(TrendHunter.com) The one-armed wonder named El-E (pronounced “Ellieâ€) because in operation it reminds you of an elephant’s trunk, can retrieve objects that have been pointed to with a laser pointer. Developed at the department of biomedical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, El-E’s skill can…
(TrendHunter.com) The Robot Games 2008 will get underway in June, geeks. The list of competitions include, autonomous auto, sumo, beam, bot hockey, combat, robot soccer, humanoid challenges, humanoid competitions, tetsujin, and art bot, micromouse maze and more. They also have a “Best of Show” category which can be …
(TrendHunter.com) The European Union is developing and funding a project, the Symbrion program, to develop a prototype team of shape-changing, self-organising mini robots that work as a team. These robots will be used in places such as disasters, like earthquakes, sent into collapsed buildings to search or lift rubbl…
(TrendHunter.com) This is my kind of robot, not something that will take over our civilization and kill humans, just a robot to serve me and say cool catchphrases (such as “Bob is your uncle!”) when it gets the job done. El-E is is not designed to behave like a human; rather, its aim and focus is interacting with us …
(TrendHunter.com) This is a modular snake robot from Biorobotics Lab, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. The robot wiggles around, twists, turns, climbs walls and flight of stairs, swims and does a host of other things that other conventional legged or wheeled robots cannot do.
What I am not sure about i…
(TrendHunter.com) Get Banksy one of those! “Couleur sur l’Objet†by Stefan Rechsteiner brings high tech and robotics to street art. “Couleur sur l’Objet†is basically a wall climbing robotic printer, based on the principle of the vortex-robots that are able to climb walls with the help of suction. It featu…
(TrendHunter.com) Although the actual boat, known as “Steam Rowboat II”, is still in the development phase, the proof-of-concept mechanism (AKA Steam Rowboat I) seems to work very well! Artist/inventor I-Wei Huang has also built many other steam powered devices, which are described on his website Crabfu.com. Unfortun…
(TrendHunter.com) Imagine never having to stick your hand in a toilet bowl again, never having to scrape crusted on food off a pan or never having to scrub at scuff marks on the floor. In the future, you could have a robot that does all the messy work for you thanks to a new customized, Virtual Butler.
Even simpler…
(TrendHunter.com) Clinical psychologists Jaap Hollander and Jeffrey Wijnberg from Holland have created the MindMentor the first fully-functional on-line psychologist that will be help people with their emotional problems. Admitting you need help and then going through the process of getting it is usually a big step f…
(TrendHunter.com) Finally, something to do with that old cell phone when it has outlived it’s original purpose!
Introducing – the TeMo (short for “Telerobotics over Mobile packet data services”), a robot made of Legos, a few microchips, some motors, and a cell phone. Software Engineer and self-professed “techie” Ja…
(TrendHunter.com) A new robot named Endurance – an acronym for Environmentally Non-Disturbing Under-ice Robotic ANtarctic Explorer – spent last week probing the depths of Lake Mendota, near Madison, Wisconsin. The University of Illinois at Chicago team that developed the robot traveled to the icy lake to test the rob…
(TrendHunter.com) The new Toshiba Softbank 815T PB is a robot/cellphone hybrid made for a Japanese TV show called Ketai Sousakan 7 that transforms into a robot and back to a cell phone just like the robots in the Transformer movie. If you look at the pictures of the gadgets, you will see partially articulated robot-l…
(TrendHunter.com) It seems the fascination with animal heads on the walls isn’t letting up. These robotic animal head wall mounts make this our eighth fake taxidermy feature. We’ve seen classy antler chandeliers, and we’ve seen very tacky joke pieces. These are by far the most interaction of the bunch.
Motion sensor…
France Cadet had showed us slides of the Hunting Trophies she was working on during the presentation she gave at De l’objet de laboratoire au sujet social (From Laboratory Object to Social Subject), a week of lectures, screenings and workshops she organized at the Ecole d’Art d’Aix en Provence (France.) That was last November and i’ve been looking forward to see the final result of the work ever since. That day has come, yeah!
