Robotic Technology in Society

Eng 111

5/13/14

Humans seem to have an innate wanting to give emotions to inanimate objects. Guy Hoffman, a software designer turned animator designs amazing robots that display human like movements and reactions. Alongside animation Hoffman studied acting and animatronics in order to have the best possible understanding of giving robots human like charistics to a robot. Watching some of his creations in motion were mesmerizing. The robots Hoffman creates literally react to human action. They mimic and interact with your movement. Watching the life like way in which they move is mesmerizing, they do very much so seem alive. The most awe inspiring creation that he displayed was a robot with six arms, that reacts to music being played by a separate individual. The robot in real time interprets the notes being played, predicts notes that will be played, and matches its music with octaves and notes that will complement that artist. As if a robot that could interpret and create music in sync with a human in real time was not enough, Hoffman crafted it a head that interacts with the player and the crowd. The amount the head adds to the performance is quite surprising to me, it adds a depth of emotion, it allows you to relate to the robot playing the music. A topic discussed within the lecture was case reviews of robots that were given either a “calculating brain” or an “Improvisational brain”. Time and time again human beings that interacted with each robot would feel a literal personal relationship to the robot that was programed with more human characteristics. At the same time the robot that was programmed with a “calculating brain” seemed cold and unappealing to the testers. It was quite interesting to me that amount of difference more natural fluid movement would imply human characteristics compared to something that is almost predictable and thought out. The main thought this lecture provoked in me, was the question...