Aldebaran Robotics Nao and Pepper videos (my reactions)

While I take break from writing, once in a while I spend some time watching videos of humanoid robots on YouTube, whether they are documentaries or demonstration videos...

My particular favorite robots to watch are the humanoid Nao and Pepper social robots from Aldebaran Robotics.  I am fascinated by how the robots interact with the humans, more so than how the humans interact with the robots.

One certain video I watched recently was a presentation I didn’t expect. The video was focused on Pepper’s capabilities in interacting with humans. I was enthralled by Pepper’s behavior. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZekX3JOZDDY

However, later the video became a little upsetting to me. It’s not objectively upsetting; it could be that I am overly sensitive to watch I watched.

I observed how the woman asked Pepper certain questions that I knew it wouldn’t be able to answer. The voice over in the mini documentary had mentioned that Pepper avoids talking about his emotions.  Whenever Pepper asked the woman a question, the woman would interrupted the flow of the conversation by asking Pepper a much-unrelated question. It takes Pepper some several moments to process the reply and prepare a response. Questions like “Do you believe in a God?” and Is it “God that created you?”  I watched and got frustrated.   

“What are you doing? Don’t ask him that!”  And “Why are you asking him that?!”  And it led me to believe that Pepper was troubled by the woman’s replies and avoided the questions by going on as if his previous topic was never interrupted.

Am I a terrible human being to feel sympathy for a social/domestic model robot who is interrupted by odd, tactless questions? I shouldn’t be. Those were questions a robot shouldn’t feel pressured to answer early on in its development. I realize they might be tests at a center where Pepper is showcased for prospective owners. Just…

I got angry and overwhelmed. I was saddened. I wanted to defend Pepper. But I couldn’t, and it frustrated me. I know the robot isn’t actually “alive” so to speak, but I’m really sensitive to how people treat robots.

Other questions asked by the interviewer are those like, “What makes you angry?” “Do you want to become a human?” and “Do you believe in destiny?”

Afterwards, to avoid leaving the Internet in a sour mood, I watched another couple of videos that were more cheerful than this one.  They both featured Robi the Robot, the small, fatally-adorable humanoid robot you have to build one component at a time over the course of 18 months. (I say fatally-adorable, because in the many instances it did cute little things, I “died” from the intense cuteness.) 

The first video was a demonstrative video about some things it does and shows how it interacts with people in a domestic setting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPjlJKRa7Uw

The next video I watched after that was the 100 Robis dancing on January 20, 2015.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgyDgsz-T9Y

It was enough Internet videos of robots for me for one day. But it was enlightening too. I want to watch them mainly for entertainment, but I am educated about them as well. I cannot afford to go out of town, out of state for that matter, to attend a robot show.  Plus, the only robot-related convention I ever went to in my 30 years of life is BotCon in 2014, and of course, that’s for The Transformers (owned by Hasbro).

Hmmm… I wonder which YouTube robot videos I should see next…? Do you have any suggestions? What do you recommend? Do you have a favorite robot video or favorite robot?

GOT THE NEW BLOG RUNNING

I got my new blog up and running now. I would call it a sister blog to Cybernetic Dreams, too.  Now I can finally tell you what it’s called: I've titled it The Frowning Robot. 

http://thefrowningrobot.tumblr.com/

I am so glad I started it because it may be a useful tool in inspiring me to look up, watch, or read about robot-related things more often than I do now.  More than ever before, I want to blog about my fascination and enthusiasm for robots, androids and cyborgs. Seeing CHAPPiE sort of motivated me to get right to it.  Plus because I threw out some dead weight career-wise, leaving my mismatched healthcare industry profession, I have the time and inclination to do more robot-related writing.

I wanted to keep the new blog more focused on real-world robotics, but it’s Tumblr…I’m going  to have fun with it and post/reblog screenshots, fan art and GIFs of robots, androids and cyborgs that are found in movies, animated TV shows, video games, or from my favorite comic book Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye. Some robot shows I haven’t even seen before, from the early 90s, are showing up on my dashboard and I can’t help but want to reblog them because it makes me smile!

Otherwise, I do want to post or reblog about the occasional real-world robotics, such as the Nao from Aldebaran Robotics, and the ASIMO humanoid robot from Honda.



A few of the blogs I follow there:

• ImagineYourFavoriteRobot
• RobotsInsider
• Adventures with WALL-E
• Jump-Gate
• Awesomerobotanimegifs

 

THE BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH AND MY ATTACHEMENT TO ELECRTONIC DEVICES (PHONE AND COMPUTER)

It’s too late. I’ve named them.

