Week 3: Robotics and Art

Things that robots are very good at doing, like immediate computations, are things that are difficult for humans to do. However, things that are very easy for humans to do, like seeing a statue and recognizing it as a horse, are difficult to program a robot to do. Despite this difference, people often try to make robots that replicate natural objects. In an episode of The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon hosted three robots all made after natural things: a snake robot, a human robot, and a butterfly robot. Artist Ken Rinaldo built rule-driver spider robots that communicate with each other via Bluetooth to help each other find energy sources and other rewards. Hod Lipson built self-aware four-legged robots with a “brain” that had to learn about its’ shape and then teach itself to move forward. What is it about natural objects that we so badly want to replicate?
            If you think of robots in movies, many of them are humanoid or have some sort of social characteristic. Two of the most beloved robots in film are R2-D2 and C-3PO, the droids from the Star Wars films. C-3PO is always cautious and worried, while R2-D2 is daring and brave. We humans fall in love with the “personalities” of the droids, not their technical capabilities. Is our obsession with re-creating nature perhaps due to our human craving for social interaction? In Japan, robots are created to be friendly and welcoming, and shown as companions to humans, as described by Professor Kusahara in her guest lecture.
R2-D2 and C3PO seem to have a human-like connection and relatable personalities


            Throughout history, automation and industrialization have not only made our lives easier, but also helped to bring us closer together. The printing press, created by Gutenberg, helped to disperse written texts, giving more people knowledge and the ability to relate to people far away from them. Henry Ford developed an automated way of creating cars, allowing people to connect with others who were previously difficult to reach. Although Benjamin demonstrates his distaste for the reproduction of art as he states, “that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art” (Benjamin 1), I argue that the reproduction of art allows more people to share commonalities between us through mutual enjoyment of a particular piece, whether they are in Los Angeles, Paris, Istanbul, or Beijing.  
Ford Assembly Line
Works Cited
Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Reading Images, 2001, pp. 62–75., doi:10.1007/978-1-137-08886-4_7. 
“Building ‘Self Aware’ Robots.” Performance by Hod Lipson, TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, Mar. 2007, www.ted.com/talks/hod_lipson_builds_self_aware_robots. 
“Ford Assembly Line .” Ford, corporate.ford.com/innovation/100-years-moving-assembly-line.html. 
Glen, Joshua. “R2-D2 And C3PO on Tatooine.” HiLoBrow, 14 July 2010, hilobrow.com/2010/07/14/star-wars-semiotics/. 
Rinaldo, Ken. “Autotelematic Spider Bots.” Ken Rinaldo, www.kenrinaldo.com/portfolio/autotelematic-spider-bots/. 
“Tonight Showbotics: Jimmy Meets Sophia the Human-Like Robot.” Performance by Jimmy Fallon, YouTube, 25 Apr. 2017, youtu.be/Bg_tJvCA8zw. 
Vesna, Victoria, director. Robotics MachikoKusahara 1. YouTube, 14 Apr. 2012, youtu.be/xQZ_sy-mdEU. 
Vesna, Victoria, director. Robotics pt3. YouTube, 16 Apr. 2012, youtu.be/wkP7oSZVkbg. 
Vespa, Victoria. Robotics Pt1. YouTube, 15 Apr. 2012, youtu.be/cRw9_v6w0ew.

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 23, 2018 at 12:39 PM

    I like how you connected the emotions associated to a root with the emotions of a consumer/audience. I agree that personifying robots really attracts people because we are meant to be social and relational! Automated processes by themselves don't really cut to the heart of a person. I can see that part of the applied art within robotics is incorporating a persona to an automated being too.

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