Move over RoboCop!

Forget RoboCop! Robo-guards will be patrolling Korean Prisons very soon! It seems like every week lately we have some kind of robot related story to report. Well prisons in South Korea will be testing a robot designed to guard and patrol cell blocks in prisons.

Robo-guard displays its smarts in the way it interacts with humans: As it patrols corridors containing inmates, it can sense how a person is feeling. If it senses any abnormalities, it will transmit its data in real-time to the control center for further action. Inside, Robo-guard contains a number of cameras (including a 3D one), a microphone, and software designed for analyzing human emotions. Officers can also speak to inmates without having to leave the control room, and even though Robo-guard is autonomous, it can be controlled manually via an iPad. If it determines that an incident may ensue, based on an inmates' behavior, it will alert human officers to come to the scene. The robot can protect inmates against attacks, suicide, and arson.

Developers are hoping to create a prison robot that can also undertake strip searches, but at least until technology supports such functions, Robo-guard's ability to sense trouble is pretty amazing. But now that the cat is out of the bag on this robot can we expect these to sorts of robot guards to be modified for street and city patrols in our home towns someday soon? Imagine a robot like this outfitted with various sensors for surveillance and even weapons for fighting crime. Sound out of the question? Well is it really since we will be having robotic drones outfitted with similar technology flying above our cities soon? I would suggest that it isn't out of the question. The keyword in this story is "testing" meaning that these are only being tested out and that they are surely to be modified and perfected as time goes on.

Would you take orders from a robot? Would you take it serious? I'm sure if it was armed you would. Slowly but surely we are seeing robots take over jobs and tasks normally done by humans in the past. Why are we so quick to relinquish control to these robots? Is it simply because they can make our lives easier and provide an array of benefits? I would like you to make an observation, notice how this new technology is always presented to us first as a benefit then for our safety.