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DARPA is setting aside $7 million for the project, which aims to help soldiers

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) which conducts advanced research for the U.S. Department of Defense, is looking to make the movie "Avatar" a reality with an upcoming project.

The project, appropriately titled "Avatar," will carry out much of the movie's plot, but with robots instead of aliens as surrogates. DARPA plans to use semi-autonomous bi-pedal machines to take on certain tasks that soldiers currently endure.

The robot surrogates would be expected to take on duties such as sentry control, combat casualty recovery and room clearing. The robots would be controlled by a human soldier counterpart.

DARPA, which is setting aside $7 million of its $2.8 billion 2013 budget for project Avatar, will create the robots using algorithms, interfaces,  and advancements in telepresence  that allow the agency to ultimately throw the robot surrogates onto the battlefield instead of soldiers.

In addition to "Avatar," DARPA is working on some other robot-related projects that could potentially aid soldiers on the battlefield. For instance, a four-legged machine named AlphaDog was made to carry heavy equipment for soldiers.

Another sci-fi-heavy project in the making is the "Counter Laser Technologies" project, which would protect the military's weapons from high-energy lasers. This particular idea is costing DARPA $4.1 million, and could even eventually stop potential attacks.

Additional details on project "Avatar" have not been released, but Wired mentioned that DARPA has recently researched robots that can be manipulated using mind power alone. This type of technology could easily allow soldiers to maneuver the surrogates in a battle or just to complete random tasks.

Source: Wired


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Wrong relationship for this project
By tecknurd on 2/20/2012 12:00:36 PM , Rating: 1
I understand the name of the project is Avator, but the method that DARPA is using is the same as in the movie Surrogates. The movie Avator is about temporary sending memories and the sole to the Avator. This project is about the person controlling the robot in another area. No memories and sole is being copied, except motion of the person that is copied. Surrogates did have a scene that soldiers did use surrogates in a war. The picture does not relate well to this article.




RE: Wrong relationship for this project
By theapparition on 2/20/2012 12:28:39 PM , Rating: 2
I was going to say that Surrogates was a lot more relevant as well.

But I think you are over analyzing the Avatar plot. It was still remote control of a bio-robot, no sending memories or the "soul". Only difference was that the robots in Surrogates were mechanical robots, while the ones in Avatar were biological.


RE: Wrong relationship for this project
By Reclaimer77 on 2/20/12, Rating: 0
RE: Wrong relationship for this project
By DEVGRU on 2/20/2012 3:34:47 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
So yes, in a way, your "soul" or whatever is transferred into the Avatar.


The word your searching for is Ghost.

I thought everyone has seen or read Ghost in the Shell by now.

Its popular vernacular now. Use it, know it, love it.


By Reclaimer77 on 2/20/2012 3:43:46 PM , Rating: 1
I was using the word the OP used, which is why I put quotes around it.

The most appropriate word is consciousness, which I used in my post. It might not be as hip and trendy, but it's the most solid. It works. Does that work for you?


RE: Wrong relationship for this project
By jimbojimbo on 2/20/2012 5:31:20 PM , Rating: 2
If it was entirely transferred to the other body if someone yanked the power that consciousness should have stayed stuck there since what could push it back into the original body? It was just a remote control, folks, albeit via biological means but still remote control.


RE: Wrong relationship for this project
By Reclaimer77 on 2/20/2012 5:49:48 PM , Rating: 2
You're applying logic and critical thinking that, frankly, the writers probably didn't even do. Again, we're just speculating. Because they didn't bother to throw us a bone and go in depth about the technology. Unfortunate.

If it's simply a remote control, and not consciousness transfer, than why the hell do you have to be UNconscious for it to work? Why aren't you aware of your surroundings on some level, any level? You aren't just controlling the Avatar, you ARE the Avatar until the plug is pulled.

Wasn't the whole point of the gay climax was that the blue people, somehow, knew a way to permanently transfer Jake's consciousness into the body of an Avatar?

Is it like the Matrix? But even in the Matrix, even though you know it's fake and are aware your body is somewhere in a chair, you die for real if killed inside it.

I think we're just geeking out over a very overrated popcorn sci-fi flick that cared more about the message of the film than fleshing out a believable technological future lol. The Avatar works because, errr, they said so.


By Belard on 2/21/2012 4:32:48 AM , Rating: 2
Since Avatar is SciFi, based on concept/ideas - not actual functional technology - there is nothing to explain in great detail. Remember, in the Star Trek Series, the actors would read scripts and it will say things like "Data then picks up the TECH and applies it to the TECH attached to the Warp Core" ie: no stupid name created yet.

1 - The base/satellite transmits data to the Avatar, like your cell phone.

2 -
quote:
than why the hell do you have to be UNconscious for it to work?
Since the Avatar driver *IS* the blue monkey, feeling everything - that would be in conflict with your real body. Hence, when we SLEEP, we can move, run, fly whatever without actually moving. The device they use somehow maintains a healthy link to the Avatar. When the driver leaves, the Avatar is a veg/coma.

