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Tweenbots

By Miss Cellania in Video Clips on Apr 12, 2009 at 6:53 am



(blip TV link)

Kacie Kinzer’s Tweenbots experiment is less about robots and more about human nature. She designed small cardboard robots with smiling faces that will move only forward. Kinzer then would set a robot down in an area of New York City with a flag that indicated its destination. The only way it could get “home” was with the help of passers-by. People really came through! Over several months and many missions, each time a robot got stuck or headed in the wrong direction, someone would set it straight or otherwise helped it along its way. My question is: would people have helped a robot that wasn’t so cute? Link -via Gizmodo


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COMMENT
  1. Johnny Cat
    Apr 12th, 2009 at 11:11 am

    Cool idea, but wow, where is all this bad bad music coming from lately?

  2. Namowal
    Apr 12th, 2009 at 12:28 pm

    I'd like to see this done with all sorts of variables-
    plain robots, flashy robots, robots with different expressions on their faces... ...would a snooty or surly looking 'bot be helped as much as a friendly one?

  3. DOJ
    Apr 12th, 2009 at 2:25 pm

    This gives me a great idea for a courier service. Cheap, and your package may arrive at some point.

  4. Missbookworm
    Apr 12th, 2009 at 2:28 pm

    Call me crazy, but I actually like this music.
    That robot is too cute, nice to see people helping it out.

  5. Christophe
    Apr 12th, 2009 at 2:52 pm

    So there are civilized people in the NY crowd?! ;p

  6. SenorMysterioso
    Apr 12th, 2009 at 4:11 pm

    I thought the music was cute and fitting. I wonder if he's ever been kidnapped. I thought it was interesting that the guy in the scarf goes up to him and reads his banner then just walks away and a girl immediately comes to the aid of the little guy. I also like the park ranger trying to point him in the right direction.

  7. Ferretbunny
    Apr 12th, 2009 at 4:59 pm

    Ferretbunny rides a Tweenbot to freedom.

    Watch the video here:
    http://ferretbunny.com/?p=778

  8. Alex
    Apr 12th, 2009 at 5:16 pm

    Good thing this didn't happen in Boston and the bot didn't have Aqua Teen Hunger Force written on it ...

  9. Dchama
    Apr 12th, 2009 at 8:24 pm

    So this is in a public park in NYC and nobody thought it was a BOMB???

  10. Blue
    Apr 13th, 2009 at 2:20 am

    I couldn't stop laughing watching that, i laughed so much i cried. Such a simple robot yet it get so much interest from people passing by.

  11. Mister Memory
    Apr 13th, 2009 at 11:14 am

    I remember a similar experiment a few years ago with an immobile robot that pleaded for help when it sensed a person nearby. It would ask to be moved and if the person complied it would ask to be moved again, become more and more demanding with each success.

  12. Stephen Phillips
    Apr 15th, 2009 at 7:00 am

    It would be interesting to try the same experiment in different countries, to see whether human nature differs markedly in other parts of the world.
    For example, in some places, would people be more likely to ignore / steal / destroy the robot?

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