TechKnowledge: Killer Robots, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and Self-Driving Cars

Imagine a world where armed robotic police officers patrol the streets, autonomous drones fill the sky, and most cars on the road drive themselves. It sounds sci-fi, but this future might happen sooner than you think. Almost every month, new technological and legislative developments bring these autonomous machines closer to our world.

In the United Nations, the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons is meeting to discuss a potential ban on killer robots. These are defined as machines that are capable of taking a human life without intervention from a human operator. Currently, robots that are capable of killing on their own are possible to construct, but not used in military practice. Even drones used by the United States military require human operation. The four day United Nations meeting is a first step toward international action against these potentially deadly robots. The council will meet again in November to further discuss the issue.

TechKnowledge: How the Oculus Rift Will Change More Than Just Gaming

In my last post, I talked about the Oculus Rift, an upcoming virtual reality head-mounted display designed for gaming. In the next few years, virtual reality will become a huge part of the consumer gaming experience. Instead of just playing games, people will be able to immerse themselves in games. Although the Oculus Rift is designed for gaming, it will have many other practical uses in the future.

TechKnowledge: Introducing the Oculus Rift

Hi! My name is Martin Costa, and I love technology. I believe the technology we have access to dictates the strength of the world’s economy and defines how we go about our day-to-day lives. We live in an exciting era where the growth of technology is continuing to expand at an ever-increasing rate. In the last 30 years, computers, the Internet, and smartphones have completely changed our lives. What changes will we see in the next 30 years? Chances are, the innovations of the near future will be much more influential than those of the recent past. In my column, TechKnowledge, I hope to provide insight about devices that will soon become important parts of our lives.