Have, you ever stopped to think about how often technology has changed throughout the years? Technology is one of the world’s greatest inventions and is constantly changing. Each advancement of technology has one purpose, to make difficult and even simple tasks easier to complete. Possibilities which are often thought of as impossible can become reality considering how much technology has improved and will continue to over the years. Companies have been taking advantage of the advancements on technology and investing money into projects that will soon benefit them. In many career fields, society has all of them use these creations in some form for different reasons. The human body has limits that hinder them from achieving certain jobs or activities but technology has enhanced and given them the chance to see or do things they normally could not. With the constant advancements on technology soon it will be able to allow people to control and correct robots mistakes with their minds and using mixed reality for various types of training.
Robots have become heavily relied on by the human race. They are expected to be programmed to complete their tasks with precision and accuracy and if they are not then the company has to contact someone to reprogram the machine. This process ultimately inconveniences the company because its one less machine producing a product or fulfilling a remedial task. However, if there was a way to solve the mistake by simply “telling” the robot it did something wrong, and it solved the problem itself would not only save the company money but would save them time as well.
According to MIT News, there is a team of people called the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory or CSAIL that is working on a robot with this exact ability. This robot is meant to read a specific brain signal called error-related potentials which CSAIL claims they are generated whenever the brain notices a mistake. One of the team members says that they plan to have the robot communicate with the person correcting it if it fails to read the signal. “If the robot’s not sure about its decision, it can trigger a human response to get a more accurate answer”. This sort of development would be revolutionary and definitely affect other technological improvements in the future. Manufacturing companies could use this type of robot instead of the typical manual powered machines considering it would benefit them more having a machine that can analyze and learn from its mistakes. Even though this robot is currently in development there was an experiment held as stated in (npr.org) “The MIT system correctly identified the volunteer’s brain signal and then corrected the robot’s behavior 70 percent of the time”. With how much progress has been made on this robot it is not only impressive but also will immensely benefit many companies when it is time it to be released.
Mixed reality is a mixture of augmented and virtual reality. Augmented reality is an enhanced version of reality where live direct or indirect views of physical real-world environments are augmented with superimposed computer generated images over a user’s view of the real-world, thus enhancing one’s current perception of reality. This means that with the correct equipment people are able to see computer-generated images projected into reality. However, virtual reality is a realistic three-dimensional
image or artificial environment that is created with a mixture of interactive hardware and software. Technology in this context can be a powerful and beneficial tool to use especially in the medical, military, and education fields. In the Handbook of Research on Virtual Training and Mentoring of Online Instructors is say “within an academic environment, AR- and VR-based training and mentoring are believed to improve instructor’s teaching effectiveness, competency-based skills, and cognitive development”. It later says that this method of mentoring overall reduces the time and costs it would normally take to mentor and train as a future instructor. In the medical field augmented reality has been used to create three-dimensional medical models in real time. This not only improves hand-eye coordination it provides an opportunity for paramedics, pre-hospital workers, and students to practice and experience situations without having to work on an actual person.
Technology, one of the greatest inventions to ever be created in this world has affected the human race in plenty of ways. It is constantly being improved upon and something new is always being worked on to make challenging responsibilities easier to achieve. What was once thought to be impossible has now become reality and this is only the first step. With each new improvement more possibilities and opportunities are created which as a result inspires new ideas thus causing the cycle to repeat.
Currently, humanity has the ability to create training simulations that feel realistic to the human body. People have the ability to bring what they see every day behind their phone and computer screens outside into reality and even though it is not possible to physically possible touch these projections there are still able to be viewed at a different perspective. The human body can only do so much on its own without any help but with technology like this, humanity could achieve a lot more. Companies could soon have robots that can be controlled by the human brain which is not only impressive but could be revolutionary if successful. The potential to talk to a robot with just the mind even if it is just to point out a mistake can lead to humans being able to communicate with the machines for more than just mistakes.
Overall technology has changed immensely over the years and has improved plenty of lives which will only continue to do. The world that is known today is changing and is heading towards a future where technology will be able to do more than help with communicating with one another or to track down the nearest fast food restaurant.
