Down With Grammar

I watched the TEDTalks video of IDEO’s David Kelley highlighting some of the new products they were working on and I have a dozen questions now.  What occurred to me is that though the products aren’t artificial intelligence in the strictest form of the word, they do border on something more than pure technological offerings.  For instance, the “Spy-Fish” is a robot that will look and swim like an actual fish.  This attempt to emulate a real fish takes the tech side of this effort to another level.  For the longest time, scientists have launched various items into the deep and managed to obtain a massive amount of data.  Those tools didn’t look like actual fish.  So, why the attempt to make the offerings of today more fish-like?  Who are creators trying to trick?  The fish?  Maybe they are trying to make the researchers working with these tools adjust more easily to the grueling hours of work necessary to their jobs.

Earlier this year, we were all wowed by the images of a robotic carp created by engineers at the University of Essex.  The amazingly life-like “fish” is massive, measuring about 8 feet long.  They will be used to detect pollution in waterways.  Previously, some Japanese engineers had developed their own robotic carp, though it didn’t look as life-like as the one created by the U of E engineers–further demonstrating how rapidly technology advances.

How About a Life-Like Kidney?

If you take a moment to look at the images and video of the two carp, you will notice the stark contrast in the life-like look of each.  The engineers at the University of Essex must have worked painstakingly to make their robotic carp look even more life-like than that of the engineers at Ryomei.  Again, I wonder why.  It certainly is exciting to be alive to witness such genius being demonstrated, but questions abound as to why something like this is getting so much attention.  I would rather all of the time spent making these carp more life-like was spent making a life-like artificial liver or kidney or some other necessary organ.  We certainly can’t ever have “too many” people working on that when there are so many people waiting on organ donors in this country.

A Magical Mirror, to Whom?

The other part of Kelley’s presentation that amazed me, but caused me some concern as well was the portion about the tech offerings at the flagship Prada store in New York.  I’m very disturbed by the “magic mirror” demonstrated in the video.  Digitalwellbeinglabs.com describes it this way:

Another wall incorporates a “magic mirror,” a camera and display . As the customer begins to turn in front of the mirror the image becomes delayed, allowing the customer to view themselves in slow motion from all angles.

The word “camera” is what bothers me, but apparently it hasn’t stopped Diesel from incorporating a “magic mirror” of their own in one of their stores in New York.  I keep trying to justify the use of a camera in this device, but I just can’t.  I tried to find something that explains how these images are recorded–as in, where are they stored and how are they destroyed and I can’t seem to find anything.  Also, at what point does the mirror start recording?  As soon as you step into the dressing room and slip into your undies, or only when  you are directly in front of the mirror?  I don’t shop at Prada, but maybe if I were spending as much money as the folks who do I’d want a sure shot of my backside before I purchased a $1,600 pair of pants too.  It just seems like an awful high price to pay–the loss of privacy…