And in video linkage today...

[telophase]

"Smoke on the Water" ... traditional Japanese style.

And a funky, uncanny four-legged robot.



That fell straight into the Uncanny Valley for me at first, but shortly through it, I was disturbed when the guy kicked it to show off its balance, and when it started slipping on the ice, my immediate impulse was to rush over and see if it was OK. XD

And THEN I decided that lots of old faerie sightings must be of time travelling research robots. Makes sense - you send back robots instead of humans, and you don't send them back as much as the Enlightenment starts and average people start to recognize machinery when they see it, and then you stop sending them back, except in extreme cases, when the Industrial Revolution hits and everyone knows a machine right off.

Because THAT thing RIGHT THERE is an Obby Oss.

Comments

[longshot14.livejournal.com]

That was AMAZING.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Which one? XD

ETA: Just saw your post. XD

[helen-keeble.livejournal.com]

The normal walk cycle is pretty standard, but I was blown away by the way it recovered from the kick. That was the point where it went from "neat robot" to "OMG it's alive!" for me. *grin* (though as a control systems engineer I should really know better) I think it was the staggery way it moved - reminded me of a newborn colt trying to figure out how to walk.

I was momentarily disturbed at the point where it's going downhill, so has reversed the directions of its lowest joints. Looked like a broken-legged dog. Freaky!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

There's something just a wee bit wrong for me about it - it may be that it's because it's moving like a normal animal, yet clearly isn't. Well, a normal animal if you define normal animal as "tap-dancing deer".

[helen-keeble.livejournal.com]

Possibly it's the lack of a head? (it looks to me like its designed to move freely in any direction; those joints seem very mobile)

I'm amused by the noise it makes. I assume it must be quite deafeningly loud!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

That, and that the legs are identical, so you can't really work out which end should be the head and which end the tail. Obviously, the point is that either end takes over the "head" or "rear" function as necessary, but it's not really something you see in a large terrestrial animal, so ends up alien.

[tygerr.livejournal.com]

I've seen research suggesting that "creepy" lives in a place that corresponds to "almost entirely okay...but not quite".

[dragovianknight.livejournal.com]

What an awesome robot! Except it's really noisy. But aside from the sound, it triggered my "aww, cute!" reaction...which undoubtedly says something about me.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Have you watched any Nodame Cantabile?

I had the same reactions you did to the dog robot. Dude, you're so mean to kick the dog just to show off its balance! Ouchie, did the doggie hurt himself on the ice? Except, my *first* reaction was, wow, someone has been reading Qwan, except where are the wings?!

This is another cool robot video, but it is not for those with phobias about snakes or caterpillars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T62E-_pQt3c

[(Anonymous)]

I must shamefacedly admit that I felt a surge of anger when the guy kicked it. (Bullying enrages me.) And when it was struggling up the hill in the snow, I felt I wanted somebody to help it, too.

Of course, the robot itself felt no pain or sadness as a result of these "cruelties". The machine has no more self-awareness than a refrigerator or a golf cart. But it looks alive, and that triggers the sympathy response. I'm a mushy bag of potatoes, I guess.

It's important to note that cruelty to animals is not a sin because of the damage it does to the animal. Cruelty is a sin because of the damage it does to the human being who is being cruel. It is an act born from an evil impulse in the human heart, and, if allowed, will turn the heart hard and reduce the human person to something like a devil. Extending this logic, a person who is deliberately "cruel" to a machine is not hurting the machine — he is hurting himself.

[longshot14.livejournal.com]

Awww - he wasn't being cruel to be cruel. He was demonstrating the robot's capabilities.

Google "john wayne swimming lesson" if you need to justify the behavior while still empathizing with the circuitry :)

[chomiji]

WOW!

It really was amazingly critter-like. (And with funding from good old DARPA - parent of the Intarwebs - looks like they're still in the forefront of things.)