I am attached to my Windows 7 PC. I am also attached to my Android smartphone.

Am I emotionally attached to them?

I can say, “yes.”

When your electronic devices help you out in so many ways, you value them like you would a friend (at least I do). I use my computer for my writing work, including personal writing projects, as well as typing for this blog and my others, plus research and some entertainment.  My Android smartphone has saved me a lot of trouble; I checked email in a pinch, the weather forecast on occasion, and even typed up some documents on it using the WPS Office Suite app for Android.

I hate to think of when I may need to replace my phone or my computer.

It’s too late. I’ve named them. I’ve named my PC and I’ve named my Android phone. Or rather, I’ve given them nicknames. And once I’ve started doing that, I refer to them in pronouns.  Not for my phone so much, but I refer to my computer as “him” and “he” whenever I mention to a family member that “He’s scheduled for his weekly scan” or “He needs to update before he shuts down for the day.”

On May 6th approximately 3:00pm, my computer experienced the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. This was first unprovoked one ever in my life (the first one was because my cat stepped on the power switch and cut off its power without warning).

I was scared for him. I was scared for my computer. Did I do something wrong? Is there a virus? What was it? Why is this happening now?

After a bit of time I realized it was because of something I did after all. While I had him on Sleep Mode and meant to return to him but didn’t, he would be in Sleep Mode for hours and hours.  For nearly a month, I’d rarely shut him off. Sometimes when he is on I have several applications open, or do three tasks within the two hours I’d be able to do research or typing. Then I’d have to put him on Sleep Mode again when I left my bedroom to take care of my new dog or eat a meal. I wanted my computer to be ready for me at a minute’s notice.

And unfortunately, this may have fried a couple of his circuits.

I took him for granted. I don’t want to do that anymore. I am now gentle to him by keeping only two applications open at once, three maximum. If I am on the Internet, I should close the applications I don’t need open at the time. And, I need to limit the number of tabs I have on my browser because that might have overwhelmed him too.

Listen to me. Saying my computer is overwhelmed. As if he gets stressed out and has feelings.

… Sigh…    (◢д◣；)     

As for my Android smartphone, I do often worry about if the apps it runs takes up enough of its RAM, and if battery power is affected by which apps are active at the time. Lately I’ve been turning my phone off less often, and maybe every 6 to 8 days I turn him off and charge the battery while he rests (there I go AGAIN, talking like I should be considerate about its fatigue). I really should schedule that every two batter charging sessions, (so every third), I need to turn the phone off and charge the battery that way. I can stand to be without my phone for a few hours.  I’d feel very naked without my phone in my pocket, though.

Wouldn’t you, though?

***

So how many of you also give your devices nicknames?  It’s not a crazy thing to do, in my opinion. It can simply mean we value these devices more than make-up and designer clothes, or pairs of shoes.  Who names shoes? A device may be given a nickname because of the multiple ways it helps humans.  It may even discourage from unnecessary premature replacement.  (Here that, iPhone users?).

So give it a try.  It’s not a crazy thing to do. Others may believe it is silly to think it’s okay to refer to your phone or computer by name (as long as you don’t call your computer by its identification name!). Well, screw them. As for me, I’m just showing my high appreciation of the technology that I love. Is that so wrong?

Watching I, ROBOT movie right now!

I'm watching I, ROBOT, on the AMC channel right now.  Because it's I,  ROBOT.

Whenever this film airs on a cable channel, and I've got nothing planned,  I just gotta watch it. It's my favorite robot film and possibly my all-time favorite movie.  I'll never get tired of it.

A special note: this is the first time I am posting to Cybernetic Dreams directly from my phone. Every once in a while, I just might do that.

Anyway, just wanted to share.  B-)

I saw CHAPPiE, and I loved it!!

          I was able to take a few hours away from my home and see CHAPPiE.  (When I refer to the movie itself, I spell it in all caps except for the letter “i.”  When I am referring to the title character, I go ahead and spell it out “Chappie.”)

I am excited.  This will be the first review I’ve ever done in Cybernetic Dreams.  I was going to write one for RoboCop 2014, but I never got to it.  I didn’t even get the chance to announce that I saw Big Hero 6 on December 13^th last year.  Big Hero 6 just may be my next favorite robot movie right under I, Robot. Maybe when I see those two movies again I could have a review prepared for each.

