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back to article Can't dance? That's no excuse. Let a robot do it for you at this 'forced exoskeleton rave'

Remember "clubbing"? You were young, slim, limber – not a care in the world. You thought you could dance. If you couldn't, it didn't matter. Now look at you. Flailing flabby limbs swinging from a corpulent, jiggling mass. Disgusting. But San Francisco (where else?) may offer a glimmer of hope for the toe-tapping, dad-dancing …

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  1. John Mangan

    As Bones would say,

    "It's dancing, Jim, but not as we know it".

    "Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor not a choreographer!".

    12 0 Reply
    1. magickmark
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      Thumb Up

      Re: As Bones would say.. or Scotty

      I canna dowit' Capt'n... its just nooo possible!!!

      I canna change the laws of physics, Captain! A've got to have thirty minutes .. ta groove in

      I've giv'n her all she's got captain, an' I canna give her no more

      I dannae thik she can take any more, Captain!

      Any man who could perform such a feat, I wo'd na dare disappoint.

      Also occurs to me this is in San Francisco, Starfleet's Headquarters!

      2 0 Reply
  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Dammit, now I want a moonwalking nightmare-fuel dogbot.

    11 0 Reply
    1. JDX Gold badge
      Reply Icon

      4-legged moon-walking is pretty cool.

      5 0 Reply
  3. JetSetJim
    Pint

    Whenever I see stuff about raves..

    ..I can't help but be reminded of this genius remix.

    Make the robots do this, please

    4 0 Reply
  4. JimmyPage Silver badge
    FAIL

    Is it just me, or does that video clip

    manage to convey nothing that seemed out of the ordinary ?

    If they wanted to impress me, then seeing it without the special effects - maybe in a lab - would have been a million times better.

    3 3 Reply
  5. JohnFen

    Despicable lies!

    I never thought I could dance.

    3 0 Reply
    1. elkster88
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      Re: Despicable lies!

      John, I'm only dancing.

      8 0 Reply
  6. OrneryRedGuy

    Do they do the splits?

    Sounds great and all, but I'd like to know just exactly how limber this exoskeleton thinks I am first.

    5 0 Reply
    1. anoco
      Reply Icon

      Re: Do they do the splits?

      That's exactly my fear. What if it decides to do the limbo? Or, what if the Russians (or my wife?) hack into it to force me into a Pretzel position? Can't wait to try it...

      1 0 Reply
    2. maffski
      Reply Icon

      Re: Do they do the splits?

      Yep, I'd definitely want some physical limit stops.

      2 0 Reply
  7. Chris G

    AI Exobot

    I can see the A and R wards on a weekend becoming really busy if they have autonomous AI dancing exobots that decide to show off what they can do on the dance floor with a middle aged dad inside them. Splits? No problem...

    2 0 Reply
    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
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      Re: AI Exobot

      "the A and R wards"

      Accident & Recreation?

      1 0 Reply
  8. Inventor of the Marmite Laser Silver badge

    The Wrong Trousers

    10 0 Reply
  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Applications for...

    They say tech is adopted faster if used in the porn industry. How long until there is "forced exoskeleton" porn?

    3 0 Reply
    1. Christoph
      Reply Icon

      Re: Applications for...

      Or two Boston Dynamics robots doing the horizontal fandango.

      0 0 Reply
    2. Cederic Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Applications for...

      I'm so glad that I'm not the only person to follow this line of thought.

      Of course there'll be a queue of volunteers to wear the exoskeleton too..

      2 0 Reply
  10. Cronus

    When I saw this all I could think of was that scene in Iron Man where the military tries to create their own version and Tony shows the footage of that robot spinning 180 degrees with a guy inside it...

    4 0 Reply
  11. aregross
    Alert

    I think I'm glad I didn't turn the speakers on for that...!

    1 0 Reply
  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why not just take it one step further and remove the human elements as unnecessary.

    At that point the human element is just another unnecessary potential point of inefficiency and failure isn't it?

    Why not finish the project so that it doesn't need a human at all? as long as it's shaped like a human the audience is not going to see a difference, when it comes to a performance the experience of the audience is the alpha and omega of its value. as long as people are entertained and it holds their focus then you received as much success as there is to be had

    0 3 Reply
  13. Zog_but_not_the_first
    Happy

    What a time to be alive...

    When self-driving dancing cars are getting in one the act too

    0 0 Reply
  14. Tikimon
    Thumb Up

    Okay, serious use here

    I can think of a great use for the machine-controlled human scenario. It would be very handy for learning to do certain dynamic body movements. The machine carries your body through the motions, you FEEL what it's like, how fast, etc. Then YOU do it. The system would evaluate how well you move and maybe make small corrections and spoken comments or guidance. It would be your personal Sensei, but not limited to watching you and telling you what to do. Also, many things like Tai Chi have you turning around while keeping your head in position, making it impossible to see what the instructor is doing. If the instructor is ON you, that's not a problem.

    2 0 Reply
    1. Intractable Potsherd
      Reply Icon

      Re: Okay, serious use here

      Beat me to it! The possibilities for this are huge.

      0 0 Reply

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