Automata May Judge Us Once Autonomous

Box of Men is a piece by artist Ken Feingold using animated ventriloquist dolls. The automaton is funny, creepy, and thought-provoking all at once.

From the Ace Gallery Web Site:
Box of Men is a work for display on a large flat-panel screen. The piece
is not pre-recorded. The dialogue is synthesized speech generated in real
time by a computer program that assigns a "character" to each of the
puppets. Their conversation goes on infinitely, as long as the program is
running. The narrative circles around an "unknown" crime. Those accused are anonymous. Those who judge are puppets, controlled by unseen forces, and assuming an uncanny life of their own.

Here is a link to the page featuring Box of Men, complete with transcript of their conversation.

Pleo, The Automomous Animatronic Dinosaur

Pleo is a animatronic baby dinosaur. Pleo is programmed with sets of complex behavior routines that are triggered in responds to different stimuli. This give each Pleo something of a unique personality.

Pleo has a impressive sensory system. The robot's sensor array is made up of a color camera, two sound sensors, two infrared sensors, 14 servos, 106 gears, eight touch sensors, an orientation sensor, and four foot switch sensors.

The animatronic dinosaur is responsive to light, sound, and touch making more autonomous and interactive than most robotic toys on the market.

The creator is a famed inventor Caleb Chung, who insisted that Pleo's bio-mechanical skeleton and servos deliver natural movement. Watch this video clip and I think you will agree he has succeeded.

Pleo is the Winner of the prestigious Nuremberg Toy Innovations Award.

Check out Pleo - The First Animatronic Dinosaur.