[From The Atlantic; note: ISPR is non-partisan]

[Image from Down With Tyranny]

The Uncanny Valley: What Robot Theory Tells Us About Mitt Romney

The GOP front-runner looks just enough like the perfect picture of an American president to make us uncomfortable.

By Brian Fung
Jan 31 2012

Mitt Romney is the storybook presidential candidate. He’s successful, good-looking and a family man, to boot. Yet one of this political season’s enduring puzzles has been the former governor’s consistent inability to bond with voters. It’s been suggested that Romney’s robotic persona may be to blame — and perhaps the analogy isn’t far off. Much as people are repulsed and disturbed by automatons that mimic humans closely but imperfectly, Romney inexplicably turns voters off despite looking like the textbook image of an American president. Roboticists call this unsettling effect “the uncanny valley” — and Romney is stuck deep at the bottom of it.… read more. “The uncanny valley: What robot theory tells us about Mitt Romney”

[From TekGoblin]

Kinect-Powered Amusement Park Will Blow Your Mind

Analysis by Nic Halverson
Mon Feb 6, 2012

Has playing video games on your couch lost its luster? Ever wish you could fully immerse yourself in an interactive world of virtual reality? If so, you might want to keep an eye on ticket prices to South Korea.

“Live Park 4D Art Factory” is a new amusement park/virtual museum that recently opened in Ilsan, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. The 10,000-square-foot space includes 65 attractions, several interactive displays and art installation.… read more. “Kinect-powered amusement park will blow your mind”

[From TekGoblin; more information is available from Corning]

Corning’s Second Day of Glass

By: Andy Mercer | February 5, 2012

Nearly a year ago, Corning (maker of Gorilla Glass), released a video encapsulating it’s vision of the future. It’s since gotten 17 million views on youtube, and started numerous discussions and responses.

In the video, Corning predicted large scale desktop touchscreen displays, bigger video screens, and dynamic billboards. And while much of the video is still in the future, the OLED TV’s shown by LG at this year’s CES do seem to bring the video to life.

Despite the fact that most of what was in the video still hasn’t come to reality, Corning apparently isn’t one to stand still. Just under a year after A Day of Glass was released, Corning released A Day of Glass 2.… read more. “Corning video presents new vision of the future of glass and other tech”

[From CBC News; more information is available from The University of Ottawa]

[Image: University of Ottawa scientist Emil Petriu is shown with a robot in his lab. Petriu and his colleagues are replacing the robot’s mechanical parts with more human-like parts they are designing. (Peter Thornton/University of Ottawa)]

Life-like robot being built in Ottawa lab

Scientist believes humans, robots can have symbiotic relationship

CBC News
Jan 20, 2012

Canadian scientists are developing a robot that mimics the human face’s expressions and human hand’s tactile processes, which they say will be useful in areas like nursing, nuclear plant maintenance, and explosive device disposal. It could even act as a companion.

Leadscientist Emil Petriu, a computer engineer at the University of Ottawa who has done work for the Canadian Space Agency, described his research in a phone interview with CBC News.… read more. “Life-like robot being built in Ottawa lab”

[From Geek-O-System]

AAAH! AAAH! TAKE IT AWAY!

Beavis and Butt-Head in Real Life are Positively Terrifying

by James Plafke | January 20th, 2012

Artist Kevin Kirkpatrick made these prosthetic busts of Beavis and Butt-Head, taking an absolutely horrifying turn and making them realistic instead of cartoony. Check out more pictures and angles [at the url above], all of which can’t be unseen, so proceed with caution.… read more. “Beavis and Butt-Head in real life are positively terrifying”

[From ThisIsColossal]

Speedy PVC Pipe Sculptures

By Christopher on December 7, 2011

These whimsical sculptures by Korean artist Kang Duck-Bong are made by adhering myriad cuts of PVC pipe and covering them in a thick shellac of urethane paint. The process creates an uncanny sense of motion, the figures appearing blurred and perpetually in motion. Kang’s work is on display at Gallery 4Walls in Seoul through December 23 as part of his solo show, Disguise. A huge thanks to Cho at Gallery 4Walls for providing the imagery for this post.… read more. “Kang Duck-Bong’s PVC pipe sculptures create illusion of motion”