I love Lucy

February 27, 2004 9:52 AM

Meet Lucy.She sure ain't pretty, but she's certainly unique. Steve Grand (interview 1, 2) one of the brains behind Creatures, has been working for the last three years on building a robot orangutan in his own house. Those is the South Wales area can catch Steve speaking about his experiences next month. Steve may well be a non-establishment genius, but when I see pictures like this, I can't help thinking it's already been done.
posted by nylon (6 comments total)

I'm sure this is fascinating but good lord that's a disturbing looking face, Lucy's sporting. Burn Victim: The Robot!
posted by Peter H at 10:03 AM on February 27, 2004

Ahhhh, the Welsh.
posted by ciderwoman at 11:18 AM on February 27, 2004

Not as good as the RealDoll (possibly nsfw)
posted by madman at 11:36 AM on February 27, 2004

ha, madman, that was seriously (not kidding) my first thought too, heh ... or at least "why not put lucy in one" - i mean the technology exists to not make our androids freakishly ugly, people.
posted by Peter H at 11:43 AM on February 27, 2004

the technology exists to not make our androids freakishly ugly

As a techie, I understand the decision as a good metaphor. Since we don't nearly have the technology for it, you don't want to use a human-looking android because that creates certain expectations. An ape-like one can be much less intelligent without disappointing the spectator/user.
posted by callmejay at 12:07 PM on February 27, 2004

wow... what with the cat with hands, the freaky singing babies, and now this fetus-faced robot Metafilter is really starting to creep me out...
posted by Stauf at 12:40 PM on February 27, 2004