# boldy Going where no fursuit has gone before



## Fenneckfan14 (Mar 23, 2011)

What kind of technology do you think fursuits will have in the future? Articulating tails? I personally am looking forward to facial recognition hardware, and motorizing the facemask to replicate basic facial expressions. The animatronics hardware is out thereâ€¦


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## Cyanide_tiger (Mar 23, 2011)

You can already do all of that, it's just a matter of how much money you wanna drop into a fursuit or partial. 

Unless you want to advance fursuits to some practical application, which I have no fucking clue what that might possibly be, the only space I see for improvement is making better materials cheaper or more accessible.


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## Fenneckfan14 (Mar 23, 2011)

What would make a more realistic fursuit though? Or, what would make the suiter more able to sense their surroundings? I know that lion of the sun has speaker/mic combo's in his suits. Pretty cool stuff, but a little to feral for my tastes.


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## Fay V (Mar 23, 2011)

If you really want to see the fursuits of the future, look at the animatronics of today


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## Cyanide_tiger (Mar 23, 2011)

Fenneckfan14 said:


> What would make a more realistic fursuit though? Or, what would make the suiter more able to sense their surroundings? I know that lion of the sun has speaker/mic combo's in his suits. Pretty cool stuff, but a little to feral for my tastes.



Realism of thes suit only has to do with advances in technology to a point. It more depends on the skill and style of the one making the suit. There is also the matter of preference of the person purchasing the suit. 

Not everyone is going to want a realistic one, as a lot of people use their fursuits to do charity/volunteer work with children and the like. Realistic suits would scare the fuck out the kids and will even unnerve some adults. 

As far as adding in a greater ability for a suiter being able to sense their surroundings better, that can be accomplished already with enough money - it simply isn't common because it would be impractically expensive to impliment, and it would make the suit heavier, which means the suiter would have to put forth even more effort to wear it, which would mean they get dehydrated more quickly, which means they can't wear the suit for as long. 

If you're looking for improvements to fursuits, create a practical way to keep them cooler rather than sensory input. That's what handlers are for.


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## Kit H. Ruppell (Mar 23, 2011)

Shields, upgradeable weapons and equipment, and the ability to turn into a Tribblesque ball to fit in tight spaces.


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## Fenneckfan14 (Mar 23, 2011)

Disney developed refrigerant based cooling units for their fur characters a while ago. They donâ€™t implement them though because they had too many kids asking why Mickey was cold when they hugged him. (Warning: I am a Walt Disney World ubernerd. Tis my lifeâ€™s goal to be an Imagineer.)


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## Fay V (Mar 23, 2011)

Cyanide_tiger said:


> Realism of thes suit only has to do with advances in technology to a point. It more depends on the skill and style of the one making the suit. There is also the matter of preference of the person purchasing the suit.
> 
> Not everyone is going to want a realistic one, as a lot of people use their fursuits to do charity/volunteer work with children and the like. Realistic suits would scare the fuck out the kids and will even unnerve some adults.
> 
> ...


 I disagree. I think our cooling technology is tapped out. Basically anyone that covers themselves in fabric will get hot. there's ways to make holes in the fabric, cooling vests, different techniques that handle this quite well. My suit heats up easily and I can be in it for hours. 
Depending on a handler is less awesome. It might seem to get the job done, but when you literally can not hear or see, you'd be very interested in ways to fix that. I love seeing the new developments for eyes and such. Not only do they often solve a problem, but they do it in a way that isn't cumbersome.


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## Fenneckfan14 (Mar 23, 2011)

Fay V said:


> If you really want to see the fursuits of the future, look at the animatronics of today



The audio-animatronic, also invented by the Waltmeister himself. His first model was an Abraham Lincoln that gave the Gettysburg address to audiences. His debut was a bit of a disaster, as the hydraulics fluid of the day was red and halfway through his first show one of the lines burst in it chest. The audience was horrified to hear a loud bang, followed by lincolnâ€™s speech stopping and a growing red stain on his chest. This is why all Disney animatronics now use a clear fluid. Also universal studios contains no audio-animatronics, because to be called that they must be hydraulic. All of universalâ€™s models are pneumatic.


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## Darkfoxx (Mar 23, 2011)

Future of fursuits is the past of companies like ILM and Jim Henson.

Only thing holding fursuits back is the shitton of money it will cost... also, a teather with a remote held by the spotter will kinda 'break the magic'. I think that it will be quite difficult to control animatronics from within the suit, other then jaw movement which many suits already have (dont know if that really classifies as animatronics?)

Of course things can be done with radio control, remote controls are becoming more and more cheap these days, even for the really advanced ones with 8+ channels etc. Also cheaper and stronger servo's and smaller and lighter battery packs. You can put quite some tech into a suit before it becomes that much heavier.

I would love to see suit builders incorporate RC tech into their work, I'm not so much a fan of fursuits as I am of RC cars and whatnot. The most advanced tech I've seen in a suit was one with 2 laptop fans in the ears as a means of airconditioning.