3 -
quote:
knew a way to permanently transfer Jake's consciousness into the body of an Avatar?
The planet's eco-system is a giant nero-net. They explained it in ENGLISH in the movie, remember the suit didn't care or understood? Just like you can xfer data from one PC to the next. I'm rebuilding a blown up AMD system into an intel system for a client... all new guts. Yet his docs, photos, work, apps will be xfered/installed.

That is why they can make drivers work for the blue people, but not humans (AFAIK). The Tree of life interfaced Jake into his comatose avatar body.

Also when avatar body is killed/disconnected its a shock to the system, revert to previous state.

Matrix? Fun stupid movie. Human batteries = inefficient. Dying in real life cause your killed in Matrix kind of doesn't make sense. The part in which those who die because they ONLY lived there, perhaps. (A) a lifetime without using your muscles = you'll never ever walk. Even a month or so causes severe damage. (B) I understand that hey work with Matrix rules, but if your are breaking them {creating stuff, bullet time, super-powers} then breaking death should be possible. (C) the end makes little sense.


RE: Wrong relationship for this project
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 2/20/2012 12:55:58 PM , Rating: 2
You'll have to excuse DARPA. Hundreds of millions of people saw Avatar.... only about a couple dozen saw Surrogates ;)


By Ramtech on 2/20/2012 1:29:33 PM , Rating: 2
You're right no one saw Surrogates but This ain't Avatar XXX was quite popular


By Camikazi on 2/20/2012 3:33:27 PM , Rating: 2
Dunno why, I liked the movie, but maybe I am just easily amused.


RE: Wrong relationship for this project
By FITCamaro on 2/20/2012 7:21:05 PM , Rating: 2
I thought Surrogates was pretty good.


RE: Wrong relationship for this project
By TSS on 2/20/2012 7:49:29 PM , Rating: 2
Much better story then avatar IMO.

But then again it only had a couple explosions. Avatar had lots. And a blue chick!


RE: Wrong relationship for this project
By ZaethDekar on 2/21/2012 1:36:22 AM , Rating: 3
Thats what sold... the blue chick.


By FITCamaro on 2/21/2012 8:23:44 AM , Rating: 2
You know you'd bang a 12 foot tall blue cat lady with a tail. Would probably be worth the broken pelvis.


RE: Wrong relationship for this project
By Belard on 2/21/2012 4:12:49 AM , Rating: 2
Surrogates was a pretty good movie actually. Why be typical ugly when you can buy your sexbot? Its just a physical version of Facebook/internet... I think VR would be a lot cheaper than robots.

If you can transmit smells, feelings, sex, pain, etc to a robot avatar. Then why bother? With a VR world, the possibilities would be endless. You could actually BE the Ewok...


RE: Wrong relationship for this project
By FITCamaro on 2/21/2012 8:24:32 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Its just a physical version of Facebook/internet


Sadly this is the case. I fear the day this kind of technology becomes reality. The human race would end.


By Belard on 2/21/2012 10:51:39 PM , Rating: 2
Not exactly a great loss, is it?

Back before the INTERNET exploded, when I was active on FiDONet and BBSs (When only 1-2 people could be connected to a typical BBS system and on a time limit (15~30min) - in which you could type about as fast as the computer could transmit the data 300~1200 baud modem (think 1/million the performance)... I read the book: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.

The concepts were pretty good for 1992. Its a cyber-punk story in the not too distant future. The USA a patchwork of corporate-franchise city-states. Hint, what is left of the "purest" USA, is quite bad. With overpopulation, limited goods - PEOPLE live on the NET, rather than the real world.

Your skills in the real world dictate your wealth, while you could be dirt poor living in a Storage Room (like what we have today for $30-50 a month) - in the Meta-verse, you could have a castle, have super powers, be rich, be popular... sound familiar?

The characters did interact with OLD tech at one point with a 14k Modem?! When I read the book, 33k Modems were becoming common. Other than that, I'm good with the book. :P

Look how people live off blogs (I'm guilty too) Facebook / Myspace(dead) / Farmville and miner games, texting, etc... I try to live in the real world to the fullest. Dancing, socializing, family.


Avator/Avatar Project
By Mornyngstarr on 2/21/2012 11:21:19 PM , Rating: 2
If you intend on using organic beings as the controlling factors for a cybernetic project, it would be much better to program these same said inorganic lifeforms and instill specific programing. Then it would best be served if this program was established as a collective conscious as opposed to singular entity consciousness. A collective will prove to be of greater productivity for a multitude of reasons. I have experience in this area and that is all I have to say at this particular time. Mornyngstarr




Avator/Avatar Project
By Mornyngstarr on 2/21/2012 11:31:01 PM , Rating: 2
In addition to my last statement of fact, the organic being would need to emit a powerful level of mental energy but not nearly as much as one might think considering that all are within the collective. One receives the directive and all receive the same said directive. Also you may want to reconsider the weaponizing of these cybernetic beings. They are brilliant at best and are willing to protect at all costs. Programing them to take life force and extinguish it is playing Creator and I would simply be disillusioned to even consider such an act against human or other worldly kind.




The future of war.
By JKflipflop98 on 2/22/2012 3:49:51 PM , Rating: 2
This will be the future of battle. 10 foot tall androids that look like Terminators, being remotely controlled by a kid who just thinks he's playing some Modern Warfare.




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