Muse’s Hysteria played by Mechbase: a MIDI controlled robotic bass player designed and built by New Zealand engineering student James McVay who sez it:
“consists of four string units on an aluminum frame with sliding pitch shifters that alter the pitch of the strings, which are then struck by rotating pick wheels.”
Made for the Youtube WIGS channel, the unassuming, charming Gumdrop – directed by Kerry Conran (he of Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow) – features a robot actress who reveals details of her early life in the course of an audition.
Marquese Nonstop Scott and talented fellow members of the Dragonhouse dance crew get their collective slomo and robot on to the sound of Grammatik’s Illusion of Choice.
Previously: Nonstop Jackson
Directed by Joe Marshall and Yibi Hu at M-I-E animation in London, who sez:
Lamenting the demise of the audio cassette, we at M-I-E, thought it would be nice to try and find a fitting tribute to its faded glory. ‘Jammed’ is the story of a bold, heroic, Viewmaster robot, venturing into an unknown world to save an unknown soul.
An ever-so-fancy robotic steampunk gent created for the current solo art show of UK custom toy designer and artist Bruce ‘Doktor A.’ Whistlecraft.
A Postcard from New Yorkshire – New Works by Doktor A. (My Plastic Heart)
With its development of Cheetahbot still ongoing, DARPA sez:
In this video, the Pet-Proto, a predecessor to DARPA’s Atlas robot, is confronted with obstacles similar to those robots might face in the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC). To maneuver over and around the obstacles, the robot exercises capabilities including autonomous decision-making, dismounted mobility and dexterity.
Next stage: a robot that can navigate the same obstacles while simultaneously eating a kebab.
Hop! The Following Suitcase is robotic luggage that connects to your phone via Bluetooth and follows you around.
A microcontroller interprets these signals calculating the phone’s position regarding to the suitcase. The same microcontroller operates a caterpillar system based on compressed air, which follows the user at a constant distance. If the signal is lost the user is alerted by the vibration of the phone and suitcase locks itself. The bags can be programmed to follow one to another or are controlled jointly by the staff that handles the baggage at airports or stations.”
Hmm. Continue the research.
Warriors and scientists join forces to save the world from an embittered humanoid robot in a dystopian Amsterdam.
OK, there’s nothing about that description we didn’t like, but Tears of Steel is a niftily executed sci-fi short in its own right. With the exception of a few lapses into ham and cheese, the VFX and storyline are great.
Just as impressive however, is the fact that the whole production was created using open-source tech and crowd-funding:
All computer effects in the film were modelled and animated using Blender, a suite of open-source 3D content creation tools.Tears of Steel was produced according to open source values. The film was financed with crowdfunding from Blender users, and everything created for the film, including all graphics and the film itself, are free to use and distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution.
In short, a sci-fi that’s genuinely of the future.
