It would be easy enough for Google to do something like Heinlein's fictional "Howard Families". Just offer a large enough bounty for people from long-lived families to marry each other and have children.
I don't think this can work.
A typical shockwave travels at 1500 m/s. If a IED explodes two meters away from a vehicle, the vehicle will be hit in about 1 millisecond. The system would have to generate this plasma, aim, and shoot it in less than that time.
I would purchase a Steam Box if it ran Linux and could run Windows applications natively through Wine, without hassle. Otherwise, not worth it for streaming, IMO.