Event 2: Maša Jazbec Lecture

My second event was a lecture by Maša Jazbec, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Tsukuba. Maša was a visiting researcher at the Hiroshi Ishiguro lab (ArtSci 2015). She taught us about the current robotics research which was really impressive and unexpected. Before this lecture, I had no idea how advanced robotics has become and this lecture made me realize how powerful artificial intelligence has become.

Something I never knew was that robots were classified into three categories: humanoids, androids, and geminoids. Humanoids are robots that are in the shape of a human being, meaning that they have parts such as arms and legs. Androids are robots that look like and move like a human being. Geminoids are a copy of an actual human being.

One robot that I found extremely fascinating was the Geminoid HI-1. As can see at 0:36 in the video below, the geminoid looks very human. Despite the many wires lying behind it, the skin is very smooth and beautiful. To create this skin takes an artist. The robot looks exactly like professor Ishiguro, the creator of the robot. This relates to the robotics lecture during Week 3 where we learned about how robotics came to be (Vesna 2012). The presentation was a representation of how advanced robotics has become. The creation of the Geminoid HI-1 is also a representation of the third culture that C.P. Snow discusses.  C.P. Snow introduces a third culture, one that combines the sciences and art (Snow 1959). The mixing of art to create the realness of the robot with the science to create the underlying mechanics of the robot is what creates a fully functioning geminoid. The geminoid not only looks real, but can talk and make expressions similar to the professor who created it.

At 0:36, you can see how human the geminoid looks

Professor Ishiguro next to the geminoid copy of himself 

Who is who? It is extremely difficult to tell

The most famous robot in the world, ASIMO, was very impressive because the robot could walk not only up stairs, but down stairs, a task that proved difficult for robots. This shows the extreme advancement of robotics, as robots are now able to move like humans. The robot can also do lots of other tasks, such as bringing coffee and dancing. This shows that robots are not only used to help out tasks that humans do, but also for entertainment purposes. This is a huge advancement that can use science to advance the human condition. Because robots can walk down stairs, they may be used to help the disabled and do other tasks. 

Maša meeting the ASIMO robot

Lastly, Maša talked a lot about sci-fi moves that had robots as primary characters. Movies included Blade Runner, Ex Machina, and Star Wars. Maša said that with our growing technology and advancements, robots that we are seeing in movies are becoming a reality. The movies are inspiring artists and scientists to collaborate to create robots that not only do tasks, but look real and similar to humans. This is a representation of the emerging third culture (Snow 1959). With the development of artificial intelligence and robotics, I am looking forward to the new inventions that artists and scientists will come up with together. 

Two geminoids in the movie Ex Machina

(Gonzalez 2015)

 Maša and I at the event

Professor Vesna and I at the event

Event Page: http://artsci.ucla.edu/?q=node/1262

Citations:

ArtSci. "Apologists of the New Civilization." Home Page. 2016. Web. 04 June 2016. <http://artsci.ucla.edu/?q=node/1262>.

Gonzalez, Ed. "Ex Machina." Slant Magazine. 19 Mar. 2015. Web. 04 June 2016. <http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/ex-machina>.

Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.

Vesna, Victoria. “Robotics.” Cole UC online. Youtube, 9 April 2012. Web. 04 June 2016.