Written July 20, 2008 and published in Random | 0 Comments
Posted in December last year. Possible future stress relief? This shows how developers are tackling the problem of unexpected forces applied to a system. Very useful if a robot happens to be carrying something for you.
Simply put, it is the best animated film I have seen in a long time.
To say this film was a long time coming is an understatement. I was dubious about the storyline when I first saw the trailer over a year ago but as usual I was side-tracked by the beautiful animation and comedy that Pixar put into their films.
Last night I watched Wall-E and was amazed that a film lasting 90 mins could have held my attention with virtually no speech throughout. All the emotion that you feel when watching the film is a result of gesures and ‘facial’ expressions. With The story being about robots it was astounding how Pixar managed to translate human expressions, inflections and movements onto various robot counterparts.
An overview of the story (without spoiling it) is that humanity left earth as it was too contaminated by waste and while they are gone they leave Wall-E robots to clear up the mess. The story picks up 700 years on and follows the only functioning Wall-E’s journey. Being left alone for so long he has developed a personality and curiosity which often gets him in trouble.
I was surprised at how serious the themes were in the film, tackling such issues as climate change, recycling, social boundaries, technological complacency and corporate monopolies as well as friendship, love and self-discovery.
There are many funny moments in the film and the storyline is entertaining. The best part about the film for me was the myriad of different robots and how they all seem to have their own personalities and character traits, good and bad, and how they react to Wall-E.
I will be buying this when it comes out. Well done Pixar, you’ve done it again.
5/5
Written March 18, 2008 and published in Random | 0 Comments
But the war is not between man and machine but between moths with machines… and other moths with other machines…?
Believe it or not there are companies experimenting with robots and moths that are very reminiscent of two very famous films.
The idea of an internal robot occupying the space of the moths ‘entrails’ used for ‘bugging’ purposes in a military field capacity. The hopes are tobe able to camouflage surveillance equipment within the body of an insect. Remote control pet or Skynet in insect form?
Scientists hoping to use people’s minds to control robots, have been using electrical impulses of Moths’ brains to move a small robot around. Similar to the exoskeleton in Robocop.
