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wingnutx
Registered: 09/24/00
Posts: 2,287
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Rat-brained robot does distant art
#1759539 - 07/29/03 12:42 PM (20 years, 7 months ago) |
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3096973.stm
Rat-brained robot does distant art By Lakshmi Sandhana
Meet the latest spaced out modern artist - a picture-drawing robot arm in Australia whose brain sits in a petri dish in the US. Working from their university labs in two different corners of the world, American and Australian researchers have created what they call a new class of creative beings: "the semi-living artist".
Gripping three coloured markers positioned above a white canvas, a robotic arm churns out drawings akin to that of a three-year-old. Its guidance comes from around 50,000 rat neurons in a petri dish 19,000 kilometres away.
The "brain" lives at Dr Steve Potter's lab at Georgia's Institute of Technology, Atlanta, while the "body" is located at Guy Ben-Ary's lab at the University of Western Australia, Perth.
Webcam stimulation
The two ends communicate with each other in real-time through the internet.
The project represents the team's effort to create a semi-living entity that learns like the living brains in people and animals do, adapting and expressing itself through art.
"We are looking at future scenarios where geography won't matter," said Mr Ben-Ary. "The brain of the semi-living could be anywhere in the world, while the body (machine) will interface and be fed off it," he told BBC News Online. "It really makes you think about the future possibilities, and realise that the sci-fi vision of movies like Cold Lazarus can turn into reality in the future."
Termed Meart (Multi-Electrode Array Art), the cells are connected via 64 two-way electrodes to a computer and are stimulated by information; in this case transmitting scaled-down images of visitors in its vicinity, captured with a webcam.
Learn a little
The computer translates any resulting neural activity into robotic arm movement. By closing the loop, the researchers hope that the rat culture will learn something about itself and its environment.
"I would not classify [the cells] as 'an intelligence', though we hope to find ways to allow them to learn and become at least a little intelligent," said Dr Potter.
"I look forward to seeing something everyone would call 'learning', but so far, we only have evidence that the system is developing and adapting, such as becoming more controlled - less chaotic over time," he added Dr Potter hopes the venture will provide valuable insights into how learning occurs at a cellular level.
The latest initiative is a development of the SymbioticA Fish And Chips project, in which the artist-scientists grew fish neurons over silicon chips to control a robotic arm that produced drawings and music.
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AnimaAnimus
free mind
Registered: 07/25/03
Posts: 29
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Re: Rat-brained robot does distant art [Re: wingnutx]
#1759650 - 07/29/03 01:29 PM (20 years, 7 months ago) |
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i like
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Azmodeus
Seeker
Registered: 11/27/02
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Re: Rat-brained robot does distant art [Re: wingnutx]
#1760011 - 07/29/03 03:32 PM (20 years, 7 months ago) |
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Thats fucked up!
-------------------- "Know your Body - Know your Mind - Know your Substance - Know your Source. Lest we forget. "
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vampirism
Stranger
Registered: 03/14/04
Posts: 8,120
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Re: Rat-brained robot does distant art [Re: wingnutx]
#1760131 - 07/29/03 04:08 PM (20 years, 7 months ago) |
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how depressing
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Cow Shit Collector
Patty Poacher
Registered: 02/14/01
Posts: 1,959
Loc: Random Field
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Re: Rat-brained robot does distant art [Re: wingnutx]
#1761925 - 07/30/03 03:31 AM (20 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
a robotic arm churns out drawings akin to that of a three-year-old.
I'd like to see one of these!
Thats pretty crazy. Imagine your brain is the only surviving thing left of you. its stored in a warehouse with millions of others while our mechinical counterparts roam the earth for us.
-------------------- _______________________________________ CSC Life's a garden, Dig it! ~Joe Dirt Off Topic Website
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vampirism
Stranger
Registered: 03/14/04
Posts: 8,120
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imagine if bit by bit that brain was replaced by machinery. does it have a soul? i doubt biological material is a necessary precursor for life..
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
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Re: Rat-brained robot does distant art [Re: ]
#1762646 - 07/30/03 12:18 PM (20 years, 7 months ago) |
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does it have a soul?
Why must something be considered alive in order to have a soul?
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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vampirism
Stranger
Registered: 03/14/04
Posts: 8,120
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Re: Rat-brained robot does distant art [Re: Seuss]
#1762869 - 07/30/03 01:29 PM (20 years, 7 months ago) |
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it doesn't have to be im sorry, i went off on a tangent- didnt mean to add that into the equation
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morbydvisns
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Re: Rat-brained robot does distant art [Re: ]
#1772958 - 08/02/03 01:51 PM (20 years, 7 months ago) |
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if the brain was in the mouse could the mouse draw too?>
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