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Robotic Bins and Benches in Cambridge

Posted by Zonk on from the my-bench's-name-is-jeff dept.

OldBus writes "According to the BBC robotic bins and benches have been installed in Cambridge. According to the article, they 'move and chuckle' and 'sing when the sun comes out.'" From the article: "Mr Bogen hopes the cutting edge technology would help keep the bins and benches safe from theft. The Junction has a three year maintenance contract with Greyworld and plans to name all the bins and benches individually to make carrying out repairs easier."

36 of 138 comments (clear)

  1. Less likely theft? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'd be more likely to steal a bin or bench that talks and makes 'rude noises'.

    1. Re:Less likely theft? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
      "Mr Bogen hopes the cutting edge technology would help keep the bins and benches safe from theft."

      Yeah, cause we all know theives steer away from cutting edge technology. New technology is like a new car. Once it drives off the lot it takes a big hit in resale value. Theives are wise and only steel old technology because its depreciation has stabilied.

      "They are what's called "generative" so that over time they develop more and more personality. You'll find that one bench may be particularly attracted to a particular bin. They will chuckle and giggle sometimes or make rude noises."

      I think it's great that we're encouraging public displays of affection between innatimate objects as long as it's not gay bin on bin or bench on bench action. Hopefully the maintainers can successfully get them to succcessfuly mate in this native environment so the project can spread and more people around the world can be delighted by their rude noises.

      "Artistic and executive director of The Junction, Paul Bogen, said: "They're great because they're fun and art should be fun and it should be something people enjoy and not just stodgy and theoretical.""

      I know I really hate the boring task of throwing away my trash while in public. I've been waiting for the day that someone would invent a moving trash can I'd have to chase around while it giggled and farted. Don't even get me started on taking a relaxing lunch break at a park, enjoying nature just wishing the bench would talk to me.

      "The project cost £110,000 and was funded by the Arts Council and the National Lottery. "

      The Arts Council and National Lottery have been overlooked for bigger civic projects for too long. This will teach the world not to overlook the genious lurkin within it's own governments. Hopefully they'll start taking a more prominent roles in other public works projects. Just imaging highway offramps in more beautiful shapes like tulips, famous faces, zebra stripes, or fat naked ladies. I'm personally tired of the old clover. Stairs that go up but wind up bringing you down and sideways. An elevator where you push 6 buttons and it randomly pics six floors (and a supplemental) to let you off at. It's not fun to press a buton and know that's where the elevator is going to stop and open it's doors to let you out. Where's the thrill? Where's the adventure? Where's the FUN?

    2. Re:Less likely theft? by TummyX · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yes but when you try to steal the bench it screams and howls in terror.

    3. Re:Less likely theft? by Cougem · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I currently go to Cambridge Uni, Trinity college. The entire population here, practically, is student. In central Cambridge there are virtually no houses, and yet a massive collegiate university. Putting these here during the end of the exam season, when we're all incredibly drunk is NOT the best time or place to put expensive bins around.

      I can smell numerous end of year scavenger hunts.

    4. Re:Less likely theft? by jacksonj04 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Given students in Cambridge, it's more likely to find them with modified voice circuits and a kitchen plunger stuck to the top wandering around going "EXTERMINATE!" and "DESTROYYYY!"

      --
      How many people can read hex if only you and dead people can read hex?
  2. Hang about. by King_of_Prussia · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Bins that sing and chuckle are going to be safer from theft? In what alternate universe does the article writer live in?

    --

    Making the moon less necessary since 1998.

    1. Re:Hang about. by StuffJustHappens · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You beat me to it!

      it's one of those things that you can look at and within 1 microsecond say to yourself 'I give them a week before they're stolen, covered in graffiti or vandalised".

      There's a fairly sleepy seaside town near me and the shopping area (a 1 minute walk from end to end) has just sprouted an all-stainless-steel 'information point' with a 17" LCD screen - I looked at it and within 1 microsecond.....

      --
      --What's this sig thing all about then? Should I have one?
    2. Re:Hang about. by Saeger · · Score: 5, Funny

      So there's fewer desperate people in Europe stealing bikes, eh? Guess Austin needs more socialism first.

