Robot tail developed to balance out human body and stop people from falling over
The strap-on appendage, known as Arque, has been developed by researchers at Keio University in Japan.
[...] The tail can be be adjusted to fit whoever is wearing it by adding or removing modular "vertebrae", the Fast Company reports .
Small weights can also be inserted inside each vertebrae to help offset the wearer's weight.
[...] Artificial muscles inside the robotic tail control its movement by contracting and expanding using an external pressurised air system that resembles a lawn mower or giant vacuum.
Because the prototype tail has to remain tethered to this system, the wearer is not able to move very far using it.
[...] The tail was presented last week at the 2019 SIGGRAPH conference in Los Angeles , which focuses on graphics, gaming, and emerging technology.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Wednesday August 07 2019, @01:27PM (8 children)
Can't get video to play without disabling a bunch of protection. But I did find this version from 2009: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck5K0A6RZgM [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday August 07 2019, @02:04PM (2 children)
Similar but different. While the article touts the uses for this thing on earth, I'm thinking, "With a little plumage, it might help people in weightless conditions too!" Oh yeah, baby, shake that thang!
I've got to fault them for placement, though. The thing attaches to you, just above the small of the back, it seems. Doesn't quite look natural. They need to go lower, 3 to 5 vertebra, and get that tailbone. THAT is where the weight should be supported from.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday August 08 2019, @02:27AM (1 child)
I tried to post a link to an even earlier video of a girl with a strap-on appendage but for some reason it was blocked. Not sure what it was called, they didn't mention the name Arque but I heard a name similar to that hobbit from LoTR come up once.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday August 08 2019, @01:47PM
Now, why would they call it a Baggins?
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 3, Informative) by maxwell demon on Wednesday August 07 2019, @02:21PM (3 children)
Here's the correct video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr1-IhEhXYQ [youtube.com]
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday August 07 2019, @04:42PM (2 children)
[True story: I once pulled an arse muscle (G.M.) arm-wrestling, because my posture was wrong and everything is interconnected, had I had a tail, I might have pulled that as well.]
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Wednesday August 07 2019, @06:30PM (1 child)
Hmmm -- I think the "happy tail" is better. At least you wouldn't be tripping over pneumatic lines and carting around an air compressor.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Wednesday August 07 2019, @08:52PM
Does it wag when you see a friend or a pretty woman?
The Musk/Trump interview appears to have been hacked, but not a DDOS hack...more like A Distributed Denial of Reality.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Wednesday August 07 2019, @06:36PM
Must have pasted the wrong video, THIS is the one from 2009, and it's great: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKyq3N1cVpg [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by Snospar on Wednesday August 07 2019, @02:12PM (8 children)
Which of the evolved bipeds among us is falling over so often they thought a step back down the evolutionary ladder was in order.
Seems like this is for the furries or maybe anime types
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(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday August 07 2019, @02:32PM (2 children)
They mentioned elderly people. Maybe they're right. "Help me, I've fallen and can't get up!" I suppose some people with nerve conditions might be steadied by a tail. They also mention workers carrying loads. I'd have to experience it, before I could pass judgement on load carrying ability. Then, there is the frivolity factor. The video linked to by hemocyanin gives an idea how women might use that tail to attract attention. Ehhh - if it serves a medical purpose, it's cool. If it helps me to get a little tail from a hot chick, it's cool. Otherwise - not much interest here.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 3, Funny) by FatPhil on Wednesday August 07 2019, @04:37PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by legont on Thursday August 08 2019, @02:42AM
Need a dick on the other side to counterbalance.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 07 2019, @02:59PM (2 children)
This doesn't seem like it helps those standing on two legs as you mention. If anything, it seems to throw our balance off by tipping our center of mass over backwards. This can be bad if we are, for instance, going up the stairs and don't want to fall backwards. In fact, if I am standing on a ladder trying to put something on a shelf I don't see how weight behind me throwing my center of mass backwards is a good thing since falling backwards is generally the problem I would face. This would make it more likely I would fall backwards.
There might be certain situations this can be good though. If what I am doing requires using both hands and feet to move about, like climbing. Mountain climbing, climbing up a tree, etc... then I can see the use if the thing knew how to properly adjust itself to balance me correctly. Or a situation where you are hunched over forward and need something to balance you by adding weight backwards. Maybe bike riding and doing tricks? Skate boarding with your knees bent? Wrestling/fighting (but your opponent can also grab your tail ... so the tail can end up getting in the way?). If you are a contortionist/acrobat trying to do tricks?
But for standing on two feet I don't really see the use unless you are in a situation where you are trying to avoid falling over forward and need something to add weight backwards which isn't very typical of most every day situations. Perhaps they aren't typical because we avoid those situations since we lack tails? We design our environment to work around our current morphology and our current morphology doesn't include having a tail and so it doesn't make sense for us to have a tail given how our environment is currently designed?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 07 2019, @03:02PM
I suppose if the majority of the weight of the tail were at the tip and, say, the thing knew to move in front of you while you were standing on a ladder so that it can pull your balance forward ....
