Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Welcome to Westworld: The androids are coming

The androids are coming

Or its less-successful sequel, Futureworld, starring Peter Fonda and Blythe Danner.  Notice, however, no one has yet attempted to duplicate Yul Brynner.  Instead, robot manufacturers seek to perfect a female appearance for their creations, and find themselves mired in the uncanny valley.

I think they should go for a more unisex, Star Wars look first.  Exploit the natural human ability to find a face in things that aren't necessarily faced.  Some big round C3P0 eyes and a small, happy-looking mouth would go a long way towards charming the public.  Even R2D2, essentially a mobile trash bin with blinking lights and a series of beeps as a form of communication, was much cuter than the corpse-like appearance they've managed with this humanoid model.  Seriously, it looks as though Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs hooked up with a former BattleBots champion to make a robot only Ed Gein could love.

Where's Stuart Margolin when you need him?

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