      --
      Power to the Peaceful
    3. Re:Hang about. by Saeger · · Score: 2, Funny
      Bins that sing and chuckle are going to be safer from theft?

      Sure, when the bot's inertial and GPS sensors detect that it's being abused, it'll switch to shrieking car-alarm mode: "Bot-beater! Bot-napper! Help! *KLAXXON* I have your picture! I have 1000volts! Help!"

      --
      Power to the Peaceful
  3. ever better! by LandownEyes · · Score: 2, Funny

    Seems like more activity than most slashdotters I know!

  4. A good hack would be to give them Dalek voices... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    EX TER mi NATE!

    DOC TOR!!

  5. Yes, but... by Fallingcow · · Score: 5, Funny

    According to the article, they 'move and chuckle' and 'sing when the sun comes out.'

    Yeah, but do they sigh contentedly when used?

    1. Re:Yes, but... by FrostedWheat · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, but do they sigh contentedly when used?

      Yes. And it's so depressing.

  6. Large-scale irritation by ettlz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Safe fom theft, yes. But this will not go down well. They're like twisted appliances from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. These bins will be a certain target for vandalism --- especially after they've annoyed the hell out of all-and-sundry with their cheerful singing. Pah! It just confirms what people in the UK have known all along: local councils are full of rubbish.

    1. Re:Large-scale irritation by bhtooefr · · Score: 4, Funny

      Somebody needs to look for "Sirius Cybernetics" on these things. I just can't wait for the failed one that got Marvin's firmware ;-)

      I've never been over there - I've been in the US all of my life....

    2. Re:Large-scale irritation by hey! · · Score: 4, Insightful

      These bins will be a certain target for vandalism

      I wonder what it would be like if you programmed these things to squeal in agony like a baby animal being tortured. We have a tendency to fill in human characteristics to anything that exhibits behavior we can fit into a human patter -- behavior we can find a human explanation for. People who live with an old car for a long time tend to personify it's mechanial quirks.

      Randomly breaking into song is just stupid elevator music, but singing to great the sunrise has a kind of charm to it.

      In any case, I'd bet exhibiting pain would deter many casual vandals. The ones who aren't deterred may be people you want to keep your eye on.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    3. Re:Large-scale irritation by ettlz · · Score: 2

      They will ultimately be used for advertising. Consider this extract from a little-known film-noir:

      Week 1. A meeting with Marco in the high-street. I was a few minutes early, so I stopped in Starbucks and got a double mochachino with hundreds-and-thousands. I think there was some coffee in there somewhere. The street bins were out on patrol, and one of them trundled up to me. I dumped the empty cup in its receptacle.

      Why thank-you! Isn't it lovely today? The sun is out, not a bird in the sky. Have a nice day!

      Somehow, that made my day.

      Week 2. Another meeting. Again, I was early so I got lunch at McDonalds. I felt slightly guilty about myself, yet strangely satisified: a regular fries with a double cheeseburger and strawberry shake can do that to a man. The little bin came up to me again. "Hello, little buddy," I said as I dumped the wrapper in its receptacle.

      Why thank-you! Isn't it lovely today? The sun is out, not a bird in the sky. Ba-ba-ba-ba-da, I'm lovin' it!

      That made me feel better about myself, sure, but I couldn't help but feel that the little bin had changed its tune somehow.

      Week 5. The final meeting. I showed up early, as normal, and got lunch at one of those trendy sandwich bars. Turkey with mayo, raisins and Marmite. It tasted as weird as hell, but was somehow compelling. That little bin made its way over again. I dumped the empty sandwich box in its dutiful opening, and once more he sang out.

      A-ding-ding-ding-dddding-bah-bah-pscht...
      Get the Crazy Frog ringtone on your mobile! Text Jamster! on...

      Later on the news, I heard Marco was found dead in the parking lot of the Grafton Centre.

