The technology depicted in Daemon and FreedomTM may seem like science fiction, but it actually exists . . .


Autonomous Vehicles - www.darpa.mil

The Pentagon has set a goal of having 30% of its truck fleet unmanned by the year 2015. This 130-mile unmanned vehicle race shows just how far the technology has advanced.

Here are some photos I took at Darpa's 2007 Urban Grand Challenge Autonomous Vehicle Competition in Victorville, California..

Hypersonic Sound System - www.usatoday.com

Sound production without speakers can make voices appear in mid-air or direct sound to single individuals.

Laser-Induced Plasma Channel Weapons - www.ionatron.com

Laser light at specific frequencies can act as a virtual wire to conduct electricity -- making possible portable beam weapons able to deliver a lethal electrical charge.

Electronic 'stacked projectile' guns - www.metalstorm.com

Handheld weapons with no moving parts capable of firing thousands of rounds per second.

Non-lethal InfraSound - Princeton Univ. (PDF)

Sub-sonic sound can quell riots or be elevated to lethal weaponry.

Voice recognition / synthetic voice systems - www.nuance.com

VR systems are now routinely employed in call centers the world over. Computers now understand human speech in many languages.

Fab Labs / Desktop Manufacturing - www.globaltechforum.com

A third industrial revolution is now underway, and it might someday shift the balance of power in the global economy.

Functional MRI Brain Scans - BBC News

Functional magnetic resonance imaging can do more than detect deception in human subjects -- it can read their minds.

Kernel Rootkits - www.computerworld.om

Virus authors are storing their work in sophisticated, undetectable wrappers that don't run under your OS -- your OS runs on them.

Liquid Armor - www.sciencecentral.com

Sheer thickening liquids can transform almost instantly from a flexible form to a rigid solid.

Augmented Reality in a Contact Lens - spectrum.ieee.org

Heads up display glasses would not be necessary for viewing objects in virtual space with these lenses.

Prosthetic Eyes - www.wired.com

New technologies permit grafting electronic diodes directly into visual receptors in the brain.

Molecular Hydrogen in Igneous Rock - www.astrobio.net

Hydrogen is formed inside mineral grains when molten rock cools below 600 degrees centigrade -- in large volumes of igneous and metamorphic rock that form Earth’s continents, every mineral grain could be a potential source of hydrogen.

Networked Surveillance Bots Auto-monitoring Human Activity - www.newscientist.com

Large investments are being made to automate the task of monitoring human populations in close detail.

Real-Time Surveillance Video Modification - www.videosift.com

Imagery from networked, digital surveillance cameras could be modified in real-time...redacting people and objects and essentially rendering them useless (go to :30 mark in video for an example).

100KW Solid State Laser Weapons - news.cnet.com

American defense companies have created all-electronic lasers capable of breaking the 100KW power barrier needed for warspace utility. These devices need only electricity and can lase for minutes at a time.