resolution. I want to click the
image and open it up in 1920x1080 or something.

~~~
venomsnake
It's called design for common resolutions

The average resolution at which a site is viewed peaked around 2007-8 and then
is moving downwards.

------
elisee
Video of said robot:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkBnFPBV3f0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkBnFPBV3f0)

