text: Computers may soon be able to transmit the complexities of human personalities, the Stanford professor who originally set up Google's X laboratory has claimed. Sebastian Thrun, who founded the Google X laboratory where the Internet search giant has developed Google Glass and driverless cars, said it was often difficult to grasp concepts before they come to fruition. But he said that, much like data is now routinely transmitted via computers, the same may soon be true for full personalities. Scroll down for video . Sebastian Thrun (R), the founder of the Google X research library, looks on as virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier speaks at a symposium at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California on April 2, 2015 . 'Perhaps we can get to the point where we can outsource our own personal experiences entirely into a computer - and possibly our own personality. 'Maybe we're going to have a demo at some point where the computer runs 'Sebastian,'' he told a symposium Thursday evening at Stanford University. 'It's maybe unimaginable but it's not as far off as people think. It's very doable,' said the German-born computer scientist, who remains a fellow at Google. 'I do believe that in all these technologies we have just scratched the surface. 'Almost everything interesting hasn't been invented yet,' he said. Other upcoming inventions predicted by Thrun include flying cars, computers that are implantable into the human body, and medical treatments that will drastically curb unnatural deaths. Thrun was speaking as part of events to mark the premiere of 'The Demo,' an experimental opera about the 1968 data transmission test by scientist Doug Engelbart that helped pave the way for the creation of the Internet. But Jaron Lanier, a virtual reality pioneer known for his books on the philosophy of computers, doubted that scientists could ascertain how to share personalities. 'You are a moving target, and the way you change yourself in response to the presence of that technology would undo any ability to measure whether it has succeeded,' he said. The California giant's patent says that one day a robot personality could replicate the robot's owner, 'a deceased loved one,' or 'a celebrity.' Above it Atlas, which according to Google-owned Boston Dynamics, is a 'high mobility, humanoid robot designed to negotiate outdoor, rough terrain. According to Google owned Boston Dynamics, Atlas is a 'high mobility, humanoid robot designed to negotiate outdoor, rough terrain. 'Atlas can walk bipedally leaving the upper limbs free to lift, carry, and manipulate the environment. 'In extremely challenging terrain, Atlas is strong and coordinated enough to climb using hands and feet, to pick its way through congested spaces.' Lanier warned that Silicon Valley puts too much faith in technology's progress. 'I think we are going to have a real struggle to define ourselves in a humane and sweet way as we go through a lot of changes,' he said. He warned that technological innovations risked worsening inequality, saying: 'I don't think the interests of entrepreneurs and everyone else are always aligned.' He gave the example of Egypt, saying that Silicon Valley was too congratulatory about the role of social media in the 2011 revolution that brought down strongman Hosni Mubarak. 'When it starts to go wrong, we don't take responsibility for that. 'There is a way in which we are being a little selective in tallying our victories,' he said. Google has already developed a system to allow robots to download new personalities online. The system would allow machines to download them in a similar way to an app - and even have a different personality for each user. The patent says that the personality could replicate the robot's owner, 'a deceased loved one,' or 'a celebrity,' Google's patent details a cloud-based system where a personality could be downloaded to a robot, in the same way one might download an app. 'The robot personality may also be modifiable within a base personality construct (i.e., a default-persona) to provide states or moods representing transitory conditions of happiness, fear, surprise, perplexion (e.g., the Woody Allen robot), thoughtfulness, derision (e.g., the Rodney Dangerfield robot), and so forth,' states the patent. Friends will even be able to clone their robots and swap aspects of its personality. 'The personality and state may be shared with other robots so as to clone this robot within another device or devices. 'In this manner, a user may travel to another city, and download within a robot in that city (another 'skin') the personality and state matching the user's 'home location' robot. 'The robot personality thereby becomes transportable or transferable.' The firm also explains 'This disclosure relates to a robot imbued with a personality, or personalities. Google's patent drawings reveal the system can share personalities and download them . 'In particular, but without limitation, the disclosure provides for a robot that operates with personality attributes and related capabilities drawn from cloud computing capacities. 'Personality may be thought of as personification in the sense of human characteristics or qualities attributed to a non-human thing. 'A robot can be programmed to provide a desired look as well as interactability for the robot, which may be subject to change by the user or by the robot itself, such that the robot interface is customized to provide a desired personality for the robot.' Google already owns several firms developing robotic technology, including Atlas, 6.2 feet of metal with a plastic body that can walk, run, jump and even open doors. This is latest version of the Atlas robot created by Boston Dynamics, a Google-owned robot firm. Later this year, seven of the robots will compete in a 'robo oylmpics' - designed to recreate natural disasters the robots could one day be sent into. The upgraded Atlas is 75 percent new—only the lower legs and feet were carried over from the original design . The 'crane' stance, being held by Karate Kid Daniel LaRusso (played by Ralph Maccio left) in the 1984 film inspired the latest movements of the Atlas robot. It demonstrates strong balancing skills and composure and showcases the agility of the Google-owned machine, said the firm .
target: Google has already patented system to swap robot personalities .
  Sebastian Thrun says system to swap personalities is 'doable'