/ News
Would you copy your mind to a robotic body-double?
A central theme of the recently concluded GF2045 Congress was the idea of achieving a kind of immortality by transferring our minds to avatars or robots. Indeed, as Japanese professor Hiroshi Ishiguro’s presentation clearly showed, our robotic doppelgangers will truly be made to look and act like the real thing.
During his presentation at Alice Tully Hall in New York's Lincoln Center, Ishiguro was joined onstage by his look-alike android, the Geminoid. As Ishiguro spoke, the Geminoid sat on a chair, occasionally nodding its head, shifting its eyes, and moving its lips. At times, the resemblance was uncanny — and even a bit unsettling.
The Geminoid was controlled remotely by a person offstage, so it’s not completely autonomous. It’s just a mindless robot, of course, an empty shell that merely gives off the impression of a real person.
But at the conclusion of the speech, the Geminoid suddenly spoke up, telling the audience that it won't be long before it's able to give a better presentation than the real Ishiguro.
And indeed, Ishiguro’s Geminoid fit in rather nicely within the larger theme of the conference. The organizer of the event, Dmitry Itskov, has dreams of uploading himself to a surrogate much like Geminoid. To that end, the Global Futures 2045 Congress brought together roboticists, neuroscientists, AI theorists, and other experts to discuss this and other possibilities for radically extending life. Ideas on how to do so included brain preservation via plastination, detailed brain mapping, optogenetics, and the construction of neuronal replacement parts.
The Geminoid, which costs about $100,000, is being built with a “constructive” approach; the android’s mannerisms are being added iteratively to make it more realistic. And interestingly, the Geminoid has even been given flaws to make it seem more real, such as a scowl and unconscious movements.
Speaking after the event, Itskov said, “Personally, I will never forget Dr. Ishiguro pushing the hotel luggage cart with the ‘human’ passenger down Broadway and the expressions of those passing by.”
In addition to this, Ishiguro also showed off his Telenoid, a small, pillow-like robot made to look ageless and genderless so that people can project an imagined face onto its neutral appearance. The Telenoid is currently being tested among the elderly in Denmark, and initial reactions are very positive, he said.
Image: Japan Times.
He also showed off a handheld version of Telenoid, making the case that people might interact better with each other if their mobile phones looked more like little persons.
Source: http://io9.com/would-you-copy-your-mind-to-a-robotic-body-double-514025644
/ About us
Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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