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Robot Drawn Caricatures

Posted by samzenpus on from the vincent-van-gort dept.

ptresset writes "From Singularity Hub: 'Artists and programmers in the UK have decided to improve upon the male and female symbols outside many toilet facilities. They’ve developed a set of robotic arms that take pictures of people entering into a bathroom and then use that image to create a unique drawing to place outside the door. It then wipes away this art to make room for the next person’s caricature.'"

29 comments

  1. But is it sanitary? by mswhippingboy · · Score: 2, Funny

    I wonder if it washes its hands after wiping?

    --
    Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is the headlight of an oncoming train.
  2. explanation please by snookerhog · · Score: 2, Interesting
    does it draw the cock and balls on every person going into the mens' room?

    watch the vid if you don't believe me

    1. Re:explanation please by natehoy · · Score: 2, Funny

      Apparently.

      Of course, the images it drew didn't even appear to be caricatures, only a random-looking image of the vague outline of a person, with circles for representing the boobs for women (and, if I ever met a women with boobs up on her shoulders, I'd probably run for my life) and a crudely drawn schlong and meatballs for men. It's like they had a 3-year-old spend 5 minutes looking at a copy of Playboy and Playgirl and having the child draw what they thought they saw.

      Plus, if I gotta take a piss, no way I'm standing still long enough for that glacially-slow robotic arm to draw anything.

      --
      "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
    2. Re:explanation please by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 4, Funny

      You mean like this? ;-)

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j19Aoe9EUVY

    3. Re:explanation please by Kilrah_il · · Score: 1

      Damn, I don't know if you should be modded Funny, Interesting or Informative. Lucky I don't have any mod points today :) But +1 anyway.

      --
      Whenever in an argument, remember this.
  3. From the video... by Sedated2000 · · Score: 1

    This thing just drew loops and a pre-school quality wangdoodle. Is there something more to this that I missed? I expected it to sketch out a face or something.

    1. Re:From the video... by Bobfrankly1 · · Score: 1

      TFA is four paragraphs long. 4. Less then five, more then three. It's not a long read, it would take you less then a minute to find "Tresset and Khaorapapong have approached the art in a new way, as Ladies&Gents must focus on limbs and silhouettes rather than faces."

    2. Re:From the video... by Sedated2000 · · Score: 1

      I skimmed it, and while I didn't find that part, I still fail to see the marvel of a stick figure drawing robot. It drew a penis, and there was no visible penis. I assume it makes parts up as it goes. So... people are to look at the picture, and instead of a face, look for the penis or breasts (or even more simply, the pink picture or the blue picture). Since there was a guy on the right and a woman on the left it appears as if it doesn't recognize male or female either, it just knows to draw a woman on the left or man on the right. Since I am new to slashdot posts, I'm working on posting my comments before thoroughly reading the articles. Sorry.

    3. Re:From the video... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Tresset and Khaorapapong have approached the art in a new way, as Ladies&Gents must focus on limbs and silhouettes rather than faces."

      I think the grandfather's point is that the shapes pretty much all look like they took a few boxes(plus twigs, berries, and melons), laid them out onto a pre-patterned skeleton with some randomization, and just told the robot arm to trace a path. The fact that it creates many different variations of the same picture does not imply art or creativity, but rather that there are randomized aspects introduced. TFA and the headline would have us believe that the system is actively determining the body plan of males versus females, and exaggerating the differences when sketching.

      The biggest tell that this is an art stunt, and not an actual "creative robot", is that it goes out of its way to draw genitals and breasts.

    4. Re:From the video... by Bobfrankly1 · · Score: 1

      The biggest tell that this is an art stunt, and not an actual "creative robot", is that it goes out of its way to draw genitals and breasts.

      Or maybe the sad state of affairs is, that for many people, those ARE limbs...

  4. The obvious question... by Bobfrankly1 · · Score: 1

    Does it run linux? If so, would it be a customized distro with a phallic name?

  5. Can I by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can I become famous for programming a robot to draw stick people too?!?

  6. Blue moon by paiute · · Score: 1

    I dropped trou and backed towards the loo.

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    1. Re:Blue moon by gstoddart · · Score: 1

      Blue moon ... I dropped trou and backed towards the loo.

      That's no moon!

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      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  7. peepee dance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm pretty sure I'd wet my pants waiting for that thing to finish.

  8. Not caricatures, not creative. by FiloEleven · · Score: 3, Informative

    A caricature is easily identifiable as a deliberate distortion of its subject's features. These images are vague sketches of image-captured outlines, with some randomness thrown in.

    Even rudimentary drawing robots like these are examples of artificial creativity.

    Setting aside how ridiculous "artificial creativity" is, there is nothing to back up the article's assertion of creativity. The idea is novel, but the output is algorithmic with a bit of randomness thrown in.

    --
    Your brain is not a computer.
    1. Re:Not caricatures, not creative. by interval1066 · · Score: 1

      "The idea is novel, but the output is algorithmic with a bit of randomness thrown in."

      Agreed, these are as creative as filling in blank spots in your data with the result of dice rolls. As a robotics project its fine, but it'd be the least efficient use of my loo time. I'd rather go use the wc, come back, and then watch the apparatus draw things.

      --
      Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
    2. Re:Not caricatures, not creative. by blair1q · · Score: 1

      To you, a pair of slanted eyes is a feature, while the pattern of veins on the retina is a detail to be ignored.

      To a robot, arms and legs are a feature, while the pattern of orifices and protruberances on a face is a detail to be ignored.

    3. Re:Not caricatures, not creative. by ayvee · · Score: 1

      but the output is algorithmic with a bit of randomness thrown in.

      And who's to say that's not what creativity is?

    4. Re:Not caricatures, not creative. by aiht · · Score: 1

      Me.
      That's not what creativity is.

  9. Eh, so what... by countertrolling · · Score: 1

    I've seen horse drawn carriages...

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  10. great... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Open the bathroom door, HAL."
    "I'm sorry, Dave, I can't do that, I'm not done drawing you yet."

  11. intended result by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is one case where they did indeed do it for shits and giggles.

    1. Re:intended result by blair1q · · Score: 1

      Just to take the piss out of their subjects.

  12. Restroom Caricatures by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

    I can't go in there; that doesn't look anything like me!

    --
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  13. Balls on your art by BlindingSpeed · · Score: 0

    Here's an idea. Turn the cameras to the drawing board. Make a drawing for the harsh robot art critic. The robot will indicate its distaste by drawing a large cock and balls over what you've just drawn. That's just for you, though, since the robot will quickly remove your awful art so that it doesn't soil the world's eyeballs with its awfulness.

  14. Male anatomy by GWBasic · · Score: 1

    In the video, the robot drew boobs on the girl and a penis on the guy! Given the nature of the drawing, I suspect that the robot is really just remotely-controlled arms with an artist looking through the video camera.

    --
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    1. Re:Male anatomy by RapmasterT · · Score: 1

      In the video, the robot drew boobs on the girl and a penis on the guy! Given the nature of the drawing, I suspect that the robot is really just remotely-controlled arms with an artist looking through the video camera.

      Or...maybe the one on the womens side always draws boobs and the one on the mens side always draws penis's. Just a thought.

      I'm not sure if this is a hoax, or just a typically poor piece of journalism that misrepresents the intentions of the engineers. Either way the term "caricature" is wildly misused. It's not even representing the people standing in front of it in the correct pose, it's just geometric stick figures...with boobs/penis.