Persuasive Robotics Talk At The Emotional Machines Conference

My talk on Persuasive Robots at the Emotional Machines Conference.

I was invited to give a talk at the Interdisciplinary Conference on Emotional Machines in Stuttgart on September 21st, 2017. My talk focused mainly on the work I did in collaboration with Jürgen Brandstetter (doi: 10.1145/2909824.3020257, doi: 10.1177/0261927X15584682, doi: 10.1109/IROS.2014.6942730). My main argument was that the number of robots in our society will increase dramatically and robots will participate in the formation of our language. Through their influence on our language they will be able to nudge our valence related to certain terms. Moreover, it will only take 10% of us to own a robot for them to dominate the development of our language.

This is also the first time I used a 360 degree camera to record a talk. This technology becomes particularly useful when following the discussion between the speaker and the audience. YouTube’s 360 video feature does not work in all web browser (e.g. it does not work with Safari). Chrome and Firefox should be fine.

Critical LEPIN exhibit banned from LEGO fan show

The Christchurch Brick Show committee in conjunction with the Management of LUG 4×2 banned my exhibit at the Christchurch Brick Show 2017. I am seriously concerned about the decision, the process on how this decision was made, and shocked by the reason provided for the decision. I would therefore like to launch a complaint about their actions.

I will first describe the events as I experienced them before, during and after the show. I will then draw some conclusions and define my exact complaint. Continue reading “Critical LEPIN exhibit banned from LEGO fan show”

Affordable Sound Both for Voice Recording

Recording a clear voice with no background noise is key for any video, audiobook or podcast. If you are limited in space and budget then you might consider building your own little sound proof voice recording box. I build this little gem from 6mm MDF and some acoustic foam taped to the box with double sided tape.

For the box you can create the drawing necessary for the laser cutter using online tools, such as Box Designer. It exports a PDF file which all the six faces clearly separated. If you are planning to make efficient use of your wood then you may prefer MakerCase. This service aligns the six sides so that they can be cut most efficiently from a piece of MDF. Here is the box drawing for laser cutter used for this design.

We attached rubber feed to the box and placed the microphone on an old mouse pad to isolate the microphone from any vibrations of the table, such as when a laptop is placed on it. Handles on the side allow for an easy transportation.

Here is a recording without the box. The microphone was placed just directly on the table:

This recording was made with the speaker sitting in front of the box speaking into the microphone.

The last example is with the speaker leaning into the box.

You will notice how all ambient noice is gone and how intimate the voice of the speaker sounds.

Bloomberg Businessweek interviewed Omics about my nonsense paper

Esmé E Deprez and Caroline Chen from Bloomberg Businessweek visited the headquarters of Omics in India to interview its owner Srinubabu Gedela about his company. Omics is widely considered a predatory publisher that publishes papers without rigorous peer review. Confronted with the acceptance of my non-sensical paper he replied that “Bartneck’s paper slipped through because it was submitted so close to the conference’s deadline.” Yeah, right.

Holonomic LEGO Mindstorms Robot

A holonomic robot uses omni-directional wheels to drive and turn in any direction on the spot. Agilis is an example of an early LEGO holonomic robot. My model is much simpler and robust. Essential to all holonomic robots are the use of omni-directional wheel, such as the the ones from Rotacaster. I am using a compass sensor to allow the robot to be remote controlled on an absolute grid using Connexion’s Space Navigator. This 3D input devices can be mapped to the unique movements and rotations of a holonomic robot.

Continue reading “Holonomic LEGO Mindstorms Robot”