May 10, 2007
AUR: a Robotic Desk Lamp
Performs Lives
AUR: a Robotic Desk Lamp is a robotic desk lamp, a collaborative lighting assistant. It serves as a non-anthropomorphic robotic platform as part of Guy Hoffman's Ph.D thesis on human-robot fluency and nonverbal behavior. The lamp's design was conceived around an existing 5-DoF robotic arm, and is aimed to evoke a personal relationship with the human partner without resorting to human-like features. By retaining the lamp's "objectness", I hope to explore the relationship that can be maintained through abstract gestures and nonverbal behavior alone.
The lamp is animated using a custom pipeline enabling the dynamic control of behaviors authored in a 3d animation system. This week, it will take its first stab at performing alongside human actors in MIT Dramashop's Playwrights in Performance. That's right, a robot, on stage, live, with nothing but an emergency button to save it. What: "The Confessor" - a play by Rony Kubat written especially for this human-robot ensemble.
When: May 9, 10, 11 @ 8pm
Where: Kresge Rehearsal Room B (seating *very* limited)
How: As part of MIT Dramashop's "Playwrights in Performance" and in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab
Posted by jo at May 10, 2007 12:11 PM
