Unit 3: Robotics + Art
For this blog, I focus on robotics and art and where they meet. The evolution of art from traditional forms (paintings, sculptures, etc.), to more technological forms (photography, film, robotics, etc) marked a historic shift in human industrialization.
As Benjamin Walter points out, industrialization and technology had "captured a place of its own among the artistic processes" ("The Work of Art..." 1). An example that I can think of relating this concept includes the evolution of architecture. Of course, ancient, traditional architecture is beautiful, however it is not being seen or built as often anymore. Nowadays, new buildings that are being built often look more "futuristic". I notice this when I go to Las Vegas, and contrast the "older" hotels to the "newer" hotels, pictured below. Both are impressive works of art to look at, however the Aria resort appears more futuristic as opposed to Caesar's Palace which has a more traditional architectural style.
The amount of creative discipline as well as scientific knowledge needed to develop technologically sophisticated art forms is immense. For example, coding and programming in itself is a form of art, in my opinion. As Victoria Vesna mentioned in the lecture, the advancement of computing and programming played a vital role in revolutionizing and developing the field of robotics. Every programmer has their own unique style of coding, and are often the most creative people around.
Robotics plays a main role in the movie Big Hero 6, where one of the main characters is a soft-robot named Baymax, who is a health/personal care companion robot. Upon doing research on this movie, I discovered that there is a whole subfield of robotics that focuses on "soft" robots. This is something that I never really put much thought into, since like most people, when I think of robots I consider something that looks more technical like a transformer or the terminator, not a soft, fluffy looking robot like Baymax. The creator and inspiration behind Baymax, Chris Atkeson, explained the physics behind the advantages of soft-robots over heavy-robots, since his main goal was to have soft-robots help take care of people.
Davis, Douglas. The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (An Evolving Thesis: 1991-1995). 1995.
Hauser, Helmut. “The real soft robots that inspired Baymax, with Chris Atkeson” Robohub, 2015, robohub.org/the-real-soft-robots-that-inspired-baymax-with-chris-atkeson/.
Kusahara, Machiko. Robotics Machiko Kusahara 1. YouTube, UC Online, 14 Apr. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQZ_sy-mdEU.
As Benjamin Walter points out, industrialization and technology had "captured a place of its own among the artistic processes" ("The Work of Art..." 1). An example that I can think of relating this concept includes the evolution of architecture. Of course, ancient, traditional architecture is beautiful, however it is not being seen or built as often anymore. Nowadays, new buildings that are being built often look more "futuristic". I notice this when I go to Las Vegas, and contrast the "older" hotels to the "newer" hotels, pictured below. Both are impressive works of art to look at, however the Aria resort appears more futuristic as opposed to Caesar's Palace which has a more traditional architectural style.
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| Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. |
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| Aria Resort in Las Vegas |
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| An example of artwork created by coding. |
Robotics plays a main role in the movie Big Hero 6, where one of the main characters is a soft-robot named Baymax, who is a health/personal care companion robot. Upon doing research on this movie, I discovered that there is a whole subfield of robotics that focuses on "soft" robots. This is something that I never really put much thought into, since like most people, when I think of robots I consider something that looks more technical like a transformer or the terminator, not a soft, fluffy looking robot like Baymax. The creator and inspiration behind Baymax, Chris Atkeson, explained the physics behind the advantages of soft-robots over heavy-robots, since his main goal was to have soft-robots help take care of people.
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| Baymax from the movie Big Hero 6, a soft-robot that serves as a health and personal companion robot. |
Sources
Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. 1936.Davis, Douglas. The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (An Evolving Thesis: 1991-1995). 1995.
Hauser, Helmut. “The real soft robots that inspired Baymax, with Chris Atkeson” Robohub, 2015, robohub.org/the-real-soft-robots-that-inspired-baymax-with-chris-atkeson/.
Kusahara, Machiko. Robotics Machiko Kusahara 1. YouTube, UC Online, 14 Apr. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQZ_sy-mdEU.
Marcelo, Jacqueline. “The Art of Coding: Making Art Using Codes, and the Basics of Coding.” Medium, Medium, 3 Apr. 2018, medium.com/@jacqueline.marcelo/the-art-of-coding-making-art-using-codes-and-the-basics-of-coding-f11cf533499c.
“Technology's Role in Disney Animation's 'Big Hero 6'.” The Walt Disney Company, 19 Aug. 2016, www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/technologys-role-in-disney-animations-big-hero-6/.
Hi Asari,
ReplyDeleteThis week's lecture made me think of Disney's BayMax robot too! I thought it was really interesting when contrasting this "soft", lovable character with obvious Japanese influences versus the very sleek design of Eve in Wall-E, a movie that depicted a much more Westernized view of robots and our future. I really liked how you pointed out the architectural differences in Las Vegas where they are juxtaposed so closely. It's really interesting how art and technology are changing as we move towards the future. Nowadays, all new architecture looks very sleek and futuristic, however, it does also make me appreciate more the beauty of traditional designs and architecture, especially when I compare UCLA's beautiful campus to the more modern campuses at other UCs.