Tweenbots project finds people really do care about robots, for now

We've already seen a fair bit of evidence suggesting that humans can quickly form bonds with robots, and it looks like ITP's Kacie Kinzer has now thrown some additional, adorable fodder into the mix. Apparently, she's spent the past few months sending a robot, or "Tweenbot," aimlessly wandering through New York's Washington Square Park in the hope that passers-by would take time from their busy day to help guide it from one corner of the park to the other -- or at least point it in the right direction. As you may be pleased to know, it turns out that plenty of folks were more than happy to help out the little bot, and it was even able to complete its journey in as little as little as 42 minutes with the help of 29 people. Of course, no one sends a smiling cardboard robot out into the wild without capturing a bit of video, so head on past the break for it, and hit up the link below for glimpse at some future Tweenbots.

[Via MAKE]

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 13th 2009 5:10PM]

I'd build one here in LA, but he'd be up on blocks with his little wheels stolen in a matter of minutes.

[prikolni Posted Apr 13th 2009 5:28PM]

This is interesting, but does it really count as an experiment in human bonding to a robot, or instead the bonding of humans with a second, unseen human? I mean, clearly the robot is not an agent in this experiment, and the flag was written by the experimenter -- that is to say, the experimenter is the one asking to help the robot to get to the other end of the park, not the robot. I somehow find this experiment's findings to be kind of questionable in terms of robots, and more insightful in terms of human interaction with other, unseen humans.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 13th 2009 9:26PM]

Want to embed text-to-speech hardware and voice recognition in the next one?

[Eastman Posted Apr 13th 2009 5:33PM]

i would love to see it here in Berlin ..

what a great idea and to see all them people helping the cute little fella !

awwwwww

[Naoki7 Posted Apr 14th 2009 1:36AM]

That is so adorable, it made my day. I want one!

[Sinh Posted Apr 14th 2009 1:55AM]

Damn, that thing is freaking cute.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 14th 2009 6:37AM]

There's an animated short called

"Tweenbots can be ridden."

View it here:
http://ferretbunny.com/?p=778

[NameIsDavid Posted Apr 14th 2009 10:31AM]

In what sense is this a robot at all? It's just a dumb non-R/C electric car shaped like a robot and with a face drawn on.