Tuesday 6 May 2008

Truth, Fiction, and Spiders

From the Daily Mail in the UK :
British defence giant BAE Systems is creating a series of tiny electronic spiders, insects and snakes that could become the eyes and ears of soldiers on the battlefield, helping to save thousands of lives.

Prototypes could be on the front line by the end of the year, scuttling into potential danger areas such as booby-trapped buildings or enemy hideouts to relay images back to troops safely positioned nearby.


Now some panels from e-sheep's graphic multimedia novel, "Spiders", from 2001.






Now see this VoxPop page from 2002 in a universe next door...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

science fiction comes to life!!

E said...

This reminds me a movie with Gene Simmons and Tom Sellick, the name of which escapes me.

Ellen.

Christine said...

Neat-o!

This from late last year in on a local Houston, TX news channel:

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Local 2 Investigates Police Secrecy Behind Unmanned Aircraft Test

Houston police cars were surrounding the land with a roadblock in place to check each of the dignitaries arriving for the invitation-only event. The invitation spelled out, "NO MEDIA ALLOWED."

HPD Chief Harold Hurtt attended, along with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and dozens of officers from various police agencies in the Houston area. Few of the guests would comment as they left the test site.

News Chopper 2 had a Local 2 Investigates team following the aircraft for more than one hour as it circled overhead. Its wings spanned 10 feet and it circled at an altitude of 1,500 feet. Operators from a private firm called Insitu, Inc. manned remote controls from inside the fleet of black trucks as the guests watched a live feed from the high-powered camera aboard the 40-pound aircraft.
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If that's any indicator, then eventually these robotic spiders, snakes and dragonflies will all be turned on us. Freedom?