Although there are gaining fears that robots will replace our jobs, us humans have always rest assured in the knowledge that we’re the only ones who could be soulful enough to create art. Well, the robots one step closer to that now as well.
This robot, developed by Aldo Faisal and his team at Imperial College London, takes a different approach to the usual "robot artists." Instead of being programmed to draw, the robot acts as an extension of the human body. A tracker follows the direction of a person’s gaze. Depending on where the painter looks and how their eyes move, this information is processed and the robotic arm carries out the movement of the paint brush.
This gaze command technology is not merely for show-off robots. Faisal hopes this technology can be applied to assist amputees or paralyzed people and even help clean up chemical spills from afar, negating the need for humans to enter possibly hazardous areas. John Paulin Hansen of the Technical University of Denmark is working on similar technology with gaze-controlled drones. Speaking to New Scientist he also said, “Gaze control will be integrated into phones and tablets within the next couple of years. It will soon become a part of everyday life.”
In the video below, we see student Sabine Dziemian using this technology to create a painting of a house. The piece might not be rivalling Van Gogh anytime soon, however, Dziemian told New Scientist it was very easy and natural to use.
[H/T: New Scientist]
2