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 09 2019, @09:14AM
For climbing what I'd want are self-cleaning gecko gloves with extendable claws. Gecko pads for smooth surfaces, claws for ice and similar.
Non-prehensile tails could help for falling the right side down to leave a more easily identifiable corpse.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 07 2019, @03:18PM
Haven't humans evolved to have more back issues from walking upright? Artificial tail could counter this.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 07 2019, @04:07PM
Look, you don't get the government grants if you just outright admit you're trying to create a catgirl.
I wonder how the team working on the catears is coming along...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 07 2019, @02:43PM (4 children)
So do I get to wag my tail if I'm happy? Put it under my legs if I'm scared? Stick it up in the air if I'm upset? Is there going to be a whole bunch of tail gesture analysts explaining what each tail gesture means as we see with dogs and cats and with human facial expression analysts on T.V.?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 07 2019, @03:25PM
Minimum 3 standards, Canid, Felid, Marsupial.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 07 2019, @06:34PM (2 children)
Sure, why not. It'll go with those cat ears you can get at anime conventions that claim to react to the wearer's "mood." Works about as well as you'd expect for a furry mood ring.
(Score: 2) by Kell on Thursday August 08 2019, @12:03AM (1 child)
Wouldn't a furry's mood ring be jammed on "horny"?
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Thursday August 08 2019, @03:52AM
Only during mating season, one would think.
(Score: 1) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Wednesday August 07 2019, @02:49PM (2 children)
As long as there are not a lot of doors slamming shut in the vicinity I might like having some extra balance while I am on my parkour tour of siberian factories.
But there always seem to be things in the vicinity that slam shut so no tails for me. Was there an epidemic of people falling over that I didn't hear about? Are we sure this was the best use of brain matter?
2025 the children of the rich will be flying on actually hovering boards with mechanical tails and STILL need VR to get a thrill.
The future is starting to actually get futurey....
(Score: 3, Funny) by FatPhil on Wednesday August 07 2019, @04:45PM (1 child)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday August 08 2019, @09:37AM
Yes. Exactly once.
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Sulla on Wednesday August 07 2019, @02:53PM (4 children)
Between human-animal hybrids and mecha tails it looks like Japan is finally making anime real
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Rich on Wednesday August 07 2019, @03:27PM (2 children)
When I read the first few words of the headline I thought "This can only come from Japan". Was that prejudice?
The second question was whether Tohru's or Elma's tail style would be more fashionable. And the third, after considering that this is done to balance out the body and stop it from falling over, why Lucoa doesn't have a tail. :P
May the kami of Yasuhiro Takemoto watch well over the making of a second season of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Thursday August 08 2019, @03:54AM (1 child)
Is this in the works? Don't toy with me.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Rich on Thursday August 08 2019, @09:41AM
https://moetron.net/post/182707978340/a-second-season-of-the-miss-kobayashis-dragon [moetron.net] : "A second season of the “Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid” S2 TV anime series has been announced on the 8th volume of the manga.". But as first season director Takemoto perished in the arson attack on the studio, it's not really certain what will happen now. Hence I wrote "a second season".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 07 2019, @05:56PM
China claimed they are working on human-ape hybrids to harvest organs from.
Between that and a bionic tail, the future is shaping up to be crazier than even the wackiest of sci-fi.
If we can now just get our flying cars, we can go monkey cruzin' for hot ape chicks.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Hartree on Wednesday August 07 2019, @03:04PM
This was mentioned a week or so ago in the post on Siggraph. Also, it's been done and better for quite a long time by costumers. (My previous reply:)
"The furries have been making those for decades. A couple even with myoelectronic pickups to sync their movement to the wearer's walking (Frankly a rather silly noise prone way to do it when a couple switch in the costume feet work so much better). See http://www.wolftronix.com/animatronics.htm [wolftronix.com] [wolftronix.com] for examples. That's just one of the makers. There are a number of others.
They really can alter your gate/movement a lot. I'm told trying to walk with one programmed intentionally to be out of sync is "challenging".
(Score: 2) by Rupert Pupnick on Wednesday August 07 2019, @03:06PM (2 children)
Can also come in handy at certain kinds of parties. Just don’t stand behind someone wearing one.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 07 2019, @03:26PM (1 child)
Depends on what side they're wearing it.
(Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Wednesday August 07 2019, @05:43PM
"Oh, look, it's got a mind of its own, sweetheart. I can't do a thing with it." -Barf
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday August 07 2019, @04:14PM (5 children)
Are people envisioning removing the backs from all chairs? Otherwise sitting is going to be a real challenge. And what will someone accidentally walking too close behind you do to your balance?
This seems funny, but like a generally bad idea for practical reasons.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 07 2019, @05:51PM
Kickstand.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by arslan on Thursday August 08 2019, @07:19AM (3 children)
Maybe in version 10, the tail can become the chair?
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday August 08 2019, @04:49PM (2 children)
That's not an altogether bad idea, but what would you do for back support?
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by SunTzuWarmaster on Thursday August 08 2019, @07:44PM
(Score: 2) by arslan on Thursday August 08 2019, @10:38PM
awesome posture?