The Hub-UB: Of Quadcopters and Benevolent Technology
By Joel Gordon
(Editor's note: The Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub's Hub-UB speaker series, led by Joel Gordon, brings TED-like talks to central Arkansas each month. The next Hub-UB is scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m. from the Argenta Branch Library.)
Well, next week is sort of an unusual Hub-UB -- it will be a bit more of a Q&A.
The subject is drones, there's been a lot in the news about them I know. We are taking a walk down the less sinister path and jumping on to the petal strewn walkway of "how they can make life better."
For one thing, quadcopters are fairly ubiquitous at this point. The whole flying camera thing seems to freak people out. I put that fear in the category of 3D printers and the folks who immediately say, "You know you can print guns on those things."
I, for one, am very excited about these new technologies.
I believe it is my mission to change the whole "technology is after me" mind set. The more you know about people who are different from you, the more you see yourself in them.
Technology works the same way. I still get a little frustrated that a 3D printed gun equates to a 5-page feature article and a 3D printed heart valve that saved a baby's life gets a mention on page 9. Sorry...give me a second to step down off this soapbox.
Anyway, we are going to have some fun and think about what can be accomplished with this wonderful technology.
Along with the lively discussion, we plan to play with some of the toys. If you've ever wanted to try your hand at flying one of these things, Wednesday night at the Hub-UB might just be your chance. It's all about fun and a little bit of dreaming.
So, until somebody can get me my flying car, I'll have to be content with flying my quadcopter.
(Joel Gordon is the director of the Launch Pad maker space, part of the Innovation Hub's Argenta Innovation Center. The Hub-UB series runs the second Wednesday of each month at 6 from the Argenta library.)