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Tweenbot robot an experiment in social interaction
What would you do if you were walking through a park and saw a little cardboard robot struggling to make its way along the paths? Would you, good samaritan-like, help it get to its destination, or would you walk on by? This is the question that Kacie Kinzer, an arts student at Tisch School of the Arts in NY, wanted to answer. So she created the Tweenbot, a 10-inch-tall cardboard robot as a social experiment, left him to fend for himself in a park, and filmed the results.
Kinzer expected hardened New Yorkers to ignore the little cardbot's plight, but she was surprised by what she saw, following at a safe distance with a hidden camera in her bag. "Every time the robot got caught under a park bench, ground futilely against a curb, or became trapped in a pothole," she writes on her website, "some passerby would always rescue it and send it toward its goal. One man turned the robot back in the direction from which it had just come, saying out loud to the Tweenbot, 'You can't go that way, it's toward the road.'" See the little critter in action below, alongside a video of its incredible journey.
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It took the Tweenbot 42 minutes to trundle through Washington Square Park, from the north-east to the south-east corner. Twenty-nine passers-by helped him on his way.
By x5tuu at 5:49 AM ON 04/13/09
see there is some good in the world after all :)
love the music to this too!
By Stefan at 8:49 AM ON 04/13/09
What does it say on the flag? I could only make out "Help me".
By vinnyrose at 8:51 AM ON 04/13/09
The destination that the robot needs to get to is on the flag. The "helpers" have to read the flag and direct the robot.
By Nicole at 10:50 AM ON 04/13/09
Its the most adorable social experiment ever.
By Artee Decco at 1:51 PM ON 04/13/09
Surprised they didn't go into a full blown panic and call out the bomb squad for "an unusual package". Nice to see there's some helpful people out there. Droid power!
By Mazimoto at 3:21 PM ON 04/13/09
I almost cry ....
By Gumbercules at 3:25 PM ON 04/13/09
I heart Tweenbot.
By Whitestreet at 7:56 PM ON 04/13/09
Goes to show: smile, and folks will help you.
By TB at 8:17 PM ON 04/13/09
You could do some interesting added experiments. Try a robot without a cute "smiley face" on it, or one with an angry-looking robot grill mouth. Would they be as helpful if the robot weren't cute?
By gbert at 9:01 PM ON 04/13/09
Yeah, really funny. Let's see what happens next time when it goes Kaboom! when someone picks it up.
By Stiles at 10:23 PM ON 04/13/09
This has nothing to do with how PEOPLE treat PEOPLE. This is the worst analogy comparing a motorized box to people requiring or asking for empathy.
By tioguerra at 11:02 PM ON 04/13/09
I wonder if they would help as much if the had no face or anthropomorphic aspect at all...
By Sht_Kkr at 4:03 AM ON 04/14/09
This really did make my day and it really would be interesting to see how people would react to a different face on the robot and maybe the sign could also seem more rude while asking for help
By alexthecylon at 1:03 PM ON 04/14/09
Good thing this experiment didn't take place in Boston. Remember when that entire city panicked over the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie promotion. It's good to see that New Yorkers are not only helpful, but they're not paranoid either.
By tWB at 1:23 PM ON 04/14/09
I especially like the Urban Park Ranger setting the little guy on his way.
By Jacob Christopher at 5:19 PM ON 04/21/09
The stereotype of New Yorkers is wrong. When visiting new NYC I was treated so well by everyone I came across. This also reinforces my outlook on the wonderful people of NYC
By Joe in Korea at 3:43 AM ON 04/22/09
Next time run him around with a flag that says "Robots are better than humans"!
Then let’s see who helps him out.
By anonhandle at 9:37 PM ON 04/22/09
haha that's awesome. what's the music? I like it a lot
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anonhandle:
haha that's awesome. what's the music? I like it a lot...More »