Korea: Robots to Guard Schools
May 30th, 2007Via: Korea Times:
Sophisticated security robots will be deployed in the near future to patrol schools around the clock to protect students from violence and other dangers.
DU Robo said Wednesday that the Seoul-based venture start-up company plans to begin a pilot run of the security robot, dubbed OFRO, in a middle school.
This is the first time in the world that a robot will be employed to guard an educational institution, according to DU Robo.
“We are set to check the viability of OFRO as a school robot at a middle school in southern Seoul this week along with KT Telecop,” DU Robo CEO Kang Jung-won said.
“After going through the feasibility test, we look to commercialize the feature-rich OFRO that retails at around $100,000 as a school guardian,” he said.
Research Credit: MT
What are the chances these robots are there to ‘protect’ the students? These would be much more useful for spying on students and looking for signs of student rebellion.
The true danger to students is more likely underground in the fiber-optics lines running their society.
In Estonia, what may be the first war in cyberspace
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/28/business/cyberwar.php
“They also knew from experience that “if there are fights on the street, there are going to be fights on the Internet,” said Hillar Aarelaid, the director of Estonia’s Computer Emergency Response Team. After all, for people here the Internet is almost as vital as running water, used routinely to vote, file their taxes, and, with their cellphones, to shop or pay for parking.”
I think it’s more about getting the kids acclimatized to their new overlords.
Where is the ED-209 when you need it!
“Identify youselves…”
Kids will probably do anything they can to trash those expensive robots.