  7. What is the obsession... by hoka · · Score: 2, Insightful

    with making everything hi-tech? I mean these days you can get just about anything that is wired, high-tech, and overdeveloped. Its technologies such as this that are nice as an art, but fail to really push the bounds of technology since they have limited applicability. Who wants to spend 110 grand on a set of garbage bins? Not me. Not anybody I know.

    While I applaud the effort for making it artsy and cool, trying to say that the technology is useful for anything else preemptively is well, marketing bullshit and hype. It's nice to dream but sometimes we have to all keep our feet on the ground.

  8. It's like... by AstrumPreliator · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's like R2-D2's younger brother, R2-D3. He wasn't as successful as his older brother. He didn't get to travel the world with Jedi knights, instead he became a trash bin when he fell in love with a bench. He might not have the glamor of galactic battles, but he keeps the streets clean in his town!

  9. Oh, great... by adrianbaugh · · Score: 3, Funny

    Bins with Genuine People Personalities... I wonder if there isn't now at least one terminally depressed bench wandering around Cambridge. Life? Don't talk to me about life!

    --
    "'I pass the test,' she said. 'I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.'"
    - JRR Tolkien.
    1. Re:Oh, great... by hey! · · Score: 5, Funny
      This was my thought too. The thing about the GPP devices in Hitchhiker's Guide isn't just that they reproduce the worst characteristics of people. You can't really interact with them in all the ways you would a human being. YOu can't go to their boss or their mother when they're not being cooperative. YOu can't bargain with them. The only thing that has any chance of working with them is threatening. It does raise an interesting possibility. What if you could interact with the bench or bin; not to the degree that it's personality affected its cooperativeness. For example:

      User: Bin, do yo have the time?

      Bin: It's quarter past nine. By the way the bins down 3rd street say there's a rain squall heading this way; you might want to duck inside until it passes.

      User: Is there a Starbucks around here?

      Bin: No, but there's an independent espresso shop at 150, just half a block north of here. They left a promotional message on me, would you like to here it?

      User: Uh, no thanks.

      (Later, in a different part of the city.)

      Joe: Bench, have you seen a girl named Mary?

      Bench: Somebody was sitting on me for about five minutes earlier this morning, but I don't know if that's who you're looking for. That was about 8 am.

      Joe: Well if she shows up, tell her that I waited for half an hour but I had to leave.

      (later)

      Mary: Was there somebody waiting for somebody here?

      (Silence)

      Bench: I'm sorry, were you talking to me?

      Mary: yes, was somebody waiting for me here?

      Bench: Well, somebody was here at about 8AM. About 10 there was a man who was here for five minutes. He left a message for somebody he was waiting for.

      Mary: What was the message?

      Bench: It might be personal; would you mind telling me your name, dearie?

      Mary: My name is "Mary Moe."

      Bench: Well, he said if Mary shows up, I should tell her he was waiting for her for half an hour.

      Mary: But you said he was only here for five minutes? Around 10 AM?

      Bench: Yes. He arrived here at 10 Am, four minutes and five seconds, and left at 10 AM, eight minutes and fifty three seconds.

      Mary: Oooh. How can he be such a jerk!

      Bench: I'm sorry dearie, I can't help you with that. You sound like you might be in trouble. If you need a real person to talk to, I can put you in touch with one. Are you in trouble?

      Mary: Uh, no thanks, I'm fine.

      Bench: Don't mention it.

      (Later on that day Mary calls Joe)

      Mary (on phone): Joe, you jerk! You stood me up!

      Joe: No I didn't! I waited for half an hour! I left a message with the bench, the one that sounds like somebody's grandmother!

      Mary: You idiot. The bench told me you were only there for only five minutes. And you were late. And you were supposed to meet me by the statue of Douglas Adams, not Lewis Carrol.

      Joe: Which statue of Adams?

      Mary: The Equestrian one you dope. The seats at the big monument are granite.

      Joe: Oh, no! I hate that bench. It's so crabby.

      Mary: Not as crabby as I am.

      Joe: OK, look, I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you I swear!

      Mary: Yeah right.

      Joe: No, really. Meet me this afternoon at the bench by the pond.

      Mary: Which bench?

      Joe: The one that sounds like Barry White.

