Robot Living

The latest in robotic vacuum design from Yanko Design and the 2010 Electolux Design Lab competition. The Instinct by Berty Bhuruth.  It almost looks like something from Star Wars or a robotic dog.

Berty Bhuruth’s robotic vacuum cleaner concept is a response to a future where people will have less time and less space to store things, making efficient cleaning a problem. The Instinct Vacuum cleaner, a robotic, four-legged device that adapts to its environment, allows it to clean in even the messiest of places. The Instinct chooses the path of less cleaning resistance by consulting 3d models of the room it creates before tackling its task.

Link via (Yanko Design)

Dunne and Raby are a design team based in London that create designs using emerging technology to encourage social and cultural debates.  Welcome to your future folks and it doesn’t look at all like the 1950′s version.

For their Technological Dreams Series from 2007, Dunne and Raby created 4 very different robots.  Yes, the 4 objects next to the girl in the photo are the robots.  Unfortunately the girl is not a robot.

It’s probably best if we let them describe the robots.

Robot 1: This one is very independent. It lives in its own world getting on with its work. We don’t really need to know what it does as long as it does it well. It could, for instance, be running the computers that manage our home. It has one quirk; it needs to avoid strong electromagnetic fields as these might cause it to malfunction. Every time a TV or radio is switched on, or a mobile phone is activated it moves itself to the electromagnetically quietest part of the room. As it is ring shaped, the owner could, if they liked, place their chair in its centre, or stand there and enjoy the fact that this is a good space to be in.

Robot 2: In the future products/robots might not be designed for specific tasks or jobs. Instead they might be given jobs based on behaviours and qualities that emerge over time. This robot is very nervous, so nervous in fact, that as soon as someone enters a room it turns to face them and analyses them with its many eyes. If the person approaches too close it becomes extremely agitated and even hysterical. Home security makes good use of this robot’s neurosis.

Robot 3: More and more of our data, even our most personal and secret information, will be stored on digital databases. How do we ensure that only we can access it? This robot is a sentinel, it uses retinal scanning technology to decide who accesses our data. In films iris scanning is always based on a quick glance. This robot demands that you stare into its eyes for a long time, it needs to be sure it is you. On another level, it asks what new forms of furniture might evolve in response to future technological developments.

Robot 4: This one is very needy. Although extremely smart it is trapped in an underdeveloped body and depends on its owner to move it about. Neediness is designed into very smart products to maintain a feeling of control. Originally, manufacturers would have made robots speak human languages, but over time they will evolve their own language. You can still hear human traces in its voice.

The Robots are in the permanent collections of MoMA, New York, and Fnac — Fond national d’art contemporain, Paris. I don’t think even ASIMO is in the MOMA.

Click through for a video.

Link via (MOMA)
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Good vs evil.  Darth Vader vs  Jedi Knights.  Its and old story with a new twist, robots.

Pullya is the good robot, obviously in white, and Pushya is the bad robot in black.

Pullya does all your chores like laundry and mowing the lawn, while Pushya sells your tv.

This fantastic concept design is by Paul Grader.  See more pictures over at Yanko Design.

Link

Robots come in many different shapes and sizes, but we did not often see them in design until recently. The robot we see most often in modern design is the stylized tin robot from the 1950′s or more modern variations of this.

Aimee Wilder, a School of Art Institute of Chicago graduate, has created the wonderful design you see below.

The shoes are available from Vans official site now for only $55 a pair for the high tops or $42 for the slip-ons.  Vans also sell other items with Wilder’s robots such as a belt, wallet, tank top and bag.

You can also buy this design as an actual wallpaper here.  It comes in blue, pink or multi colors, but at $175 155 for a triple roll.  Other cool wallpaper designs by Aimee Wilder include analognights and sumo.

Update: Thanks to our post, Aimee did some number crunching and now offers her wallpaper at only $155 for a triple roll.  Thanks Aimee!

Link via (Coroflot)