a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
Set in the near-future, this story is about an "artificial intelligence" that wants to break the confines of its "box". Dr. Alex Harris, a computer scientist and his about to be estranged wife Susan, a child psychologist live in a house that's fully computer automated with Alfred, the Enviromod Security System. His latest project centers …
Read More “1977 – “Joshua” the wheelchair Robot from “Demon Seed” – (American)”
Painting by FRED FREEMAN, originally appearing in the July 11, 1960 issue of LIFE Magazine. The creature unreeling an electric cable as he explores a distant planet is a man prepared for space as some scientists propose. Electrodes and other attachments would control many of the physical functions normally initiated by the brain, such as …
Read More “1960 – Cyborg – Kline and Clynes (American and Austrian)”
Cobb invents a walking structure that simulates the action of natural walking using mechanical means, typically for a person who has lost the use of their legs. Motive power is supplied by the operators arms driving a crank-wheel which in turn drives the legs in an oscillatory motion. The same principles as applied to a …
Read More “1934 – Wind-up Lower-extremity Walker – Cobb (American)”