Tweenbots


(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

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?
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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.
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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.
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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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