I've been thinking a lot about the issues around the limits of programming that I've been discussing on my blog in my last few posts and through the discussion that arose upon presentation of our character-bots. Essentially in this project we were looking to convey a more the human aspect of our characters where we are pushing on the boundaries of where exactly we draw the line between human and machine. The characteristics which we were trying to convey of our character are limited by the simple fact that it is a machine and we can only program it to give the impression of being and personality which is something that develops over time in reaction to events in our lives and the environments in which we reside which shape us. Essentially, we can program a robot to mimic our primary senses (touch, sight, sounds etc.) but it is almost like a sixth sense which you cannot create in a sensor which define us as humans. I believe that this is the boundary, you cannot program a soul.
Perhaps I am reading too much into it. It was interesting none the less to see how everyone approached this challenge and this boundary. We spoke of the group dynamics beginning to arise and the frustrations some faced with the programming for lack of experience. Speaking personally, within my group it was almost a case of too many engineers, not enough engines. The four boys who I was working with were all hands on deck enthusiasm for building and creating while I tinkered with the programming. I have been using computers since the age of about 7 (ish?) so well over half my life so I am fairly computer literate and can usually just start tinkering with any software to try figure it out. I've grown up in a family of engineers so very much have that mindset of determination to fix or make something better and understanding how it ticks. (This comes in handy at my part time job where every single machine likes to have its temperamental moment.)
I do realize that this is not the case for everyone but I have found that people do naturally fall into where they are comfortable and knowledgeable and the purpose of having a diverse mix of abilities within the 45 or so of us, is to learn off each others strengths and knowledge. Again, I do speak from experience and realize this is not necessarily the case for everyone. At the end of it all, I think James summed it up well where he said that we should "embrace the frustration" and to think about "how do you determine success?" When spirits were low on Tuesday afternoon and the word 'fail' was thrown around a lot as many were demoralized at the many unsuccessful attempts to complete the challenge, I kept trying to encourage everyone that we had not failed, but merely not yet succeeded in the challenged. I was reminded of again James' words from day 1 where he said that we shouldn't be afraid to make mistakes and that was in fact what we were doing, through trial and error and mistakes we were learning, and learning is after all succeeding. Why else would we go to university (and pay large amounts of money to do so!) if not to learn.
I was pleased and slightly emotionally attached to Chester the Jester (despite the fact he lost an arm during the presentation in all this enthusiasm) so we big a farewell to him and each other as we reshuffled teammates.
I think we all had a sense of growing panic as we were shown four clips of different styles of dance from classical ballet, modern contemporary, cheesy musical dancing from West Side Story and a percussional movement piece from Stomp. Irony is a funny thing. I wrote earlier this week in my blog about how I'd love to make my robot dance in such a way that it was interacting with other robots. Yet when actually presented with the brief which involved just that, it suddenly seemed very overwhelming. Yet, I am still stupidly excited about it all. I was already squirming in my seat at the last two clips; I had my three or so year stint in the performing arts during high school but have been dancing since I was about 4, everything from Ballet, to hip hop, to contemporary to tap. I saw the live show of Stomp about 4 years ago and am very excited to go see it again this May (if my funds are right) and West Side Story has special significance for me as it was the last big performance and musical I performed in.
So essentially, I am stupidly excited about this brief as it is reminiscent of my performing arts days but incorporating all my other insterests as well. It will definitely be challenging to bring it all together but I think if it is done well, it will be very impressive. Our first group meeting resulted in a big brainstorm and the ultimate question: where do we start? Once we get started and going it won't seem so huge and I think again we have pulled together a very multi talented group so we have many strings of talent to pull at. So to move forward we need ideas and so we go forth to research.
Our dance clip to recreate, interpret and represent is, of course, the exerpt from West Side Story.
I am also reminded of my best friend who has moved down to Wellington to dance study at the New Zealand School of Dance, who performed alongside me in West Side Story and has an absolute obsession with robots.
Perhaps I am reading too much into it. It was interesting none the less to see how everyone approached this challenge and this boundary. We spoke of the group dynamics beginning to arise and the frustrations some faced with the programming for lack of experience. Speaking personally, within my group it was almost a case of too many engineers, not enough engines. The four boys who I was working with were all hands on deck enthusiasm for building and creating while I tinkered with the programming. I have been using computers since the age of about 7 (ish?) so well over half my life so I am fairly computer literate and can usually just start tinkering with any software to try figure it out. I've grown up in a family of engineers so very much have that mindset of determination to fix or make something better and understanding how it ticks. (This comes in handy at my part time job where every single machine likes to have its temperamental moment.)
I do realize that this is not the case for everyone but I have found that people do naturally fall into where they are comfortable and knowledgeable and the purpose of having a diverse mix of abilities within the 45 or so of us, is to learn off each others strengths and knowledge. Again, I do speak from experience and realize this is not necessarily the case for everyone. At the end of it all, I think James summed it up well where he said that we should "embrace the frustration" and to think about "how do you determine success?" When spirits were low on Tuesday afternoon and the word 'fail' was thrown around a lot as many were demoralized at the many unsuccessful attempts to complete the challenge, I kept trying to encourage everyone that we had not failed, but merely not yet succeeded in the challenged. I was reminded of again James' words from day 1 where he said that we shouldn't be afraid to make mistakes and that was in fact what we were doing, through trial and error and mistakes we were learning, and learning is after all succeeding. Why else would we go to university (and pay large amounts of money to do so!) if not to learn.
I was pleased and slightly emotionally attached to Chester the Jester (despite the fact he lost an arm during the presentation in all this enthusiasm) so we big a farewell to him and each other as we reshuffled teammates.
I think we all had a sense of growing panic as we were shown four clips of different styles of dance from classical ballet, modern contemporary, cheesy musical dancing from West Side Story and a percussional movement piece from Stomp. Irony is a funny thing. I wrote earlier this week in my blog about how I'd love to make my robot dance in such a way that it was interacting with other robots. Yet when actually presented with the brief which involved just that, it suddenly seemed very overwhelming. Yet, I am still stupidly excited about it all. I was already squirming in my seat at the last two clips; I had my three or so year stint in the performing arts during high school but have been dancing since I was about 4, everything from Ballet, to hip hop, to contemporary to tap. I saw the live show of Stomp about 4 years ago and am very excited to go see it again this May (if my funds are right) and West Side Story has special significance for me as it was the last big performance and musical I performed in.
So essentially, I am stupidly excited about this brief as it is reminiscent of my performing arts days but incorporating all my other insterests as well. It will definitely be challenging to bring it all together but I think if it is done well, it will be very impressive. Our first group meeting resulted in a big brainstorm and the ultimate question: where do we start? Once we get started and going it won't seem so huge and I think again we have pulled together a very multi talented group so we have many strings of talent to pull at. So to move forward we need ideas and so we go forth to research.
Our dance clip to recreate, interpret and represent is, of course, the exerpt from West Side Story.
I am also reminded of my best friend who has moved down to Wellington to dance study at the New Zealand School of Dance, who performed alongside me in West Side Story and has an absolute obsession with robots.
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