Matthew Battles on “Dumborgs”
It’s interesting, by the way, how the development of “robots” like the Panasonic hairwasher necessitates a proliferation of para-robotic accoutrements like the built-in splashguard visor. (It’s unclear what kind of mishap the recliner’s sickly green body shield is meant to prevent.) Room-cleaning robots need open floors and targeted base stations; lawnmowing bots must be fenced in with perimeter wires. As robots are developed to tend and care for our bodily needs, we’ll harden ourselves into dumborgs festooned with targets and shields. Progress in robotics will be as much about streamlining and miniaturizing these dumborgian safeguards as it will be about advancing cybernetic features.
(Source: hilobrow.com)
