Middle Medicine

from: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/10/07/business/AS-TEC-Japan-Robot-Suit.php

It’s unusual that a powerful technologist rebuffs the military, so it’s always nice to hear of it happening:

Robotics technology is common in manufacturing sectors, but product liability concerns restrict its widespread use in everyday life. Sankai said the HAL technology is devoted to social welfare purposes only, adding he has refused requests from military officials to share it.

It is interesting to me because the military will easily get their hands on something they want, or develop it on their own, so Sankai’s gesture is really “nothing more” than a powerful symbol that can remind us of where our priorities are, or ought to be.

As a final note:

[P]roduct liability concerns restrict [HAL technology's] widespread use in everyday life.
“We are going to be very cautious, but we wanted to take the initiative to help people,” Daiwa director Takashi Hama said.

Because, once again, military + robotics = terminator. And most of us know what ended up happening with that.