would you wear the elderly robot tail?
(midwest.social)
Draconic NEO
TransSpecies[sound of legions of furries reaching for their wallets]
Is it just a tail or is it mechanised? A mechanised tail that I'd have some control over sounds awesome.
Well, depending on where the controller goes...
I don't think you have much control over it, it likely just has a gyro that reacts to your movement.
The suit? Oh, uh, it helps keep the tail attached.
The lube? Um, it's for the mechanical joints...
I'd put it on backwards and pretend it was my peen.
Maybe I'm crazy, but I feel like adding additional weight to someone who already is struggling with walking in their old age is not the best idea?
give them mechanical legs too
Wheels would be more stable. We could even mount a chair to them so they don't have to stand.
But presumably some are not struggling because of weakness but lack of balance
I want one now
Well I'd need some kind of evidence that it works beyond a Japanese engineer just deciding that its a good idea.
Why? If it doesn't prevent falls, you still get a dragon tail.
Because, its likely that for an elderly person simply adding an appendage to your frame is harmful.
Ok, but dragon tail.
Ok, but herniated disc.
Damn.
Herniated disc > dragon tail.
Its mounted to the hips.
But if there were wings, I would accept the risk.
Its mounted to the hips.
So is your spine. The sacroiliac joint takes the hit in this case, so the L3-L4 disc.
When I was 13 (~~basically 800 years ago~~ mid 90s), I visited my friend in Luxembourg, whose family had moved there temporarily for his dad's job. I slipped on their front steps during an epic super soaker battle (I'd brought the water blasters with me because they weren't sold there) and hurt my lower back. Hours later, when I couldn't sleep, they took me to the ER. I don't recall all the details, but I very clearly remember the doc saying that something was wrong with my sacroliliac (I thought she said it was dislocated, but that may be a false memory). She injected me with a huge needle (to this day, my friend and his family won't tell me how big it was (still not sure why they were all allowed to see this do still a huge needle in my back)) and then physically massaged/shoved things back in place. I was told later that in my home US, docs would never have done that physical manipulation, meaning I'd have recovered in a wheelchair for a while.
Anyway, I just saw you write "sacroliliac" and wanted to share my story about my sacroliliac. Believe it or not, it doesn't come up in conversation often.
sure sure
But dragon tail
It's probably all carbon fiber and gyros, maybe a couple of servos, and likely weighs very little.
Edit: and dragon tail, cone on
And then you use it to fight Kaiju.
No because I'd forget how to balance without it. I'd just use a cane.
It would be interesting to wear one of these for a week or longer and get really used to relying on it for staying upright. You could wobble back and forth, side to side, and never fall over. Then when you remove it, does it feel like getting off a ship after months at sea?
It opens up a whole new tier of enshittification
Body horror x Enshittification is something I really don't want to see. Cyber psychosis from CP2077 it's probably the most extreme form. But being lucid and losing control of your own body on account of "wellbeing technology" would be terrifying.
You don't want your cochlear implants to start playing ads?
Mecha Pensioner
I want a scorpion tail
no need to think, instant yes, and i dont have the slightest issue with balancing rn
Can it be covered in fur?
Or scales
I'd put stickers
Silver Texallium
I don't see why not. There's no reason why it couldn't be customized. Probably won't come with those options by default though.
Yeah cuz our balance is shit
Is it like a prosthetic limb that you can learn to control? That’d be cool.
Probably not. I'd assume it has a gyroscopic sensor in the base and will automatically try to compensate of it detects excessive tilting.
I'm not even sure if that could even be possible since unlike prosthetic limbs which can detect feedback from minor muscle movements in the stump, there isn't really anything like that for the tail since primates lost their tails so long ago, there just isn't anything there in the form of tail muscles.
We have stuff like segways and "hoverboards," I'd say it's possible.
yes
Hell yeah!
