36 posts
Created by artist Martin Backes, this installation of a lone “robot” singing 90s power ballads is almost hypnotizing in a quietly terrifying way. Fittingly created with SuperCollider, a freeware audio program that synthesizes audio using al
It’s traveled from one side of Canada to the other. It’s also traveled extensively all over Europe. Now it’s about to travel from Salem, Massachusetts to San Fransisco, California… Depending completely on the the kindness of strangers becau
A long time ago on the WeirdThings podcast, because we’re always ahead of the curve when it comes to hypotheticals about how new tech might be used in ridiculous scenarios, we pondered how someone might use smart-car tech to commit manslaug
Since the very idea of giant robots the thought of giant robots beating the paneling off of one another has also existed. Japanese movies, Rock’em Sock’em Robots, Voltron, Robot Jox, Shogun Warriors, Pacific Rim, Real Steel and a massive li
Hanson Robotics (no the “MmmBop” band hasn’t regrouped and out to destroy us with robots blaring their only memorable song as retribution) has been hard at work creating our future robot overlords in the form of…um…us. Recently on display a
In 2013 Boston Dynamics introduced its ATLAS robot to the public. It was a little creepy because the thing walked around sort of like a child learning to walk around… Like this… The only thing making us all feel relatively safe from the nar
What was supposed to be a hopeful three month mission has quietly stretched into an unbelievable journey. Opportunity bounced onto Mars back in 2004. During that time the little rover has traveled twenty six miles and transmitted a lot of d
Robots. We just can’t stop building them even though countless movies tell us where it’s all headed. Not only can we not stop trying to emulate ourselves mechanically, a small portion of the robotics community can’t stop trying to emulate c
Created as a joint effort between SoftBank and French robotics company Aldebaran, Pepper a preciously adorable robot, was unveiled recently in stores throughout Tokyo. The humans behind Pepper are hoping that everyone will want him to join
Over a weekend at Fort Benning, human inventors of automated robotic war machines showed off the devices that Skynet will probably use against us when it goes live. Sorry ’bout your first rule, Asimov. [Computer World]
Just when you think we’ve come to terms with robots and their place amongst us, they do something else that ruins all those happy-go-lucky feelings we had with them for just a brief moment. E-David, a robotic arm developed by the University
A small robotics company called Robugtix is about to give everyone something special whether they want it or not…arachnophobia. One of the company’s newest bots is named, simply and innocently, the T8. All of that simpleness and innocence e
Musicians are usually willing to jam with anyone that has some ability at playing an instrument. As we begin walking hand-in-hand with our quickly-becoming-commonplace robotic friends, it only seems natural that musicians and robots would s
Anyone who’s been following the evolution of Boston Dynamics has been creeped out at one point by their BigDog robot. BigDog is a quadraped robot that has learned a lot of tricks since it was a terrifying little puppy of a machine. It balan
Russia is a unique place. They drive a little differently there, meteors land there and now they’ve decided to tackle robotics…in the form a creepy walking robot disguised as a cute (but threateningly non-cute and blankly-staring) ostrich-w
We’re always making references to the ‘Robot Apocalypse’ or about all of us being enslaved by ‘our future overlords’ when it comes to our slowly evolving erector set-like counterparts. While 30 and 40-somethings stand around and make jokes,
In our article about the other new toddler robot called Roboy we mentioned Diego-san. Here’s your first look into the robotic wagon-train that’s leaving Uncanny Valley slowly but surely. When John Connor shows up and SkyNet goes live it won
Across the globe from the uncanny valley that is Diego-san’s facial expressions, the University of Zurich’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory making another weird foray into the creation of a robot toddler. Roboy is being developing with t
When the Hall of Presidents attraction opened in Disneyland decades ago, the animatronics featured in it floored guests with their life-like movements. Disney became known for its animatronics in other attractions like Pirates of the Caribb
Remember that weird and completely creepy mule-like, self-stablizing robot that’s been swimming around the internet for a while now called the BigDog from Boston Dynamics? Well BigDog just got out-weirded and out-creeped by DARPA’s newest s
Because there’s not enough tension already in North and South Korea, a company has now developed what’s being hailed as a ‘super gun’ to help keep an eyeball on the demilitarized zone between the Hatfield/McCoy-style rivalry amongst the two
Because some people just can’t get the job done while locked in a room by themselves with some fun magazines or just some mental photography, some genius in China has developed something to help those people out… The lonely Chinese scientis
Robotics design is continually making all those creepy robot-takeover concepts part of our future reality. Check this thing out. It’s a ‘robot’ that imitates the actions of a worm but has the uncanny creepy factor of a maggot when you conti
Prepare for a new level of weird, people. A while back we reported on a kind of pillow ‘roboty’ thing that would cuddle with you and that your siginificant other could be channeled through. Creepy and a little awkward, right? That’s like a
For the most part, the current generation of robots are about as mobile as a piece of gym equipment. Depending on who you talk to, that could be a good thing. It means that our future overlords, unless they begin linking up with the drones
Jogging just got potentially exciting. Meet the Joggobot, a small quadcopter drone, from Exertion Labs. Running around town with your own drone is kinda nerdy…running around town with about four or five of these hovering around you? Badass.
News about this Rock Paper Scissors-playing robotic hand has been buzzing because people seem to think it’s novel and cute. Mocking the slow reflexes of humankind is not novel and not cute. This is more like a total dig and a little kid say
You’ve had a long life. It’s time to check out. It’s a peaceful time and you know it’s about to come to a quiet conclusion. Everything’s cool and right. You hear a calming voice, “Don’t be afraid. I am here to comfort you.” You sigh. “I am
Necessity is the mother of invention. For blind California resident Steve Mahan, he absolutely needed to get a taco. But how to get there? He could walk, call a cab or get picked up from a friend. He relied on a trusty friend from Mountain
Robot Ostrich. Yes. [Improbable Research]
If you thought that we’d never create a feedback loop with yeast that could help us control it’s organic nature using a computer, you are dead wrong. This work, performed by scientists at the Automatic Control Laboratory at the Swiss Federa
Surgery robot Da Vinci shows off exactly how precise it is by peeling a grape. Like a show off. [Da Vinci Surgery]
Enough said. [Geekologie]
Robots deserve to legally drive in Nevada. Google is fighting for their rights. Will the Silver State agree? Or perpetrate yet another act of human bigotry upon our silicon brothers? The search giant is currently lobbying Nevada to make sel
We really need to stop teaching robots how to fight us. Side note: it has a “berserk” mode. [Geekologie]
The amazing music video for Alex Metric & Steve Angelo’s new tune Open Your Eyes finds us visiting a man who looks not unlike a young Rocky Balboa working over bums in the Philly underground boxing scene. However, instead of Apollo Creed lo