I had the pleasure of meeting BEAR today, a Battlefield Extraction Assist Robot designed by Vecna Robotics. Although BEAR is intended to aid in building excavation and long-distance transport, his main purpose is to replace the guy who was last to call "Not it!" when it came to fetching the dead bodies in the trenches during live combat. And how about that gun-mounted remote control?
BEAR means well, but one look at his Hello Kitty Angel of Death face and foreboding forklift arms would most likely scare a fading soldier to death, or a dead soldier to life. It’s a toss up. And what happens when this $100,000 roving psychopath gets his cat/badger/raccoon head macheted off? Now I really feel bad the soldier who calls “Not it!” last.
