Tag Archives: Technology

Sex And Marriage With A Robot

This is disturbing to me because the robots depicted in the short video are very machine like. I could not imagine having one for a mate. How do you feel about this? I just watched an old episode of Star Trek TNG last night, ” The Measure of a Man,” which is about the android, Data, and how we define what is sentience. Data is so “human-like” that it is easy to relate to him as an individual and envisioning friendships and relationships for him. What kind of personalities would these future “robot-mates” have? Would they be so totally compatable with us, be like mirror images, our twins? Would they never chose to disagree about our choice of restaurants, movies, activities….Just kind of wierd.

DigiDame

You may not believe this but it’s just a matter of time that some of our children, or grandchildren, will take a robot as a life partner. In fact, at the recent Love and Sex with Robots conference in London, industry experts predicted that human-robot marriages will become commonplace by 2050.

You can read all about it here.The New York Post just did a story about this. While many of us consider The New York Post to be a rag, they do have unique and bizarre stories that eventually come true.

Make sure you watch the video too.

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APPs That Help People with ADHD

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Smartphone productivity apps, best apps for ADHD symptoms

Image via Additude Magazine, click on image to link to APP article

Additude Magazine online has a new information guide called ADHD:The First 100 Days. It provides loads of information and resources for people who may want to know more about ADD and what can help.

The information about technology caught my eye because I know how many people are really into it and especially young people. In this article, written by a self-identified tech geek, the author mentions several APPs he has found very useful to manage time, work, sleep, e-mails, block out distractions and more. There is one APP he lists called “Rescue Time” that helps you track your activity on the internet. I got a laugh when he shared that he did not realize, and discovered with this APP, that he had spent 2 hours watching cat videos. I was laughing with him because I know the internet is so seductive. There is always one more interesting article to read or video. Other APPs like “Freedom” and “Anti-Social” help you block access to distracting sites while you are at work or working on a report.

This article lists 30 different APPs. I think there are many that could be very useful. What do you think? Have you discovered any APPs yourself?

There Might Be Something Good About Siri Afterall

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I know I have been writing lately about the risk to our creativity caused by an addiction to technology like Smartphones. And I have written about how this addiction can prevent authentic face to face communication with other people. I still feel these are some of the big down sides of being so hooked on our technology.

But today I found an article about a very positive use for Smartphones. This was a New York Times post by Judith Newman about her son 13 year old son Gus who happens to have Autism and his relationship with Siri, the Apple Intelligent Personal Assistant.

I already was aware of the ability of technology to engage kids with special needs. Technology is one of the tools used in modern schools to teach kids the curriculum. The computer lessons are often designed like games to help kids learn phonics, spelling and math. The kids enjoy interacting with the games and the games reinforce what is being taught in the classroom.

Ms. Newman’s post described how the features of Siri are beneficial to her son’s special needs. Kids with autism can have major difficulty engaging with other people socially in conversation. They can have special interests or obsessions about certain topics that they want to talk about to the exclusion of all else. They do not pick up on cues from other people that they are not interested and they find it hard to be able to take turns in conversation. Siri is able to talk with Ms. Newman’s son Gus on all his favorite topics without losing patience with him. Even though the voice recognition feature has some problems this is actually a plus for Gus because he is made to enunciate. This helps him practice speaking clearly. Siri also models being polite. When Gus got a bit sharp with Siri over some music suggestions she had made, Siri told him he had a right to his opinions. This helped him realize that he did not need to get angry if he did not agree with someone and then he thanked Siri for the music.

This sounds like a great use for this type of program for kids that need to learn and practice the art of conversation. It is a help to parents who need a respite from the long discussions with their kids about their child’s special interests. I would not want to see the kids getting attached to these devices to the exclusion of everything else but I do see how they can be beneficial in certain ways.

Definitely something worth further investigation, don’t you agree?