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Still and Useless: The Ultimate Automaton

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Robots and Art

Part of the book series: Cognitive Science and Technology ((CSAT))

Abstract

Robots descend from the long genealogy of automata, machines with no practical purposes essentially meant to simulate objects embedded with an anima. Our hypothesis is that the thrust for the creation of every robot is rooted in the primordial myth of infusing inanimate matter with the breath of life: the aim of any automaton is to become a living thing. The ultimate automaton does not need to move or to do anything: the essence of any robot lies in the desire to simulate life to the point where it actually becomes alive. This chapter presents the Aerostabile research-creation program, which progressively evolved from an architectural origin to a research platform for exploring the nature of the elements that maximizes this deliberately created illusion. It goes through the origins and main methodologies of the program, then describes several artworks that were created along its evolution, focusing on the notion of behaviour and observed interactivity.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Bedini [1] for an historical account of the intersection between automata, life simulation and technology.

  2. 2.

    See for instance Bruce et al. [2], or Imai et al. [3].

  3. 3.

    See for instance Pioggia et al. [4].

  4. 4.

    See for instance the Mega Hysterical Machine at http://billvorn.concordia.ca/menuall.html.

  5. 5.

    Destephe et al. [5].

  6. 6.

    Mori, M.—The Uncanny Valley, Energy 7(4), pp. 33–35, 1970.

  7. 7.

    Reeves et al. [6].

  8. 8.

    Cooke [7].

  9. 9.

    Bunge [8].

  10. 10.

    Science/Technology: Laboratoire d’éthologie animale (G. Théraulaz, U. Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France); Intelligent Autonomous System Lab (A. Winfield, U. of the West of England, UK); Collective Robotics Lab (now DISAL, A. Martinoli, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland; 3DVision (S. Roy, U. of Montreal, Canada). Arts: Society for Arts and Technology (SAT, L. Courchesne, Montreal, Canada); Hexagram (N. Reeves, Montreal, Canada). Researchers: P. Giguere, Laval University, Quebec, Canada; I. Sharf, G. Dudek, I. Rekleitis, U. McGill, Montreal, Canada.

  11. 11.

    Van der Zwaan et al. [9].

  12. 12.

    Lozano [10].

  13. 13.

    St-Onge et al. [11, 12].

  14. 14.

    We could compare the reaction of the audience to several kinds of automata with various morphologies, including ours, in specific robotic arts events, such as the Moscow “Science as Suspense” event [13].

  15. 15.

    St-Onge et al. [11, 12].

  16. 16.

    “Tryphon” comes from the first name of the famous absent-minded scientist Tryphon Tournesol, in Herge’s Adventures of Tintin. He is known as Cuthbert Calculus in the English translation.

  17. 17.

    See for instance Joose et al. [14].

  18. 18.

    A more detailed description of this work appears in Reeves [13].

  19. 19.

    Quebec city actresses Véronique Daudelin, Maryse Lapierre and Klervi Thienpont were alternatively the cube’s eyes and voice.

  20. 20.

    Ghislaine Doté from Montreal Sinha Dance company.

  21. 21.

    This concept of self-extension on inanimate things is explored through an interesting experiment by Kiesler et al. [15].

  22. 22.

    St-Onge et al. [11, 12].

  23. 23.

    Kroos et al. [16].

  24. 24.

    Some applications are described in St-Onge et al. [17].

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NXI GESTATIO Design Lab (Arts Design Architecture Informatique) École de Design, Université du Québec à Montréal, 1440, Sanguinet, Suite DE6250, CP8888, Succ.Centre-Ville, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Nicolas Reeves & David St-Onge

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  1. Nicolas Reeves
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  2. David St-Onge
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Correspondence to Nicolas Reeves .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Edu.,Sci, Tech and Maths, University of Canberra, Canberra, Aust Capital Terr, Australia

    Damith Herath

  2. Lab, School of Design and Art, Curtin University, Alternate Anatomies, Perth, West Australia, Australia

    Christian Kroos

  3. Lab, School of Design and Art, Curtin University, Alternate Anatomies, Perth, West Australia, Australia

    Stelarc

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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

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Reeves, N., St-Onge, D. (2016). Still and Useless: The Ultimate Automaton. In: Herath, D., Kroos, C., Stelarc (eds) Robots and Art. Cognitive Science and Technology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0321-9_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0321-9_12

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-0319-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-0321-9

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