Should you wish to virtually transfer a kiss to someone over the internet, Singapore-based research study Lovotics (Love + Robotics) may hold the answer. The Kissenger: Kiss Messenger is a set of googly-eyed robotic pigs (or are they rabbits?) that can long-distance emulate and deliver a kiss. One person kisses the robot animal, where it molds its animal lips around that person’s lips, and then the kiss information is sent to the kiss recipient. The recipient then takes their own robot animal and receives the virtual kiss.

Artificial intelligence researcher Hooman Samani is behind the Lovotics study and has also developed the Mini-Surrogate, “small cute, believable and acceptable surrogates of humans for telecommunication.”

Kissenger enables three modes of interaction:

1. Human to Human tele-kiss through the device: bridges the physical gap between two intimately connected individuals. Kissenger plays the mediating role in the kiss interaction by imitating and recreating the lip movement of both users in real time using two digitally connected artificial lips.

2. Human to Robot kiss: enabling an intimate relationship with a robot, such technology provides a new facility for closer and more realistic interactions between humans and robots. In this scenario, one set of artificial lips is integrated in a humanoid robot.

3. Human to Virtual character physical/virtual kiss: provides a link between the virtual and real worlds. Here, humans can kiss virtual characters while playing games and receive physical kisses from their favorite virtual characters. Further, Kissenger can be integrated into modern communication devices to facilitate the interactive communication between natural and technologically mediated environments and enhance human tele-presence.

via Geekologie and CBCnews

These nano quadrotor robots can fly in sophisticated formations, though given their angry bee-like buzz, “swarms” is really a better term. The quadrotors were developed by KMel Robotics, and the flying formation experiments are by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s GRASP Lab.

via Rob Sheridan

photo via KMel Robotics

“The Originals Factory” is an art robot that creates landscape paintings in the style of the American abstract expressionism movement. The robot was created by Israeli artists Liat Segal and Assaf Talmudi.

The Originals Factory is a work in progress fusing together and questioning digital, mechanic and plastic approaches to art, abstraction and originality. It is basically a DIY robot, built and programmed to create landscape paintings in the style of American abstract expressionism.
The computer system uses real time video input to control motor movement and pump actions to release paint drops on a large canvas. The drops are then drawn downwards courtesy of gravity, leaving thin colorful line marks.

via Hack a Day

Mark Pauline, founder of Survival Research Labs (SRL), has reported that the group has been banned from performing in San Francisco, California by the San Francisco Fire Department. SRL, known for their full-scale robotic and machine shows, were to be participating in I am Crime: Art on the Edge of the Law, a December 2011 outdoor group exhibition at SOMarts. After the ban went into effect, the show had to be cancelled. Read the entire story over at the SRL blog.

The city of SF approved the street closure, but the SFFD, citing an SRL show from 1989, Illusions of Shameless Abundance stated that SRL would no longer be allowed to perform in San Francisco.

photo by Scott Beale

Robot is a 1963 short film about the emerging technology of data communications that was made for the Bell System by Jim Henson. The film features a sassy, flatulent robot puppet in the starring role.

via AT&T Tech Channel

A nightmare inducing video of a creepy animatronic baby mechanism that was built by Chris Clarke for a soap opera.

via io9 & MetaFilter

These super-cute Cubebots are sweet posable robots made from sustainable cherry wood. They were designed by David Weeks Studio for Areaware and are available for purchase in pairs through Fab.

via Fab

New York City-based artist Mike Sullivan builds miniature robots which he is employing as porn stars in a stop-motion animated robot sex movie he has been working on for 10 years. Filmmaker Matt Lenski created a short documentary about Sullivan and his robots entitled “The Meaning of Robots” (trailer). The film premieres January 20 at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

via Nerdcore & FirstShowing.net

Cubelets is a modular robot construction system that is simple enough for children to enjoy (video). The system is based around single function cubes that act, sense, or think. The cubes can be snapped together magnetically to create functioning robots. Cubelets is by Modular Robotics, a new company founded by Carnegie Mellon University researchers.

via Hizook

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, [Robotic Edition] by comedy duo Gabriel Diani and Etta Devine is a satirical version of the classic tale by Mark Twain in which every instance of “The N-Word” is replaced by “robot” (see the trailer). It is available as a hardcover book and a free download. Back in February, our contributing writer Mikl-em wrote about the Kickstarter for the satirical project as well as the controversy over the language in the original story.

