According to Rodney Brooks, (http://web.mit.edu/museum/exhibitions/robots.html) one key area where robots are making a difference to the quality of human life is in the haptic technology; which allows robots or robotic arms and legs to stimulate a sense of touch. Advances in 'virtual touch' have had a significant impact on the sophistication of artificial limbs, restoring sensory sensation and fine mobility skills to those who have lost hands and arms.
His article, 'Robots and Beyond' features walking, hopping and running computers that give scientists the information they need to develop better tools for people with mobility impairment.
In the same vein, the experiment conducted by Warwick's team in which electrical signals were fed into the implant so that he became a signal receiver is also aimed at the possibility of giving movement back to paraplegics.
This no doubt raises the possibilty of having ones body and mind controlled by external signal; a situation which research agencies are already seeking solution.
For instance, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is involved in a Brain-Machine Interface Program which seeks to develop new technologies for augmenting human performance by accessing the brain in real time and integrating the information into external devices. (Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020820071329.htm)
In addition, Robots will soon be a useful tool in assisting surgeons correct a common cause of abnormal heart beats as a British hospital is already pioneering a new kind of surgery which uses a robot to operate on a patient's heart.
See clip below.
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