In this trendwatching podcast, Nora Young mentions one of her favourite blogs, Pink Tentacle, about unusual pop culture, art, and robotics in Japan.  This time around, it’s CB2, a ‘baby robot’ that has Nora’s attention.  It’s part of a string of attempts, including the ones at Second Life Cathi talked about before, to model behaviour like facial recognition in a developmental sense.  It’s also very, very creepy.  Nora says it reminds her of the Uncanny Valley, and also what bioethicists sometimes call ‘the yuck factor‘.  Check the video at Pink Tentacle.

Meanwhile, Cathi Bond finds a stunner of a building, the Helix Hotel in Abu Dhabi (Check it out, via Inhabitat).  Cathi says it reminds her of the band Devo’s hats, but on a more serious note, it’s another example of a trend we’ve talked about a lot: architecture that’s designed to be more sustainable either by being ‘responsive’ to changes in the surrounding environment or by utilizing local environmental conditions, in this case, with an exterior that harnesses wind and light.  It reminds Nora of Lisa Rochon’s recent article in the Globe and Mail about the declining market for ‘pushed to the limit’, out-there, starchitect designs. 

Finally, Nora mentions the Open Reel Ensemble, for lovers of Old Skool! (via Pink Tentacle)

 

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Tags: architecture, music, robotics

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