Gestures are a very effective way for robots to communicate, since they don’t require speech and generally translate well across different cultures. Gestures also serve to emphasize emotion (in both humans and robots), and that’s what this cell phone with servo arms and legs uses them for. The robot is named Callo, and it’s able to translate text message emoticons into both facial expressions (on its LCD) and movement. Callo’s creators, Ji-Dong Yim and Chris Shaw from Simon Fraser University’s School of Interactive Arts and Technology, envision Callo being able to do things like physically emote for you in a video chat, sort of like the MeBot robot we took a look at back in March.

Of course, having bulky servo arms and legs probably isn’t the most practical thing for a cell phone, but the researchers are hoping to extend the concept to other personal electronics, like GPS systems, to a point where the devices can “interactively communicate with people and build long-term intimacy with them.” Sounds great, but I can just imagine my GPS screenpalming itself when I miss two turns in a row and then walking off my dashboard and jumping out the window after I ask it how to get from Berkeley to San Francisco without paying tolls.

[ IAT ] VIA [ Physorg ]

You might not think of the internet smiley emoticon as something that some guy just invented, but that’s exactly what happened. Scott E. Fahlman, a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon, came up with it on September 19, 1982. Three years ago, he established the Smiley Award, and this year, Keepon won with this:

(o.o)
( )

Which you can abbreviate to:

(o.o)

I have no idea what emotion (o.o) is supposed to convey, and actually, the award is for Keepon itself, not the appropriateness of the emoticon. But who cares, it’s cute.

[ BeatBots ]

4:08- “Noooo! I don’t wanna be a robot!”

I hear ya, kid. Right now, I don’t wanna be a robot either.

This is a remixed version of an actual show called “Colby’s Clubhouse” that ran for 42 episodes in the 90s on Trinity Broadcasting Network.

VIA [ io9 ]

While this is probably meant as more of a general expression of sentiment, the way I choose to interpret this shirt is the implied “…And Robots Are Awesome” that belongs on the back. If you like that sort of idea make sure to check out a couple other of ThinkGeek’s shirts, including ‘I Failed The Turing Test‘ and ‘Vitruvian Voltron.’

[ ThinkGeek ]

“What better use for automatic home appliances than to have them chase each other in classic video game style? “

Pacmba may have been a Roomba that looked like Pac-Man, but for all intents and purposes, these iRobot Create robots are the game of Pac-Man. There’s Inky, and Blinky and Pinky and Clyde, and a bunch of little white dots to suck up… The ghosts behave just like they do in the real game, and Pac-Man can send them packing after eating a power pellet.

The hardware and software behind this game is actually pretty impressive. The designers of the system are from the Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles (or RECUV), and Pac-Man was just something they whipped up to showcase their Unmanned Aerial System software suite. This begs the obvious question of when we’re going to see a real life version of Pac-Man in three dimensions, with flying Roombas chasing each other through a matrix of interconnected horizontal and vertical passages. And for that matter, when are we going to see flying Roombas at all? The tops of my bookshelves are dusty.

But I digress.

The research coming out of RECUV looks pretty interesting, with projects investigating how to do things like efficiently control a swarm of different UAVs, each with different objectives. Personally, I always like to see people who work on robots taking their free time and working on robots even more, just because robots are incredibly awesome. Especially when they’re Pac-Man. Waka waka waka.

[ Roomba Pac-Man ] VIA [ Engadget ]

I wouldn’t put it past Data to do a little bit of experimenting, but C-3PO? That’s shocking. I am officially scandalized. And so is R2-D2, who’s probably going to come after Data with that silly little tazer of his. This shirt was designed by Joanna Mulder, and you can pick it up for $20 on her Etsy page, if you hurry.

VIA [ io9 ]

If I don’t write about robot movies as much as I could here on BotJunkie, it’s because we tend to focus on robots that either are real, or have at least some realistic potential. This is why we covered Wall-E (there are real ones!) but not Astro Boy, and why I’m especially interested in a new movie script that DreamWorks just picked up by robotics expert and our second favorite Keepon snuggler, Daniel Wilson. Called ‘Robopocalypse,’ the movie (based on a book that’s coming out in 2011) “explores the fate of the human race following a robot uprising.”

“Daniel H. Wilson’s cautionary tale of man vs. machine grabbed us from the very beginning,” said DreamWorks co-president of production Mark Sourian. “Wilson’s background in robotics and artificial intelligence grounds his story with a frightening level of realism.”

And that last bit, of course, is what makes this movie so appealing: hopefully, it’s going to be well reasoned and realistic with a solid foundation in robotics, and it’ll remind us all why we should be terrified of our Roombas.

[ Daniel H. Wilson ] VIA [ Variety ] and [ io9 ]

This is some test footage of a Bad Robot, called Bad Robot, from Bad Robot (the short film). It was directed by Ruairi Robinson, who’s also working on Akira, and is currently in post-prodution. Nobody seems to be sure whether Bad Robot is a sci-fi comedy or sci-fi horror, but I do know one thing: Bad Robot is Evil. How can I tell it’s evil? Two things: the smile accompanied by the beady red eyes, and the fact that it’s dancing to Shirley Temple, who as you can plainly see, heralds directly from the dark side:

See? It’s not the unnatural cuteness or the song about animal abuse that scares me… It’s the fact that she takes a spoon with her at the end. A spoon. The horror, the horror!

Oh, and there’s also this poster:

“Soon every home will have a robot helper. Don’t worry, your kids are perfectly safe.”

Now do you believe me? Look for this in 2010.

VIA [ io9 ]

Lonely Robot Dirty Mind, $18 at Threadless

Two more, after the jump. (Read more…)

So, um, is this Japan’s economic stimulus plan? Lots of giant robot statues? If so, awesome. And since this is giant robot number 2, it must be working! This, of course, is Gigantor. You know, the original Iron Man?

Hells yeah! But anyway, back to the statue. It’s a life size version of the famous robot, which isn’t quite as big as a Gundam, but it’s still not something you’d want to piss off:

Gigantor measures in at 18 meters tall, and 50 ton robot statue will be officially unveiled October 4th.

[ Project Website ] VIA [ Sci Fi Wire ]
[ Mike White ] VIA [ Suicide Bots ]