Blog #3: The Past, Present, and Future of Robotics and Art

Mainly beginning during the Industrial Revolution, society has incorporated much technology and robotic machines not only to help with production and transportation, but also to assist in many different aspects of our lives.  Cars turned from a simplistic vehicle with the sole purpose of getting from one location to the next, into what cars are today as not only transportation, but also as works of art.  The design of sports vehicles is initially drawn and molded before actually built, utilizing both the arts of design and the technology of robotics and engineering.

Transformation of the Batmobile

Machiko Kusahara proposed that the robots' purpose is to help people, while at the same time are designed to look friendly, since artificial life is supposed to be our friends.  The media, such as in movies, present robots as both friendly and evil characters.  Special effects in films combine art, engineering, and technology by creating realistic robotics, futuristic architecture, and more, as presented in movies such as Transformers, Wall-e, and Iron Man.  With the different depictions of robotics presented, people in society have mixed feelings about the future.  While some may enjoy the convenience of robots assisting in chores and everyday life, forming a dependence on not only robotics, but in technology in general, others not only mistrust technology, but may fear a future of another form of intelligent life designed complex enough to outsmart people.  Here are two TED talks regarding the interpretation of robotic future and robots that are capable of emotion:

Transformers

Wall-e

Iron Man

In Walter Benjamin's essay, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, our attention is called to his opinion on a crucial shift in the perception of works of art that took place with the coming of modernity.  He felt that because of the reproduction of art pieces through technology, the viewer of the reproduced works cannot fully appreciate the original.  In a sense, I believe that Benjamin's opinion is true, since one cannot fully appreciate a masterpiece based on a tiny thumbnail posted on the internet, although if there is only one masterpiece, how else would others be able to view it than going through means of technology?

Additional Relevant Links:

http://artbots.org/

http://frankfurtschool.wordpress.com/2008/02/28/summary-the-work-of-art-in-the-age-of-mechanical-reproduction/

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111120724.htm

http://www.uctv.tv/shows/Robotics-and-Art-in-the-Information-Age-with-Ken-Goldberg-Conversations-with-History-11174

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcqNmT63jN4

Works Cited:

Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.

David Hanson: Robots That "show Emotion" TED. N.p., Oct. 2009. Web. 19 Oct. 2013. <http://www.ted.com/talks/david_hanson_robots_that_relate_to_you.html>.

Professor Machiko Kusahara on Japanese Robotics. Victoria Vesna. YouTube. N.p., 14 Apr. 2012. Web. 18 Oct. 2013. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQZ_sy-mdEU>.

Rodney Brooks: Robots Will Invade Our Lives. TED. N.p., Sept. 2008. Web. 19 Oct. 2013. <http://www.ted.com/talks/david_hanson_robots_that_relate_to_you.html>.

Images:

Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013.
<http://hebus.org/files/Movies/Transformers%20wallpaper%201920x1080%20(2).jpg>.

Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013.
<http://i2.cdnds.net/13/17/618x412/movies-iron-man-3-tony-pepper.jpg>.

Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013.
<http://i.huffpost.com/gen/680466/thumbs/o-THE-BATMOBILE-CW-570.jpg?5>.

Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013.
<http://www.honorslounge.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/WallE.jpg>.