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## Fay V (Mar 23, 2011)

Fenneckfan14 said:


> The audio-animatronic, also invented by the Waltmeister himself. His first model was an Abraham Lincoln that gave the Gettysburg address to audiences. His debut was a bit of a disaster, as the hydraulics fluid of the day was red and halfway through his first show one of the lines burst in it chest. The audience was horrified to hear a loud bang, followed by lincolnâ€™s speech stopping and a growing red stain on his chest. This is why all Disney animatronics now use a clear fluid. Also universal studios contains no audio-animatronics, because to be called that they must be hydraulic. All of universalâ€™s models are pneumatic.


I meant more the special effects they use with movies and actors. Look at the way werewolves are done in films, or aliens, etc. When studios build suits that have the robotic parts. 
The little display robots that sing country bear tunes or tell us all about the presidents isn't exactly the future of fursuiting, especially since it's very old tech.


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## Fenneckfan14 (Mar 23, 2011)

I think Lion of the Sun has eye mounted cameras. It would be cool to try for binocular vision with cameras. Imagine a clear view and depth perception.


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## Fay V (Mar 23, 2011)

darkfoxx said:


> Future of fursuits is the past of companies like ILM and Jim Henson.
> 
> Only thing holding fursuits back is the shitton of money it will cost... also, a teather with a remote held by the spotter will kinda 'break the magic'. I think that it will be quite difficult to control animatronics from within the suit, other then jaw movement which many suits already have (dont know if that really classifies as animatronics?)
> 
> ...


 I'm working on a masterpiece with working computer parts for a cyborg suit. It'll be interesting to say the least. 

I have seen some really neat tricks for moveable ears, but like the jaws it's not robotic or electronic. It's really just fishing wire attached to springs.


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## Fenneckfan14 (Mar 23, 2011)

Fay V said:


> I meant more the special effects they use with movies and actors. Look at the way werewolves are done in films, or aliens, etc. When studios build suits that have the robotic parts.
> The little display robots that sing country bear tunes or tell us all about the presidents isn't exactly the future of fursuiting, especially since it's very old tech.



I dissagree, yes the Country Bear Jamboree is a little tired, but modern day animatronics are highly complex and versatile machines. You make a good point with the movie animatronics though. Patrick Tatoupolis blew my mind with UW: Rise of the Lychens.


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## Cyanide_tiger (Mar 23, 2011)

Fay V said:


> I disagree. I think our cooling technology is tapped out. Basically anyone that covers themselves in fabric will get hot. there's ways to make holes in the fabric, cooling vests, different techniques that handle this quite well. My suit heats up easily and I can be in it for hours.
> Depending on a handler is less awesome. It might seem to get the job done, but when you literally can not hear or see, you'd be very interested in ways to fix that. I love seeing the new developments for eyes and such. Not only do they often solve a problem, but they do it in a way that isn't cumbersome.



Like I said, the technology to add in greater sensory input to your fursuit already exists, it's just a matter of how much money you want to spend on it. If you look at some of Lion Of The Sun's stuff, he will build you a fursuit with sound-reactive ears, three-panel camera vision, and even nightvision, among other things. 

As far as hearing in a fursuit goes, the only thing hold us back from that is that no one has bothered to build a device that will allow the transfer of ambient noise easily into the suit. I picture a device similar to a hearing aid, but with slightly louder speakers since it won't be in your ear. More or less, a simple application of microphones and speakers. 

Although, the one major issue that I don't see anyone finding a way around for fursuits is improving tactile sensation. Without making the material and fur thinner and decreasing the aesthetics of it, I simply don't see a way around that.


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## Fenneckfan14 (Mar 23, 2011)

There is a budding branch of science called haptics that could lead to tactile response. Here is a good article on the subject http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/pr/03/haptics42.html


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## Darkfoxx (Mar 23, 2011)

Fay V said:


> I'm working on a masterpiece with working computer parts for a cyborg suit. It'll be interesting to say the least.


 
Awesome. Gonna be Windows, MAC or Linux? 



Fay V said:


> I have seen some really neat tricks for moveable ears, but like the jaws it's not robotic or electronic. It's really just fishing wire attached to springs.



Yeah of course there's tricks to make stuff as simple and as cheap as you can. The most amazing functioning scale model I've seen to date was a completely articulate, working track digging machine on scale 1:87, (that's scale model train sized, about 2 to 3 inches high) that worked with fishing wire controlled by motors and pulleys under the 'ground'. More awesome then bigger models that have real (tiny) hydraulic pistons IMHO.


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## Fenneckfan14 (Mar 23, 2011)

I wonder, darkfoxx, do you dabble in RC Planes/Helli's?


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## Darkfoxx (Mar 23, 2011)

Fenneckfan14 said:


> I wonder, darkfoxx, do you dabble in RC Planes/Helli's?


 
I cant much call it flying yet, so I guess 'dabbling' is an accurate description of me trying to keep them in the air yes


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## roobait (Mar 24, 2011)

it's hard to predict where technology will take us.  light electronics like the stuff in rc planes and heli's will very likely be much more available and practical.


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