The crisp night air of the first cold night in Iowa is
bracing as I step off the humid Cambus and a lungful of the stuff hisses
through my teeth and pours into my chest. It has been overcast and gloomy all
day and the creeping night is only the day’s photo negative.
Summer is over. As I walk up the hill towards home I realize
that I don’t care. It’s a full three weeks in to this new semester and I don’t
think I could be happier. This summer was productive but the new classes are a
welcomed change of pace. The rushing around, the new stresses, and the
adjustments in eating schedules are a sigh of relief in a season that had grown
heavy with routine.
Tonight I am in a particular good mood. In addition to coming off a successful week
where I felt like everything went well, I also witnessed the first nascent
conversations between Denise and Christopher, two of the posse of five NAO robots that we are using in the Robot Theatre
class. Up till now we have been doing monologues or pre-creating gestures for a
library. The process is involved and laborious but rewarding. We act out both
parts of the scene, taking suggestions for refinement or improvements from the
class and I can’t help but be reminded of the video that I have seen of Pixar
animators doing the same thing for their peers. Tonight through the efforts of
the entire class, we combined gestures and dialogue and the results are small,
but good and forecast what is to come.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUcQ8n29uQA&list=UUdzlWmmWe-
(sorry about the directly embedded link. Its a private video but the link will get you there.)
(sorry about the directly embedded link. Its a private video but the link will get you there.)
In the coming weeks these robots will stand and move to tell
the story more effectively. The voices will be sculpted to add emotion. Later
scenes will involve humans and robot interactions. Finally we will add an
audience.
I will post more soon as we get things into a completed
state.
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