Panthera Leo (Lion)
Hunting Trophies is a collection of 11 hunting trophies hung on the wall. They feature the most frequent species used in taxidermy for the realization of wall trophies, mainly deer and cat family. Instead of being real taxidermied animals they are chests of modified I-Cybie robots.
An infrared sensor allows the robots, each in its own way, to detect the presence but also the movements of visitors.
Wall of trophies
As you approach, the robots turn their heads in your direction, their eyes light up, come too close and the robot suddenly growls. The closer you get, the more aggressive its behaviour.
If you walk fast facing the wall of trophies, a chain reaction will emerge such as a wave of protestation following your walk and manifesting their anger at having been tracked, chased, killed, cut up and exhibited as decorative icons.
Phacochoerus Africanus (African Warthog)
After raising the side effects and dangers of cloning, eugenics, and other animal experiments in Dog[LAB]01 and Dog[LAB]02, France Cadet chose to focus on a problem which concerns each of us as, this time, we cannot pretend that scientists and directors of laboratories or factories are the sole responsible for it: the unequal consideration given to animals and humans and even between different animals species. Nobody would want to eat their pet, but most don’t really care about the fact that some animals are bred for the sole purpose of making food or clothes, that others are hunt for sport, or are the subject of experiments to create unnecessary, yet safe products.
Just how far can we justify human power of life and death over animals?
Rhinoceros Unicornis (Asian Rhinoceros)
The idea of the Animal-Machine has long been overtaken by the idea of a pain-feeling animal. Peter Singer argues that because animals have the ability to experience pain and suffering, they should be granted the same moral considerations as any other sentient being.
Besides, these trophies raise new issues about the robots’ quality, function and integration into society: Are they different robots species? Rare species facing extinction? Are they the testimony of a future world where androids would be facing extinction? Or where they would have supplanted real animals such as in Philip K.Dick’s vision? Will we need a Susan Calvin, the robopsychologist of Asimov’s novels?
After all, there are already an AIBO clinic and a AIBO hospital.
In his wonderful book, Les Machines apprivoisées (Tamed Machines), Frédéric Kaplan invites us to reflect upon the place that these creatures could have one day in our society. And beyond that, will we one day be able/allowed to kill robots? With more impunity than animals? Which ones have and will have more value? More respect? More rights?
All images courtesy of France Cadet.
Cervus Elaphus Barbarus (North Africa Deer)
(TrendHunter.com) Currently, robots are controlled using a joystick or other traditional input device. However, a novel system developed by Tokyo University engineer Tsuyoshi Horo, allows operators to issue commands to robots using simple hand and body gestures. And it is not limited for controling robots; Horo has …
(TrendHunter.com) Science fiction fans have been forever awaiting tasty treats prepared by tireless automatons. Finally, the technology is here. A robot chef, created by Toyo Riki of Japan, cooked octopus balls autonomously at the Osaka Museum of creative industries.
(TrendHunter.com) Wang Wei, founder and proprietor of Beijing BUBBY Robot Technologies CO., LTD. has created the Breast Massage Robot. A robot that is “capable to give physical massage to human breast the way professional massagers do.” He claims it is capable of automatically adjusting itself to fit various breast s…
(TrendHunter.com) For the many Star Wars fans out there, the highly anticipated R2-D2 video projector is coming soon to a galaxy near you. The reproduction will be a limited edition with only 4000 units being made. The droid will be able to read DVD, and will also be iPOd compatible and users will be able to connect …
(TrendHunter.com) Spiders normally give me the heebie-jeebies, but this machine is pretty impressive. It helps that it doesn’t actually look too much like a real spider. It just has eight legs that move like spider legs. Powered by a 454 cubic inch Chevy V-8, the Beast is 11 feet tall, 23 feet long, and over 8 f…
(TrendHunter.com) Too lazy to get up and make that cup of joe? Apparently some Italians were so fed up with the brewing process, they set their sites on creating a barista robot that does it for them.
At first glance, Justine looks like a compilation of Red Bull cans, but the coffee making robot by the DEXMART proj…
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