What Is Robot?
A Robot is a mechanical or virtual artificial agent, usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by a computer program.
Dr. Gerhard's lecture was my favourite! Professor was very excited about his lecture, what attracted all students' interest. Dr. Gerhard was talking about cool "evil" robots from movies and modern robots we have right now. The difference between them is huge. "Evil" robots have a common characteristic: they are intelligent, human looking, evil, they do not need control. Our robots are not intelligent, big, complicated, expensive, most of the time useless, need constant control from devices like remote, phone, etc.
CBSNews provides description and pictures of progressive robots we have in article "Rise of the machines". Click HERE to see more examples.
CBSNews provides description and pictures of progressive robots we have in article "Rise of the machines". Click HERE to see more examples.
DRONE
My most favourite example from the lecture was flying drone (I call it helicopter). Dr. Gerhard made that one himself, but you can also purchase it from Apple store or other stores. Drone is controlled by iOS device (iPhone, iPad) that most of us already have.
The artist used this example because it fits the definition of "our" robots that he provided. Drones are not intelligent, even though they do not need constant control. They can fly by themselves and even avoid barriers and obstacles. It is an example that visually demonstrates the core theme of machine, art and creation.
Dr. Gerhard also was talking about question "Who builds the robots?". The answer is - YOU do. We build robots and tell them to build another robots. But WE code the machine to make (or break) something. The drone is made by human. Dr. Gerhard built one and he has classes where he teaches you how to build similar machines. All you need is to get some chips and know how to code.
Dr. Gerhard also was talking about question "Who builds the robots?". The answer is - YOU do. We build robots and tell them to build another robots. But WE code the machine to make (or break) something. The drone is made by human. Dr. Gerhard built one and he has classes where he teaches you how to build similar machines. All you need is to get some chips and know how to code.
Unfortunately robots capable of manufacturing robots do not exist. That would be the philosopher's stone, the squaring of the circle.
- Jünger
"The Glass Bees"
These drones might be very useful for society. Police could use them for patrol or spying. The Chronicle Herald tells us that Nova Scotia RCMP is getting drones for crash scene investigation, traffic accident reconstruction, search and rescue, major crimes investigation and emergency response team call (source).
FedEx is researching drones for package delivery. It will take a while for the company to make their idea to come true. They already have some test drones but the current version is highly limited in its capabilities (source).
Looks like Amazon is also researching their drones for package delivery. The project is not out yet but they also have test drones. You can see Amazon examples below.
FedEx is researching drones for package delivery. It will take a while for the company to make their idea to come true. They already have some test drones but the current version is highly limited in its capabilities (source).
Looks like Amazon is also researching their drones for package delivery. The project is not out yet but they also have test drones. You can see Amazon examples below.
Robots and machine appear in our everyday life more and more. We use them without even noticing this. TVs, microwaves, printers, cellphones, cars - all these are machines that we use every day.
Can you imagine one day of your life without using them?
Can you imagine one day of your life without using them?
We live in a world full of robots where being a human is a strange thing to do
- Oltean
"Robopocalypse"
YouTube: Flying drone in use. How to use it
I see connection between this example and Performance and Sound Art lectures very well. Creative idea would be we would get trained wireless-pilots (people who know how to control drones from iOS devices) and make a drone show. A number of drones would have sound system installed to play different sounds each. They could also carry LED lights and change colours depends on their position in the air and sound that is played. It would look something like "Forty Part Motet" project but in the air and people would not walk to each speaker. Instead each drone would fly to each individual. It would be great performance as well.
The old way of looking at things was one of technological determinism. This perspective argued that it was the features of the technology that determined its use, and the role of a progressive society was to adapt to (and benefit from) technological change.
The new way of looking at technology is social determinism. This suggests that society is responsible for the development and deployment of particular technologies. The technocultures in which we participate reflect the choices of elites in our societies, the people who have most say in how we plan for the future and how we allocate our resources.
- Green
"Technoculture"