The Future This Week: Atari, Sweating Robots, and Pres. Obama

In The Future This Week, Serious Wonder immerses itself into VR in search of this week’s headlines of the future, from the President of the United States discussing the future of artificial intelligence (AI) to the development of robots that are capable of sweating. This week we’re given a glimpse of the future where the competitive market for VR is at its peak and robot limbs can be controlled using brain implants.

Whether we’re creating robots to look more human or vice versa, we’re entering a future where the very concepts of “artificial” and “real” are blurring. The more we learn about ourselves, the more we apply it back into our technology. In doing so, we’re essentially creating extensions of ourselves. That is the future we’re creating. One where our reach and footprints cascade across the planet and more. Welcome to the future!

Known for being the founder of both Atari and Chuck E. Cheese, Nolan Bushnell has come out of the ’80s woodwork and is now launching a brand new virtual reality company called Modal VR. SOURCE

During a technology conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, of which was organized by the White House, President Obama discussed both the potential and downside of a world transformed by AI. SOURCE

Photo Credit: Gizmodo

Mimicking the human body’s means of cooling off, Japanese researchers have presented a novel idea, whereby their robot named Kengoro is able to sweat water to help cool off its mechanical systems. SOURCE

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC have conjoined their efforts in developing a brain implant that’s enabling a quadriplegic patient to feel other objects through a robotic arm. SOURCE