Consurgo is another animated short by the Dutch animation team Colorbleed Studios. We posted about their recent animated effort Mac ‘n’ Cheese, An Amped Up Drug Fueled Animated Short. Consurgo (“to arise” in Latin) was created while they were second year students at Utrecht School of the Arts in the Netherlands and follows the tale of a girl who loses a ball, then her father but gains a steampunk robot.

Steampunk robot, what do you want more?

In this steampunk styled short film, created in our second year of school, a girl loses the ball she’s playing with and it ends up on the street. Her father tries to get it back for her, but then something brutal happens. The girl, full of tears, doesn’t know what to think when a monstrous creature appears and seems to be after her and her father.
Consurgo is latin for ‘to arise’ and blends perfectly with the story. This sad story picks up halfway to something incredibly fantastic.

via Kuriositas

images via Colorbleed Studios

Thursday night was the opening party for Roboexotica, an annual celebration of cocktail themed robots in Vienna, Austria. There are robots of all shapes and sizes and a range of technical sophistication. Many of the bots actually mix and serve drinks for you.  I snapped a few photos of the crowd and some of my favorite robots.

As part of my artist residency this year in Vienna, Monochrom‘s Franky Albinger and I collaborated on a machine called the PURAGATRON. If you are unsatisfied with another robot’s cocktail creation, you can banish it from purgatory by placing it into the PURGATRON and sending your drink to hell or heaven (adds spicy sauce or sugar syrup).

The exhibition continues though the weekend at Ragnarhof in Vienna. Here is a video of Roboexotica co-organizer Johannes Grenzfurthner demonstrating the impressive Melmacc robot.

The Armed with Technology Tea Infuser is a long-armed retro-looking robot that clasps onto the inside of your tea cup and steeps your loose leaf tea.

via Doobybrain.com

Ant-Roach is a fifteen foot long six-legged inflatable robot by Otherlab of San Francisco (video). The robot’s legs are powered by pneumatic textile-based actuators, in other words, inflatable muscles. The whole contraption is light enough to be carried by one person.

via The Verge

As part of the huge 40th anniversary celebration for their instant noodle soup product, Cup Noodle, Nissin created the the limited edition transformable Robo Cup Noodle Timer. This Cup Noodle-shaped toy transforms into a blinking and talking robot with a 3-minute timer for prepping a real Cup Noodle. The timer was developed by Japanese robotics company Vstone and is only available in a lottery sponsored by Nissin.

via Technabob

images via Vstone

A Transformers-style robot escapes from a film shoot and marches around a Japanese city while generally being a jerk in this hilarious music video for “Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto” by Japanese band Polysics. The song is a cover of the 1983 hit “Mr. Roboto” by Styx.

via topherchris

“Fraley’s Robot Repair” is a wonderfully detailed storefront art installation of a retro robot repair shop. Created by artist Toby Atticus Fraley, the installation is on display in Pittsburgh until November, 2012.

The shop depicts what seems to be a robot repair shop where the owners have left for vacation, leaving robots in various stages of repair, including one peering through the store windows longing for life in the outside world. The scene appears to be set in the future, where robot ownership is commonplace, with a 1950’s aesthetic. Interactive QR codes and a website allow smartphone and internet users a behind-the-scenes view of the creation of the art piece. Those who frequent the area will see the installation change and evolve over the course of the year.

via Neatorama

GroundBot by Swedish robotics firm Rotundus is an all-terrain, amphibious surveillance robot in the shape of a bug-eyed sphere (video). Roughly the size of a car tire, the robot moves silently at up to six mph. GroundBot houses two cameras which provide a stereoscopic view to its remote operator. Rotundus notes that the current version “cannot house robot arms or weapons.” Maybe in the next release.

