dancing

Latest

  • Yukata-clad robots party down in Tokyo

    by 
    Darren Murph
    Darren Murph
    08.18.2006

    While these robotic creatures don't have such lofty goals as colonizing the moon or caring for the elderly, there's nothing wrong with teaching a new 'bot old tricks, especially when it can turn around and teach actual humans how to bust a move. In the latest episode of Japanese robotics completely outshining the rest of the world's attempts, a group of children (and a few parents) gathered around a "wa" -- better understood as a dancing robot all dressed up for the occasion -- to bring out a gyrating side they never knew possible. The 35-centimeter tall dancing machine reportedly sports a face, arms, legs, and most of the phalanges you'd expect to see, as well as "joints" throughout the frame to give it lifelike abilities while breaking it down. While we're not exactly sure how this little guy (or girl) was programmed, nor if it would make a suitable practice partner for the vertically challenged, the possibilities here are limited only by our imagination (and its battery life). It seems that we're getting ever closer to relying on robots to convey meaningful information to other humans autonomously, and while learning how to get down on the dance floor from something that needs to be routinely oiled may seem a bit, um, unnatural, we hear the wa does an excellent job at holding back the laughter when you take a spill (and doesn't charge by the hour, either).[Via Digital World Tokyo]

  • Hands-on with B-Boy

    by 
    Andrew Yoon
    Andrew Yoon
    08.16.2006

    Marco, regular PSP Fanboy reader, wrote in our comments section: "It is something nobody has done before (as far as I know)... I think people are jaded about any game being about Hip Hop... but at least I do know that there are people who do make the genre respectable."Very true, Marco. It's pretty easy to get jaded over games that don't seem authentic, but B-Boy seems to be the real deal. It's a game that deserves a bit more attention than it's getting, if only for its unique premise: you play as a rising star of break-dancing, and you battle other b-boys to try and become the best. It looks pretty new and different, and according to IGN, it "doesn't play quite like anything that's come before." The D-Pad controls movement, and the face buttons are used as the building blocks of moves. You string things together, and maintain balance using the L and R buttons a la Tony Hawk. There are transition moves, and increasingly complicated moves which require greater button combinations, and that's where a surprising amount of depth can come into play. Like extreme sports games, you can build up some impressive combos.B-Boy promises to mix music rhythm and sports gameplay into an innovative combination. The game is currently UK-exclusive, but hopefully we'll see it branching out soon.

  • Rabbids can indeed rave

    by 
    Jason Wishnov
    Jason Wishnov
    06.09.2006

    As impartial observers, we'll need to scientifically verify the truth of this statement. Regardless, it's quite a bizarre advertisement, and one right in line with what you'd expect from the rather quirky series head honcho, Michel Ancel. Rayman: Raving Rabbids is currently slated for launch.[Update: Experiments have yielded conclusive test results; bunnies are completely unable to play soccer. Further studies involving dancing, we leave to the reader.]

  • Promet's little bro, the HRP-2m "Choromet" humanoid robot

    by 
    Evan Blass
    Evan Blass
    05.30.2006

    It's no secret that we love us some humanoid robots around here, and while their skiing, fighting, and temp skills are always impressive, all we really wanna do is watch the little guys dance. Unfortunately for us, most of the dancing bots we see around here are crazy expensive -- see the Partner Ballroom Dance Robot, for example -- including the HRP-2m "Promet" model that costs over $70,000-a-year just to rent. Well apparently Promet's manufacturer, Kawada Industries, haven't found much of a market for their pricey life-sized bot, so they've teamed up with Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and three other firms to build a smaller, cheaper version of the HRP-2m called the Choromet. Powered by Linux, this 35-centimeter tall version can perform most of the same tricks as its big brother (such as standing on one leg, or delivering a killer Voltron impression) at a much more reasonable $4,450, and is being targeted towards the academic and research communities (which is where Promet originally learned to shake his groove thing).[Via I4U, thanks Bram V.]

  • The Inspiration for the Draenei Dance

    by 
    Elizabeth Harper
    Elizabeth Harper
    05.16.2006

    I admit, I was wondering about the unusual Draenei dance from the moment I saw it.  Well, WorldofWar.Net seems to have found the dance's inspiration - in the form of this music video from India's music star Daler Mehndi.  WorldofWar.Net warns that "the Mehndi video is crack," and, well I don't think I could explain it any better myself.

  • Real Life WoW Dancing

    by 
    Mike D'Anna
    Mike D'Anna
    04.29.2006

    Those wacky Norwegians are at it again. At the recent fest called 'The Gathering', apparently the liquor & drugs were as plentiful as the shame was scarce, because in front of an auditorium full of people, a dozen gamers took to the stage to give their real-life renditions of the various dances from the different races in WoW. Ever wanted to see a full-grown man doing the female Night Elf dance? Yeah, me neither... 

  • QRIO's turn as Kindergarten Cop

    by 
    Evan Blass
    Evan Blass
    04.17.2006

    Remember how Sony sent one of their QRIO humanoid robots on a publicity stunt goodwill mission to a US preschool last year? Well it seems that their intentions were less than completely altruistic, because while the children -- ages two-and-under -- joyfully danced and played with the now-deceased bot, researchers from Sony and the University of California at San Diego's Machine Perception Laboratory were secretly videotaping and analyzing their every interaction. According to the study's recently-released results, QRIO's spy work revealed that, unsurprisingly, the toddlers developed an attachment to their artificial playmate, preferring to dance with the bot rather than alone, and eventually helping it up if it happened to topple over. Unfortunately this story is not all smiles and sunshine, however, as word of QRIO's double-life got back to the preschoolers, who reportedly overpowered their other robot companion, RUBI, and interrogated the hell out of it using a car battery and welding torch.[Via Robot Gossip]

  • Dance Across Azeroth

    by 
    Elizabeth Harper
    Elizabeth Harper
    03.23.2006

    Deciding on the perfect race and class for a new character can be difficult, which is why it's important to stay informed about the choices that matter.  What am I talking about?  Dance animations, of course!  The EU website had filled a glaring gap in existing documentation by providing a handy reference to dance animations - though they have sadly neglected ghost wolf, moonkin, bear form, and cat form animations (the later two new features in the upcoming patch, for those not in the know)!