Crime in the future is going to be a lot more difficult. Between flying police drones and a new RoboCop prototype created at Florida International University, a criminals are about to feel firsthand the robotic arm of the law.
With $20,000 from private contractor and Navy veteran Jeremy Robins, a team of FIU researchers and students have engineered a telepresence robotic suit that would be functionable for law enforcement purposes. Their robot named “Hutch” stands six-feet tall and weighs-in at just 75 pounds. As reported by Singularity Hub, Hutch is operated by a user wearing sensory gloves, a vest and virtual reality headset.
“Hutch is outfitted with a pair of stereoscopic camera eyes that relay a video feed to the Oculus Rift, giving the wearer a 3D view of the robot’s immediate surroundings. The vest communicates arm movements to the robot, and the gloves operate its hands. Users pilot the robot with a joystick.”
Being that Hutch is only a prototype right now, there are many bugs to work out before we see any badge-wearing robots patrolling the streets. For instance, his head movements are slower than the operating users and while his hands can manipulate objects, they don’t yet provide sensory feedback to the user.
While robotic cops might still have a long way to go before they ever get out of the testing lab, if you’re a criminal it might be time to start looking for a legal field of work.