The spherical design is simplicity itself. With its large circumference, GroundBot takes all kinds of terrain in its stride. And yet its appearance is friendly and unthreatening.

Inside, all cameras and sensors are sealed off from the outside world. This means that they are protected from bangs and knocks. In addition, the outside world is protected from potential electrical sparks when GroundBot is investigating gas leaks.

via BLDGBLOG & Technabob

HEXBUG Larva is a miniature autonomous robot that wriggles about rather like a bug larva (video). When sensors on the Larva detect an obstacle, the robot changes direction. HEXBUG produces a variety of insect-inspired robot toys.

via Technabob

Senseless Drawing Bot is an autonomous art robot that spray paints random graffiti-like drawings on a wall (video). The robot is by Japanese artists So Kanno and Takahiro Yamaguchi.

via BOOOOOOOM!

photos via So Kanno and Takahiro Yamaguchi

Five students from Thakur-Toonskool Advanced Animation Academy in India have created the entertaining 3D animated short, Three Fifteen, for their final degree project. Aditya Tawde, Harsh Sharma, Kushal Bhor, Dipesh Motivaras and Perzan pandol are the five talented students behind this finely woven sci-fi tale starring a scheming robot and a curious skateboarder.

via Kuriositas

Today, Honda unveiled the fourth generation of ASIMO, their irresistibly adorable humanoid robot. New ASIMO can detect nearby humans as it moves about autonomously, run at a leprechaun-brisk 5.5 mph, hop on one foot, and serve drinks. And in a testament to the robot’s sophistication, many of its behaviors look startlingly and endearingly child-like (see a public demonstration of ASIMO’s new skills via plasticpals).

The all-new ASIMO is now advanced from an “automatic machine” to an “autonomous machine” with the decision-making capability to determine its behavior in concert with its surroundings such as movements of people. At the beginning of the development process, the following three factors were identified as necessary for a robot to perform as an autonomous machine, and the technologies required to realize these capabilities were developed; 1) high-level postural balancing capability which enables the robot to maintain its posture by putting out its leg in an instant, 2) external recognition capability which enables the robot to integrate information, such as movements of people around it, from multiple sensors and estimate the changes that are taking place, and 3) the capability to generate autonomous behavior which enables the robot to make predictions from gathered information and autonomously determine the next behavior without being controlled by an operator. With these capabilities, the all-new ASIMO takes another step closer to practical use in an environment where it coexists with people.

via IEEE Spectrum

The 2010 short film, The Anachronism, is a well-crafted steampunk adventure that follows two budding Victorian-era scientists as they discover a giant futuristic robot squid. The film was written and directed by Matthew Gordon Long of Anachronism Pictures.

Thanks to Joel Betancourt for the tip!

Japanese manufacturer NSK is developing a robot guide dog that can see obstacles with a Microsoft Kinect controller, walk on stairs, and respond to voice commands (video). The development team hopes to have a commercial version ready by 2020.

via Plastic Pals & i09

photo via NSK

PETMAN is a bipedal humanoid robot by Boston Dynamics that mimics human walking, calisthenics, and other movements, in order to serve the US Military as a testing device for chemical protection clothing. And for added realism, PETMAN even sweats. Boston Dynamics is also developing AlphaDog, a four-legged all-terrain robot.

PETMAN is an anthropomorphic robot for testing chemical protection clothing used by the US Army. Unlike previous suit testers, which had to be supported mechanically and had a limited repertoire of motion, PETMAN will balance itself and move freely; walking, crawling and doing a variety of suit-stressing calisthenics during exposure to chemical warfare agents. PETMAN will also simulate human physiology within the protective suit by controlling temperature, humidity and sweating when necessary, all to provide realistic test conditions.

via The Next Web