Lauren Park-Looking Outwards-02

Encounter is an arm-like robotic machine that has a mirror that reacts naturally and in a human-like way to those who physically approach it. The mirror is used to track the face of a person that comes close.  I really admire this piece because it is intriguing to see works that combine technology and human behaviors. There is something odd and eery about taking a man-made object and try to give it human qualities and interact with other people. It makes me think about how I can approach this machine to have a communication with it and see how far it can go. This machine functions based off of smart servomechanisms and inverse kinematic algorithms. This piece seems to achieve the artist’s goals in many different ways through the algorithms. There is commentary on how social relationships are created or function by placing humans and robots to start a conversation with each other. There are many differences robots and people have but it seems that such barrier is being dissolved through this interaction. 

Encounter – Suspiciously curious robotics

Artist: Piet Schmidt

Title: Encounter

Year of creation: 2018