Remember the flipping stickman robot from about a couple months ago? Well it evolved pretty quick. This thing is in full humanoid robot mode now, & ready for whatever. This video blew me away. I can't wait to see what these things will be used for. Obviously shows are the first thought. These things have awesome superhero written all over them. I mean, the one in the end basically IS Iron Man. I started drifting off & speculating other uses immediately though. Like what if these are used in-ride even? As moving animatronics? That would be friggin awesome! The main thing on my mind when I see this amazing achievement however is, I hope they don't use these to cut costs. The worst thing they could do is use these in place of an actor, as opposed to using them just to fill in where actors can't. Being somewhat expendable, I only want to see these achieve the impossible. Bring em on though. This is the next level of animatronic. I've seen them become as real as we can possibly make them look. Even cartoons now, with digital projection mapping. The is the next step, years in the making. Audio-animatronics can not only move now, they can be more acrobatic than myself. What do y'all think of this amazing development in robotics? Awesome, or one more reason to fear the emergance of A.I.? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Soft Robots Coming to Disney Parks?
Remember that episode of The Simpsons where the family gets to go to Itchy & Scratchy Land? If you don't it all ends up with the robots going rogue & attacking everyone in the park. If that sounds awesome you're in luck. Chip & Company has brought up a patent application Disney filed Thursday. It's contents? "Designing a robot that will move & physically interact like an animated character." With a picture that resembles Big Hero 6's Baymax, the patent also states the soft-bodied robots would be "designed for reducing collision impacts during human interaction." Obviously safety first, as the last thing we want is an incident even a fraction of the aforementioned Simpsons incident. Disney refused to comment on the patent or the robots. I find myself at a crossroads on this one. I've always somewhat envied the people who get to dress as my favorite cartoons & entertain the masses. On the same note though, I've had to agree with my daughters on the fact that none of our costumed friends talk. I'm also sure that you don't have to pay the robots is another plus for the house of mouse as well. Okay that said, I've gotta say, this does excite me. I'm for anything that further distorts reality & expands the magic. If that means I can have the same interaction with the cartoons that I do with the Princesses & Princes, bring it on! What do you think? Progress or not? Let us know in the comments.
