For my final presentation I would like to attempt to tackle humor with robots. This idea peaks my interest as it is quite difficult to convey humor using robots as a medium, as humor stems from human nature and relatability. Robots by default, are not humans, and thus, difficult to relate to. This has been attempted in movies like Wall-E, where the robots don’t speak but are still able to be funny. It is also done in Star Wars where some robots like C-3PO can talk, but R2D2 cannot, and both are able to convey humor successfully.

To attempt to cross the relatability bridge, I will use two “cute” robots with humanoid features that are appealing to look at. They will then attempt to perform tasks in differing manners and have a disagreement on how to perform these tasks. As simple as it is, having differing opinions on basic tasks is a naturally human problem, which should evoke some empathy from the viewer towards the robots.

In my poorly drawn image, two robots have been given the task of tossing a ball into a container, and pressing a button to release the ball into another container. The left robot tosses the ball, then presses the button to release the ball. The right robot presses the button first, then tosses the ball. This is differing order of operations is the source of conflict between the two robots.

The final task that I have is to demonstrate the disagreement between the two in a humorous way. I will attempt to use rapid and over-exaggerated motions, to try to easily convey how the robots are feeling towards one another. To make this personal for the viewer, I will make sure that the robots are expressing obviously human emotions, like anger, disdain, stubbornness, etc. Hopefully, these emotions will allow the viewer to relate to the robots because they are all emotions that the viewer is accustomed to.