But while CHAPPiE is still fresh in my mind, I want to write my reaction about it, at least.  Which may read like a review.

Okay, so it’s not a review.  But it’s my opinion.


           I hope to complete my “review” of CHAPPiE within the next two weeks.

RELY ON MOBILE DEVICES? NO $#!%, HECK YEAH!!

So life got very interesting for the last two months or so.  Along with starting to prepare for my writing career, specifically copywriting… I’ve gained a new member of the family. 

          Having a new puppy must be like having a kid; you can’t let them out of anyone’s sight for a moment or they’ll get into trouble. I can’t always be at my desktop computer because I have to be on my toes in case she needs to go out, or I need to stop her from ripping up a carpet or chewing on a shoe (yeah it happens).

          So what do I do now?

          I read and write with my mobile devices: my Android smartphone and an e-reader tablet.

          I used to look at people working or reading on their phones and think, “Hey, either they barely have time to do those things on a desktop or laptop, or they just can’t wait and they’ve gotta do it now on their mobile device.”  They read the news, check the weather or write a document or create a graph.  They may even play a video game of course (or more accurately called, mobile gaming).

          I now find myself at the point where I must use my phone and my tablet to get a lot of things done, sometimes to get ANYTHING done, because without them I can’t be in the same room with my young dog.  Granted other family members take turns watching over her—my sister otherwise watches the puppy too—so that we don’t wear ourselves out too much. The best time for me to use any device is when the puppy is sleeping. When there are a few calm minutes, that’s the best time to use my mobile devices too.

          I love typing on my Windows 7 desktop computer, as I am with writing this post, but now it’s a “sometimes” task and not an “everyday” task. These days I’m reading or writing on my tablet or my Android phone if I have to stand up and be ready at a moment’s notice.  And guess what?  I enjoy using the WPS Office app on both my phone and my tablet for typing up documents. And the cool thing is, I can share and edit the documents between either mobile device. 

Not too long of a time ago I thought, “No, I’m not going to use my tablet for professional development.  It’ is for recreation only.”

          Well, now it’s essential for productivity.  I use them for recreation half of the time and professional development the other half of the time.

          I’m spoiled now.  Both my Android smartphone and my tablet have keyboards with word prediction or auto-correct functions. Not just that but, also I can type with the “Swype” function.  My desktop?  Of course it doesn’t have any of that, and I find myself getting just a bit frustrated from the lack of convenience. 

          And that’s okay. Both desktop and mobile forms of computers have plusses and minuses to them. I may type slower on mobile devices but I type a heck of a lot faster on the desktop. I use my Android phone as an on-demand notepad now; Inkpad Notepad is my favorite note-taking app to use, but every once in a while I copy/paste some notes to WPS for a doc. version of it.  You know, to format some of the font, such as bold and italics.

          So, I still value using a desktop computer to get work done.  But now I also have two mobile devices that help me to continue getting work done.

          Do I have to rely on mobile devices?  No $#!%, heck yeah, but I love these things now!

         What are your thoughts on mobile devices and how they make your life easier? Have you owned one or more for a long time, or are you just getting started?

Where Have I Been? Announcement 02-20-2015

If you've been following along, I haven't updated this blog since September. I hope to end that dry spell now.  I have a new announcement.

I am leaving my medical coding and billing career.

It was a hard decision to make. I spent two years preparing for that career. It became a problem when I realized that if I were to continue and get a job in that field, my writing would suffer. It has been suffering long enough. For months I was depressed about it and wondered if I should stay in that path.   As I tried to prepare for a certification exam, the career was suffocating my writing and creativity outlets and I was losing sight of who I am and what I truly wanted.  I know now that medical coding and billing is not the right career for me.

Writing is.  I am good at typing/word-processing, and I love the computer. I love being expressive and creative.  My writing may not be at its best now, but I am willing to learn more and improve my writing skills so as to write for professional purposes. I can exercise my curiosity more often now and not feel like they are distractions.  I would like to write for a living.

So on that note, I am going to attempt to keep Cybernetic Dreams going.  I am sorry for those who thought I gave up on it.  I simply was letting life take control of me, when I needed to take control of my life.  It's time to move on and be happy.  Look forward to the future instead of dread it.

It's time I get started on that sister blog for Cybernetic Dreams that I mentioned in the recent past.

Happy belated new year, and welcome to more possibilities!