Saturday, July 19, 2008: 10:00 pm (Turing): The 1970s was an era of technological breakthroughs. Exciting projects and groundbreaking discoveries were made by hackers, government, and commercial entities. Today we should consider ourselves lucky to be sitting in the front row for the birth of the robotics industry. Nearly 40 years after the birth of the computing industry, our lives are merged with the Internet. Similar to the 1970s computing industry, early robotic developments are complex and their practical applications are rare. Less than 40 years from now, our bodies and minds will be merged with the robotics and technologies we are creating today. In our lifetime, we will see software merged with robotics that mimic humans, surpass them, and proceed to yield creations of their own. There will be no distinction between human and machine or between physical and virtual reality. AI, robotics, and other emerging technologies will result in the Singularity; a fundamental paradigm shift for human kind. This presentation will dive into the Singularity, current and emerging robotics, and discuss where hackers fit into all this. Various robotic platforms will be on display as well.

Hosted by Ben Sgro aka mr-sk