DSP Robotics Support

I'm currently on a spamming spree. Wherever I use to lurk around, I post this video. It just makes me so happy, it is so funny and somehow soothing. You're welcome

https://youtu.be/fn3KWM1kuAw

Not only great fun but... bloody hell!!!!

That's set me up for the day. Thank you!

I shared this on Facebook and some said it was great but a bit creepy.
I think the movements are just so human the motion enters the so-called “uncanny valley”.

Possibly. I don't feel the creepiness, because I know that these are not fully autonomous robots. They have their own "brain", but only to coordinate movements, always keep balance, and to get back up when falling (you can even see this "brain" overriding the instruction in the first shots, when the robot starts an instruction, but then loses balance and gets itself back to balance before returning to instructions at 00:19 to 00:23). Everything they do however is instructed by a human.

For me this is so great, because as a kid (even today, but not as intense as back then) I was a huge sci-fi fan. I read basically each and every novel or short story in existence. My favorite author is Asimov. He wrote about robots and implications, when they become human-like. He also invented a set of rules for every robot, that is integral to its programming. According to Asimov, these were quoted from the "Handbook of Robotics, 56th Edition, 2058 A.D." and read:

First Law
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
Second Law
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
Third Law
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

He later also added a fourth law, called

Zeroth Law
A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.

When I saw this video, I realized that what was sci-fi in the late 70s to early 80s, is now reality. Furthermore, it's kind of like a self-fullfilling prophecy, because science took over those laws from a sci-fi author as general rules in the field of robotics!

And then there was Skynet

Spogg wrote:I shared this on Facebook and some said it was great but a bit creepy.
I think the movements are just so human the motion enters the so-called “uncanny valley”.

I was ok until the "dogbot" entered the mix and I remembered the robot from "Red Planet".

adamszabo wrote:And then there was Skynet

"Who are you calling 'robot', you meat-puppet?!?"

What a coincidence . . . I just watched that myself last night and thought it was so good I put it on on one of our whatsapp groups . . . uncanny!

The only thing that really spoils it for me it is the intense jealousy that I feel when I realise that some people get to build dancing robots for a living! It's certainly very impressive - I wouldn't mind betting that dancing is trickier to get right than some of the more "practical" uses that they've demonstrated before (that's always how it feels whenever I hit the dance floor, anyway! )

tulamide wrote:because science took over those laws from a sci-fi author

I was always drawn to science fiction where the "science" part was taken seriously, and which looks at the psychological and social implications of it. I've been very glad to see that the roboticists themselves have been leading the calls for a debate about what society should be allowed to use autonomous systems for (the military in particular, of course), and I think that fiction writers have had their part to play in that by exploring potential futures.

Spogg wrote:I think the movements are just so human the motion enters the so-called “uncanny valley”

I find that interesting. Usually with the "uncanny valley" effect, both the looks and the behaviour are very close to being human-like, but ever so slightly off in an intangible way. Here, though, the difference is very obvious at first glance - these can't be anything but robots. But the behaviour is a whole new level of being human-like, and dancing is hardly something we'd expect an emotionless machine to be doing.

Usually the very obviously non-human appearance would work against the uncanny valley effect; but unlike, say, C3PO or The Terminator, we cannot just remind ourselves that these are actors in costumes, puppets, or CGI (apologies to Star Wars fans if I just spoiled anything for you!) Maybe some people can't shake the subconscious feeling that being able to so closely mimic human behaviour implies that there must be "human minds" trapped inside the machines?

trogluddite wrote:Usually with the "uncanny valley" effect, both the looks and the behaviour are very close to being human-like, but ever so slightly off in an intangible way. Here, though, the difference is very obvious at first glance - these can't be anything but robots. But the behaviour is a whole new level of being human-like, and dancing is hardly something we'd expect an emotionless machine to be doing.

This is the first time I’ve encountered anything other than faces that made me think of the “uncanny valley”. My major reaction while watching was awe and amusement but it was afterwards that the creepy feeling crept in. My wife Sue was made to feel very uncomfortable she says, so much so she didn’t really enjoy it. So I guess there’s a spectrum of responses, possibly influenced by those of us who appreciate the technology and programming behind what we see.

Having watched it again I realise that my brain is superimposing “agency” on what is seen, and that’s something I have to intellectually override. But the feeling is there, even though I know these are machine puppets with no strings.

Fascinating!