Robots are called to perform all kinds of tasks in a more efficient way and at a lower cost than most humans. There are many pros and cons about this replacement of human labor for robotics, depending on who takes the floor and based on which social values support the arguments, but there is one sector in which robotics has a perfect labor market niche: Space exploration. Their endurance, lack of vital support requirements, [...]
Cinema has helped, from its very beginning, not only to capture real stories, but also to unleash our fantasy, introducing all kinds of mythical characters and fantastic situations. These categories include, in addition to characters from popular culture or mythology, of course, robots or automata, fictional characters product of technology. Already present in classical mythology, the first robots appeared in proper literature in the early 19th century with The Sandman (Ernst Theodore Amadeus Hoffmann, 1817), [...]
Robotics and artificial intelligence have always walked hand in hand in science fiction. Besides being part of history, they serve as indicators of the technological progress in the exact place and time that the author wants to bring to the audience. One of the largest and most popular science fiction universe is Star Trek, the creation of Gene Roddenberry for the TV of the sixties that conquered the big screen after converting the idea [...]
While we are deeply immersed in the phase of reception of short films and working hard, with enthusiasm and affection after the release of ROS Film Festival (Robotic Online Short Film Festival) last April 14, we are preparing the presentation of ROS Film Festival at the International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia (Sitges). The event will take place on October 12 at 7 pm. Sitges Festival, which celebrates its 49th edition this year, is the [...]
The other day I woke up startled. I had just dreamt about an acquaintance of my childhood and teenage years with whom I had neither a special friendship, nor was she part of my life, but I liked her. It was a peaceful sleep, we were chatting about trivialities when, just before I woke up I remembered that she had died some years ago. I am still unable to identify what thoughts or memories took [...]
He is a writer and a broadcaster at Radio 3 from just before the beginning of this century and, among many other radio jobs, he has lead for over five years Fallo de sistema, a weekly show dedicated to video games, fantasy, science fiction and popular science from the most interesting perspective these issues can be addressed: from wonder. We were with him a few weeks ago at the headquarters of RNE (Spanish National Radio) [...]
Ethical dilemmas with cars and Will Smith’s technophobia in I, Robot Inspector Spooner (Will Smith), main character of the film I, Robot (Alex Proyas, 2004) declares himself an absolute technophobe in the future (year 2035) in which robots of all kinds do much of the work and become the perfect personal assistants for the human being. Systems capable of being programmed to demolish a building at the appointed time, cars that drive autonomously without human [...]
One of the key steps in the creation of machines is the design, how the user will approach the machine, how intuitive and practical its use is. This is true for both the creation of real machines, like in films, or other cultural works. Carlos Salgado, illustrator and designer responsible for designing Pilgrim 7000, the humanoid robot starring in the film Autómata. As he expressed in the "Robotics, Art and Culture" workshop held last [...]
Last week we had the opportunity to take part in Robocity16, an event organized by the consortium Robocity2030, which celebrates this year its tenth anniversary and is formed by the University Carlos III, the Polytechnic University of Madrid, the University of Alcalá, the University King Juan Carlos, the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the National University of Distance Education (UNED). Research groups presented their novelties while companies, students and other groups shared space [...]
Anyone who lived during the 1980s, the last decade of the Cold War, has felt in their own flesh what it means to be concerned about an imminent war based on sophisticated and powerful missiles between the United States and the Soviet Union. During the presidential term of Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) the US achieved military supremacy over its enemy by a large investment in military technology, paying the price of an impoverished country with great [...]
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