THE SENSOR-IUM!

ROBOTS, CYBORGS,
AND AUTOMATA

Lecture 4
SO FAR THIS WEEK
Digital photography and The hyperreal
sensors
Computer simulations
THIS We will again look at simulation…the
simulation of life, human senses,
LECTURE behaviors, bodies, etc..
Gordon Pask:
Solartron
EUCRATES II, ca.
1956.
For von Neumann (and
others) the computer
simulated the neural
operations of the brain.
However, the form, or
pattern of the
operations differed
greatly.
ANTHROPOMORPHISM
“The attribution of human personality or characteristics to
something non-human, as an animal, object, etc.” – oed.com
CYBORG
Short for cybernetic organism, a being with both organic and
mechanical/electronic parts

Term was coined in 1960

By scientists Manfred Cynes and Nathan S. Kline
AUTOMATA
“A machine which resembles and is able to simulate the actions of a
human being; humanoid robot, an android (in early use frequently in
Science Fiction); (also) a machine which performs tasks usually
associated with human workers.” – oed.com
UNCANNY VALLEY
“Used in reference to the phenomenon whereby a humanoid robot
or computer-generated figure bearing a close but imperfect
resemblance to a human being arouses a sense of unease or
revulsion in a person viewing it.” – OED.com
1993-96 PETIT MAL
Simon Penny - The goal of Petit Mal is to produce a robotic artwork
which is truly autonomous; which is nimble and has "charm"; that
senses and explores architectural space and that pursues and
reacts to people; that gives the impression of intelligence and has
behavior which is neither anthropomorphic nor zoomorphic, but
which is unique to its physical and electronic nature.
http://simonpenny.net/works/petitmal.html
2013 FEMALE FIGURE
Jordan Wolfson - In the fall of 2013, artist Jordan Wolfson moved to Los Angeles to work with a special
effects studio on "(Female figure)," an animatronic sculpture that takes the form of an attractive woman,
dancing provocatively in the uncanny valley. Dressed in a negligee and bearing scuffs and dirt marks, what
Wolfson calls "the dancer" shimmies and gyrates to a pop music soundtrack. Through advanced facial
recognition technology, she locks eyes on the viewers behind her, watching them through a mirror to which
she is permanently fixed. Her physical presence is in dialogue with the voice of Wolfson, which emanates
from her lips between songs, disclosing the secrets of a male identity. According to the New York-based
artist, the sculpture is less about the contemporary woman than the contemporary experience of being
looked at—and the violence of that objectification.
Jordan Wolfson - Female Figure - The Artist's Studio - MOCAtv
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auix-QLJwSo
Video of the automata in situ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pz2D5NUeFA
2014 EUNOIA II
Lisa Park - “I used my body as a medium to express my inner states
and thoughts externally. At first, I started using biosensors to
visualize invisible biological signals as a way to get to know myself.
The insight I got from using biofeedback sensors is to embrace the
changes in my feelings rather than to control them.”
Made after Park’s time at EAT, Nokia Bell Labs
https://www.thelisapark.com/work/eunoia2
2015 HEARING COLORS 5 MIN 17
SEC
Dir. Greg Brunkalla with cyborg-artist Neil Harbisson
The life of Neil Harbisson is like something out of a sci-fi novel. Neil was
born with achromatopsia, a rare condition that leaves 1 in 30,000 people
completely colorblind. But Neil isn’t colorblind, far from it. After
convincing his doctors to implant an antenna into the back of his head,
Neil now possesses a new sense – the ability to hear colors. In this short
film by Greg Brunkalla, HEARING COLORS, Neil takes you through a day in
his life and into an entirely new world.
https://vimeo.com/118166526
2016 GRAFT AND ASH FOR A THREE
MONITOR WORKSTATION – 9 MIN 05 SEC
Sondra Perry – A digital avatar of the artist. Perry scanned her body in
order to create the digital figure, however, the software that she chose
does not have templates of body forms which match her own.
Installation
https://sondraperry.com/Graft-and-Ash-for-a-Three-Monitor-Workstation
Video element of installation
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CIRSs35h6us8Wu8bwndDlxvi5yTepynK
/view
2017 OSCAR THE MODULAR BODY

The Modular Body is an online science fiction story about the

creation of OSCAR, a living organism built from human cells.

Introduction:https://youtu.be/tfoVOGMz054
Animation, how it’s made: https://youtu.be/Aub1vBYhsaM
The full story website: http://themodularbody.com/