Thursday, May 30, 2002

Interesting article in the New York Times about a robot talent show in Brooklyn where artists and engineers highlighted the creative potential of machines. Most impressive was the autonomous Roving Walter Walter built by two Belgian artists from MXHz.org:

It darted around the floor as if it were R2-D2, sampling sounds from the room that were meant to inspire its own audio stream. On Saturday it would emit only a low repetitive growl. But Guy van Belle, one of its creators, refused to tinker with its algorithms, saying the robot knew best.

"We have to allow our autonomous robots to make their own decisions, whether the humans like it or not," he said.