Turing’s Dream: Robots Living and Working with Humans 

Recently a non-IBM supercomputer finally passed the “Turing Test” developed by futurist Alan Turing who was made famous last year in the movie, “The Imitation Game.” The Turing Test measures artificial intelligence. The supercomputer fooled these researchers during a 5 minute verbal conversation by imitating a fake 14 yr old boy in Ukraine named Eugene Goostman. […]

Veterinary Orthopedic 3D Printing 

There seems to be a very good argument for 3D printing right now in Veterinary Orthopedics.  Vet Schools are leading the way as they should!   Dr. Judith A. Hudson, a radiology professor at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine used 3D printing to create a life size skeletal model of a dog.  Here is a picture of […]

Comparing Puppy and Robot Self-Awareness 

One month ago today, a robot finally passed the “King’s Wise Men Self-Awareness Test” intended to test artificial intelligence.  There are many measurements of self-awareness and some apply to animals as well as machines.  For example, newborn puppies exhibit no evidence of self-awareness during the first 3 weeks of life.  Like robots they move to […]

Soon Your Tech Will Talk to You Through Your Skin 

Up until now, the “Vibration” function of a cell phone has been pretty basic; i.e. your phone ringer is off, but if it’s in your pocket or otherwise touching you, you can feel it vibrate.  If it’s on a table you can hear the buzz.   The new frontier is, “communicate information through people’s skin,” […]

Virtual Reality is Directly in Front. Below, Above, and Behind You – TODAY! 

Sweet.  My son and 14 yr old grandson are very tech savvy, but I scooped them this time. When they tried my (first ever) Virtual Reality Headset (Samsung VR Gear) that uses my Samsung S6 phone as its engine, they each just kept saying, “Wow, I want this!”  The phone clips into the headset, and […]

Driverless Cars Will be as Common as Cell Phones. 

I remember the first time I heard of a “cell phone” 20 years ago…  “So, you would CARRY around a phone?  Why?” I wondered.  There was a phone in practically every room of my home, and phone booths everywhere. I had the same type of sensation when I first heard of driverless cars.  Futuristic!  After […]

The WHO warns of an approaching, “Post Antibiotic Era” 

In Veterinary Medicine Today, we tend to become a little blase about bacterial infections. Once in a while it is necessary to do a culture and sensitivity, but MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is still pretty rare in animals, but increasing. The WHO warns of an approaching, “Post Antibiotic Era.” Further, MRSA appears to be a […]

Steve Wozniak: In the future, robots will keep humans as pets 

This is interesting.  Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, said in a recent interview that with the growth of AI, eventually, machines will keep humans as pets. http://mashable.com/2015/06/26/steve-wozniak-ai-humans-pets/ This brings up the fundamental question of control.  My car won’t let me drive over a certain speed without locking the doors.  It is not under my control. […]

In the beginning…. 

Hi all, Let’s all agree: No one knows the future. The idea behind a Veterinary Futurist Society, is to share information about new products, services, or ideas that in some way relate to animals or veterinary medicine.  Then (for fun) postulate where that trend might lead in the future. Exactly how this group evolves is […]