[Nfbmo] {Disarmed} Fwd: Ray Kurzweil and how advances in technology will change everything

[Cari Kness]

Hi Dan,
I would be interested in reading this article but I can't find it
amoung all the other links. Can you send it in a file or something?
Thanks.
Peace,
Cari


On 2/12/11, DanFlasar at aol.com <DanFlasar at aol.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>     I am passing this on only because it is an extended  article about
> someone who has had  and continues to have - a very close  relationship with
> the
> NFB - Ray Kurzweil.  In association with the NFB at  various times,
> Kurzweil has created such important technological prostheses  as the
> scanner, the
> first text-to-speech engines and combining the  aforementioned, the KNFB
> Reader, now packaged into a cellphone.   He's  worked in other domains as
> well,
> such as music synthesizers - his curiosity and  creativity seems to be
> boundless.
>     Some of us have heard about his ideas on "The  Singularity" - which has
> been portrayed in lurid terms in the press and the  media as evidence that
> Dr. Kurzweil is essentially 'losing it'.
>      This article, from Time magazine, takes a more  in-depth look at
> Kurzweil's career and how it has led him to his seemingly  bizarre
> predictions
> such as installing our consciousness into immortal robot  bodies.  What he
> is
> really about is asking what happens when technology can  correct or
> compensate for deficits in the human body - or just as importantly,  using
> technology to enhance our bodies beyond what they are capable of in the
> first place.
>
>      I had a long discussion with a  friend about the NFB's blind-driveable
> car.    My  friend didn't understand that this was not a robotic car  that
> chauffeured the blind passenger - it was a car that included  sensor
> technology that mapped the visual world into a form that a blind driver  can
> use to
> make the decisions necessary to successfully navigate and control -  to
> drive - the vehicle.  The army, it is true, has been trying to develop a
> robot
> car that drives itself through all kinds of terrain, including,
> eventually, populated areas, highways and Walmart parking lots.   The  NFB
> car's
> driver is essential - the driver is in control, but plenty of  safety
> devices are
> also at work to make the job a bit easier. These same devices  could also
> make it easier for the sighted to drive as well.
>     It is here that Kurzweil is *really* taking the  blind into a more
> equitable realm - his text-to-speech technology made it  easier for us to
> 'drive' through the universe of information via print.   The KNFB reader
> allows us
> to more easily 'drive' through the wider world by  making verbal
> information in the environment available.   Kurzweil had  no part in the
> blind-driveable car but it is in line with what he has done all  along. I
> don't believe
> in the inevetability of Kurzweil's  predictions but  it is well worth the
> time to understand what it is that makes Raymond Kurzweil  'tick' - and what
> in
> part drove him to develop accessible  technologies.  He has been at work
> for a long time to redefine what  independence means.
>      The article is in 5 parts, well worth the  effort.
>
>
>  (http://www.time.com/)  (http://www.time.com/)
>
>
>
> 2045: The Year Man Becomes  Immortal
> _http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2048138,00.html?artId=204813
> 8?contType=article?chn=sciHealth_
> (http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2048138,00.html?artId=2048138?contType=article?chn=sciHealth)
>
> Dan
>
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