      Mary: Oooh! I love that one.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  10. How long will it be before.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ..someone 'borrows' one of the bins and hacks it so that it has Tourette syndrome?

    It'd be hilarious to hear and see the bins going all over the place with random movements shouting out 'Fuck!', 'Shit!', 'Cunt!', 'Bitch!', 'Dickhead!', etc.

    Even if someone didn't take it to this extreme, I bet it won't be too long before someone does hack them to do something different from their original purpose.

  11. hey real quick: what movie by CloudDrakken · · Score: 2, Funny

    Pretty soon all the chairs will get bored and then yelled at for not acting surprised when someone tries to sit on them.

    "Help, Help, I'm being repressed!"

    ...just because some stool that could sing handed you a sword doesn't make you king of the britons

  12. I'll let you know what they're like... by Toby+The+Economist · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Junction is five minutes bicycle ride from here.

    --
    Toby

    1. Re:I'll let you know what they're like... by ettlz · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Soon the beggars (and there are a lot of them in Cambridge) will have the run of these things. "Oi! Gizzus a fiver, or Dusty 'ere'll start on 'is Cliff Richard repertoire!"

    2. Re:I'll let you know what they're like... by rjw57 · · Score: 2, Funny

      And here, I'll be popping down later with my screwdriver set, breakout box and laptop to see if I can give them a reprogramming they'll never forget...

      --
      Rich
  13. R2D2, is that you? by leonbrooks · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sorry, couldn't resist.

    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  14. Re:A good hack would be to give them Dalek voices. by ettlz · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This does have the makings of a Doctor Who episode. A bunch of cyberbins form a collective intelligence and stalk the streets of Cambridge in their murderous gangs. Only one Timelord can stop them...

  15. RTFA Everyone! by bobbis.u · · Score: 4, Informative
    They are not being installed by the city council and they are not being widely deployed. It is an art display at The Junction, which is not really in the centre of the city anyway.

    Apparently, this is just what constitues "art" today. This article is straight from the horses mouth about it.

  16. Re:what by hey! · · Score: 5, Funny

    True story. In the late 80s, I worked for a company that used Macs. The guy before me set up the applications on Macs in a folder called "bin" because, well, that's what you do.

    Later, I had a young go-getter working for me who decided this was too cryptic. Having learned about computers in the era of the PC, she had no idea where "bin" came from, so she relabelled all those folders to "Bin of Applications".

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  17. Thiefs wont want to.. by drspliff · · Score: 2, Interesting

    steal pointless crazy stuff like this, they have no re-sale value (I doubt the components are that expensive, most of the £110k was probably development time and research etc.). Then I saw this: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/06/10/kidnapped_ dalek/

    Somebody stole a pointless crazy thing (e.g. a rare original dalek from the Dr.Who series) and their trying to ransom it back..

    Putting £110 worth of equipment anywhere in most places in the UK and not bolting it to the ground is always a bad thing...

  18. oh dear... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Cambridge is a student town you know...it doesnt matter if its bolted down and given whirling blades of death...

  19. Don't feed the bins by badfish99 · · Score: 3, Funny

    They aren't real bins (they're an art installation). You can't put rubbish in them. There are going to be signs saying "please don't feed the bins".

  20. Re:what by mwooller · · Score: 3, Funny

    When the mac was upgraded to OS X, did those old apps get relabelled again to 'Has bin applications'?

  21. Re:dissuade gambling by jimicus · · Score: 2, Informative

    I guess the state runs the lottery in the uk too

    Well, it's not quite as simple as that. Running the lottery is outsourced to a company called Camelot. The companies wanting to run it had to submit bids explaining what they'd do with the money.

    Camelot answered "Give some of it to arts projects, put some of it into the prize fund, use the rest to pay our directors absurd quantities of money", and they got the contract.

  22. Perhaps oblig. Futurama? by Dachannien · · Score: 2, Funny

    Bender pumps the keg furiously, trying to get some beer, when he realizes....
    Bender: Oh, wait. You're a robot.
    Kegbot: Don't stop.
    Bender: Ewwww....