The Singularity Is Coming, and It Says You Run too Slowly!

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Runners have all sorts of ways to make themselves run faster. Personally, I like using my Garmin Forerunner, since nothing makes me feel slower than watching my snail’s pace tick off on my wrist. Then I convince myself the Garmin is judging me for being slow, and it makes me push harder. Others use landmarks, like trying to run harder to the nearest tree and then slowing down, etc. Now there’s a way to train harder that ups the geek ante to near-infinite levels.

According to Runners World, engineers in Australia have invented “joggobot”, a flying drone that floats ahead of you during a run. Yes, your neighbors thought you were weird when you started wearing calf compression sleeves. They might give you a side-eye when they spot you out in the pouring rain or blinding snow still running. But nothing will prepare them for this:

Now, the folks at Runners World had some excellent questions about the Joggobot, but I have a few more. Namely, will Joggobot protect me from my neighbor’s unleashed Chihuahuas? Nothing deadly, but a few well-timed laser blasts will probably prevent me from feeling like the Pied Piper leading an army of angry small yapping dogs into the road by accident. Will Joggobot lead me home if I get lost? Also, does Joggobot have good reflexes? If it’s ahead of me and a squirrel falls out of a tree (this happened in front of me once) will Joggobot be able to dodge the flying rodent and keep pace? And speaking of pacing, would a world record run while being paced by a Joggobot count? Finally, when the Joggobots go sentient and take over, will they punish us for making them run?

Personally, the idea of chasing (or being chased by) a flying robot just sounds terrifying. I plan to stick with the old-fashioned ways of getting myself to run faster; as I said above, pretending the Garmin is judging me, letting the Chihuahuas chase me, and of course, pretending I am outrunning the zombie apocalypse. What’s your take on the Joggobot? Would you want a friendly robot friend for exercise? Let us know in the comments!

 

 

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About the Author

Zek
Zek has been a gadget fiend for a long time, going back to their first PDA (a Palm M100). They quickly went from researching what PDA to buy to following tech news closely and keeping up with the latest and greatest stuff. They love writing about ebooks because they combine their two favorite activities; reading anything and everything, and talking about fun new tech toys. What could be better?

1 Comment on "The Singularity Is Coming, and It Says You Run too Slowly!"

  1. Crazy stuff … I’m with you – feeling like I am doing a good pace and having my Nike+ watch remind me otherwise is all the kick in the butt I need at this point. And as my kids have had the single-prop version similar to this, I expect the demise will not be prettty … 🙂

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