Cardboard Robot's Big City Adventure

[Logan Westbrook]

Cardboard Robot's Big City Adventure

What would people do if they saw a tiny, lost cardboard robot rolling through Central Park? Well, one New York based student decided to find out.

Enter the Tweenbot, a simple little thing only capable of moving in a straight line and wrapped in a cheery cardboard shell. The Tweenbot has a flag sticking out of its back with its destination written on, and a message imploring passers-by to help it get there.

Now, on the mean streets of New York City, you'd expect a ten-inch tall cardboard robot to come to a sticky end right? Well you'd be wrong. Every single Tweenbot reached its destination intact, with some New Yorkers even going so far as to ignore the message asking them to point the Tweenbot in the correct direction, if that happened to lead somewhere dangerous.

The Tweenbot is the creation of Tisch School of Art student Kacie Kinzer [http://www.tweenbots.com/]. In her own words:

In New York, we are very occupied with getting from one place to another. I wondered: could a human-like object traverse sidewalks and streets along with us, and in so doing, create a narrative about our relationship to space and our willingness to interact with what we find in it? More importantly, how could our actions be seen within a larger context of human connection that emerges from the complexity of the city itself? To answer these questions, I built robots.

Yep, she's a student alright.

Kinzer followed each Tweenbot she sent out with a hidden camera in her purse and watched as her fellow New Yorkers helped her cardboard creation reach their goal. Kinzer has plans to expand the Tweenbot concept to further explore social narratives.

I don't know about you, but this story brought a smile to my face. It's heartening to know that even in these times of economic difficulty, that people can still find time to help a tiny cardboard robot.

Source: Gizmodo [http://i.gizmodo.com/5208357/nyu-student-conducts-most-adorable-robot-experiment-ever]



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[Jumplion]

I don't know about you, but this story brought a smile to my face. It's heartening to know that even in these times of economic difficulty, that people can still find time to help a tiny cardboard robot.

*sniff* Fuck yeah dude *sniff* fuck yeah!

 

[Disembodied_Dave]

Good thing she didn't do this in Boston..

 

[Doug]

The Adventures of Cardboard Robot!

Actually, that sounds great!

 

[clicketycrack]

This has totaly rebuilt my faith in humanity. Who cares about every war in history. At least New Yorkers can find the kindness in their hearts to get a little robot from point A to point B. And I'm only being slightly sarcastic.

 

[Abedeus]

Good thing she didn't do this in Boston..

Or any part of Poland.

I see... A small robot... Covered in pee and poo... With curse words about the police and rival (cough cough) soccer teams.

 

[Daye.04]

Allright! +5 faith in humanity!
Unfortainly I think we're still on a very big negative number ...

But if we keep this up, I might eventually have 0 faith in humanity =D

 

[CoverYourHead]

That is so cool! This has made my day, seriously.

 

[SharedProphet]

Sounds like a good idea for foreigners. Rather than trying to speak to the locals and having to deal with whatever their reaction is to your accent, bring along a cardboard robot, write where you want to go on a flag stuck to it, and follow it.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

I'm a student, but then i'm a sciences student and would have sent out robots made from different materials with different expressions on their faces to actually show something. It may be a heart warming tale, but as a study it is in desperate need of some control groups.

Then again it's SOOO CUTE ^_^!!! If I found one of those I would probably take it home with me.

 

[Fingerprint]

Wow... *wipes a single tear from eye*

 

[Logan Westbrook]

I'm a student, but then i'm a sciences student and would have sent out robots made from different materials with different expressions on their faces to actually show something. It may be a heart warming tale, but as a study it is in desperate need of some control groups.

Then again it's SOOO CUTE ^_^!!! If I found one of those I would probably take it home with me.

To be fair to Kinzer, she's an art student, not a science student.

 

[Mstrswrd]

Yeah, I'm still back on how cute they are.

Aside from that, I am surprised that New Yorkers helped out. I guess New Yorkers are only mean to peoplem an dnot things (that sounds about right).

 

[IxionIndustries]

You have gained assurance in humanity for helping a small cardboard robot!

This is actually quite nice that people helped the lil' guy get to his destination. Sadly, nobody there would do it for another human being..
BTW, that robot is now my new avi.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

I'm a student, but then i'm a sciences student and would have sent out robots made from different materials with different expressions on their faces to actually show something. It may be a heart warming tale, but as a study it is in desperate need of some control groups.

Then again it's SOOO CUTE ^_^!!! If I found one of those I would probably take it home with me.

To be fair to Kinzer, she's an art student, not a science student.

Oh yeah. It just shows how different arts and sciences students are. This strikes me as a perfect way to test how much people empathise with different levels of humanity in an inanimate object. Would people react the same if the robot had a frown, or no face, or if instead of a small cardboard box it was a large Dalek like robot, or even one of those very human looking androids they have in Japan. Would someone be more likely to help little Boxy, C3PO, or Data from Star trek?

 

[thenumberthirteen]

You have gained assurance in humanity for helping a small cardboard robot!

This is actually quite nice that people helped the lil' guy get to his destination. Sadly, nobody there would do it for another human being..
BTW, that robot is now my new avi.

Damn. I was going to have that Robot as my Avatar. Now March Madness is over I need a new one.

 

[bodyklok]

*+ 1 fath in humanity*

 

[Avida]

Thanks nilcypher, made me smile

 

[kaziard]

....resisting....urge...to set fire....to robot

 

[painfull2006]

haha i loved this ^^

watched it a couple of days ago on gizmondo

DO WANT!