Robots
Robo Show and Flower Planet
Two features from the 1990 World's Fair in Japan.The opening few minutes are a press release for the company that created the exhibit. "Robo Show" begins at the 5:40 mark, and "Flower Planet" at minute 13:00. State-of-the-art stuff for thirty years ago.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 11, 2021 -
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Category: Fairs, Amusement Parks, and Resorts, Robots, Cartoons, Special Effects, 1990s, Asia
The C-3PO ‘Golden Rod’ Card
In 1977, Topps issued a set of Star Wars trading cards. The set included one card that would, arguably, become the most infamous card it ever printed. This was the so-called C-3PO 'golden rod' card — so called because it seems to show C-3PO in a state of prominent arousal.
Mel magazine recently posted an article which explores the history of this card. The article makes a couple of interesting points:
First, Topps not only really did issue this card... it printed a lot of them. This isn't a rare card.
Second (and to me this is the most remarkable thing), no one involved in the creation of the card noticed its most salient feature until after it had been released and word started to spread among card collectors.
Finally, there's no evidence that the card was the work of a rogue artist. The most compelling theory about what happened is that a panel on the side of C-3PO's armor plating must have accidentally fallen open, and was in exactly the right position to create the illusion of robotic arousal. And then, for whatever reason, Topps selected that image, out of all the possible ones, to print.
Eventually Topps released a corrected version of the card (below). Apparently this corrected version is rarer, and more collectible, than the original. Though, ideally, a collector would want to have both.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Feb 09, 2021 -
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Category: Movies, Robots, Collectors, 1970s
Mama Robot Device
In 2017, patent number KR20170003315A was granted to a Korean inventor for a "Mama Robot Device". The inventor's name is only given in Korean, so I'm not sure what it is, but Google translates it as Jeong In-pil.The Mama Robot is creepy in many ways. As far as I can tell, it's a device that allows children to punish themselves when they know they've been naughty but their parents are away.
The child is able to decide how many lashes with a cane they deserve, and the Mama Robot will then deliver the punishment. As it does so, the prerecorded voice of the parent will admonish the child, but simultaneously the Mama Robot will weep "such that the sad feelings of the parent punishing are conveyed to the child."
A camera inside Mama Robot will record the entire event and then send the video to the parent's phone, as proof that punishment has been served.
I wonder, how many years of therapy would it take for a child to recover from having Mama Robot installed in their home?
Posted By: Alex - Sun Dec 15, 2019 -
Comments (6)
Category: Inventions, Patents, Robots, Parents
Flying Saucers Over Istanbul
Essay with many still photos here.
IMDB page.
Another short clip here via Facebook.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 12, 2019 -
Comments (2)
Category: Feminism, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Movies, Robots, 1950s
Bossy the Electrified Cow
In the future, when robot cows rule the world, they'll look back on Bossy as one of the first of their kind.
Sumter County Journal - Apr 17, 1941
Posted By: Alex - Tue Oct 29, 2019 -
Comments (2)
Category: Robots, Technology, AI, Robots and Other Automatons, Farming, Cows, 1940s
Prize-winning robot costume from 1927
Posted By: Alex - Wed Oct 31, 2018 -
Comments (4)
Category: Costumes and Masks, Robots, 1920s
The CGI of 1985
1985 Clio Award winning Television commercial done for Canned Foods Information Council by San Francisco ad agency of Ketchum Communications. [This] spot, "Brilliance," won in Computer Animation category and featured a voice-over by motion picture star, Kathleen Turner.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 06, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Business, Advertising, Food, Robots, Computers, Special Effects, 1980s
General Electric’s 1965 Walking Truck
Walking robots, such as those from Boston Dynamics, are all the rage these days.
But does their ancestor, the human-operated Walking Truck, ever get any credit?
Well, this fellow did a magnificent article on the device.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 18, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Robots, 1960s
Robot Ballet
The Italian Futurists had a thing for robot costumes in their dance performances. They left behind some weird imagery.
Read about them here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue May 17, 2016 -
Comments (1)
Category: Costumes and Masks, Futurism, Robots, Avant Garde, Dance, Europe, Twentieth Century
| Who We Are |
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |