Some images of my Robot Empathy project crit. We were lucky enough to have use of the Perrin lecture theatre at the Centre of the Cell for the day. After the crit we were treated to a tour of their James Bondesque lair, which also doubles as an interactive genetics learning experience for kids.
J. Paul trying out my shape recognition tool.
Steffen testing my face detection helmet on Jonas.
All images copyright Dunne & Raby
In response to a recent project entitled ‘Science & Society’, I set about investigating the world of machine learning. Eventually my research led to to the area of Bayesian Statistics. Bayesian Statistics in the context of machines involves predicting the likelihood of a hypothesis based on constantly changing sensor data. This technique is used widely in computer vision.
In tandem with this I became interested int he area of Robotic Empathy. This is an area of robotics where researchers are experimenting with the effect of giving robots the ability or the apparent ability to empathise with humans. Despite most of the current examples being horribly ‘robotic’ for want of a better word, humans seem to be able to suspend disbelief for long enough to appreciate the concern of their robotic servants.
But why is this robotic empathy a one way process? Should we not too feel empathy for these machines too? Watch the video below and ask yourself what you feel?
I’m guessing the primary emotion after hilarity was pity, rather than empathy. My theory is that if we could experience empathy for our machines our relationships with them would become much richer. But in order to empathise we need to understand the perspective of the machine, we need to put ourselves in Asimo’s shoes.
To enable this I developed a range of tools and activities that would enable people to experience the world though the eyes of a robot. Images coming soon.
I made these two short videos as experiments in manifesting computer vision and machine learning by alternative means. In the first I moved the familiar face detection rectangle from the screen and into the real world to see what its effect would be. As you might expect, it was disconcerting walking around with a bright green frame around my face.
In the second video I experimented with the opposite process, moving something that might ordinarily be physical into the digital space. Are computers that predict our behaviours controlling us like puppeteers?
I was at the LSE last night for a lecture by Stefan Halper titled, China’s 21st Century Market-Authoritarian Challenge. Halper was a big-wig in four US Republican administrations over the past few decades until the early 90s. The bulk of his argument focused on our need to re-evaluate China, not as a military or economic threat, but as an idealogical threat. China, while not a threat to Western democracies on their home turf, is offering an attractive model to developing nations for the economic and social advancement of their people, while enabling their rulers to retain a tight grip on power. I must admit that having recently visited Shanghai the efficiency with which the authorities can implement vast infrastructural projects is awe-inspiring.
While some believe that the increased wealth of individual Chinese citizens will be an inexorable force pushing towards democracy, Halper sees the Market-Authoritarian model as a force directly against this. It has self-reenforcing properties that make democracy less, not more likely as the economy grows.
While China is inadvertently exporting this model throughout the developing world, with hard currency loans and resource agreements with developing nations, at home there is a surprising lack of ideology. Halper described it as like a donut: the hole is where communist ideology used to be. In its place is a sometimes jingoistic nationalism, a pride in rising China and a belief that personal living standards will continue to improve.
That is a very amorphous set of beliefs to built a society on and that is why, in order to maintain the harmonious society, the Chinese government must continue to stoke nationalism, evoke pride and most of all pursue a high growth strategy. Halper termed it a growth trap.
The other interesting point raised is that the West needs to stick up for its interests with more vigour. Halper believes that in Washington there is a need to consolidate all Chinese policy into focused objectives and that the primary objective should be to encourage a fairer valuation for the yuan. He sees the current under valued currency as effectively exporting unemployment and preventing the west from climbing out of recession.
Halper’s new book is out now. Amazon
We had a very illuminating talk from Richard Barbrook at the department a few weeks ago. Barbrook’s interests lie in the politics behind our visions of the future, particularly from the 1960s onwards. He is dismissive of society’s fascination with techno gadgets. We have arrived at the future that was envisaged by the McLuhanists of the atomic age and it’s time to move on, time to imagine new futures.
This is particularily pertinant to me in my dissertation research and in my plans to dive into web science next year. Barbrook painted a over-arching policital vision behind the creation on the internet. It was formed in a battle between collectivism and capitalism . The internet is apparently the ultimate communist creation. No wonder it despises copyright.
My personal strategy for Expo opening day was quantity not quality. I avoided anything with a queue of more than 15 mins. The big flash Western European pavilions had queues of over 3 hours that I just couldn’t face in the 29C heat. Thankfully there were lots of interesting countries with very short queues.
First up North Korea: I’m probably never going to actually visit the county so this pavilion was the next best think. Based on the exhibition I’m guessing that North Korea is filled with bizarre multi-coloured neo-classical cherub fountains, fake flowers and buses of Westerners touring the sites. Portraits of the Kims were notably absent.

Next door was Iran, while on first impressions Iran seemed to have the similar bizarre stylistic flair as North Korea, once you got past the strange horse tapestries and the giant plastic dome there were some interesting exhibits inside. Iran’s pride in scientific achievement was centre-stage. Exhibits included the first Iranian Home Built Satellite, a Laser Harp and a Uranium enrichment plant (maybe not).
My personal favourite in the whole expo has to be Turkmenistan. They had everything. Pictures of their supreme leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow everywhere. (I thought with the death of Turkmenbasy in 2006 the country had begun a period of liberalisation but old Gurbanguly is a very handsome man so there’s no harm in having a few photos of him hanging about the place.)
The Turkmens also had futuristic cityscapes and models of their latest hydro-electric projects. (Note to Central Asian Expo designers: Enough with the hydro-electric dam models, once you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all.)

Turkmenistan went one better and had an amazing LED lit map showing all their power plants and substations. The entire trip to Shanghai was worth it, just for this one map.
And of course who could forget the golden horse statues everywhere.

On a more serious note, I really liked New Zealand’s Pavilion, there were some nice design details in the queuing area. It was good to see they had actually considered the queues as with some pavilions they were a design afterthought (UK take note). Even though the center-piece of the NZ exhibition was a giant plastic tree there was something tasteful and considered about the whole thing.
On the second day of the Expo I visited som of the corporate stands on the other side of the Huangpu river. I particularly liked this sign at the entrance to the China Rail exhibition. I knew Chinese trains were fast but…
Some of the Chinese exhibitors had unexpectedly interesting things to say, this Farm Ship from CSSC (a ship builder) was very DI. Vanke (the largest home builder in China) had a series of films with quite sophisticated views on sustainability. China Telecom on the other hand had an insipid video about communications technology make our dreams come true. The whole think was particularly insulting given that the Chinese government seems so terrified by internet freedom, I’m not sure what the locals thought of it. The audience were handed touch screen where they could “vote” for a wish for the future. I wished for Chinese democracy.
The scale of the China Pavilion was immense. The platform it stood on must have been about 20m high. Unfortunately none of our group actually made it inside due to the confusing reservation system but here’s a link to some interior shots from China Daily.
Just back from Shanghai. One of the highlights was a vist to the UK pavilion at the World Expo site a few days before the official opening. The Seed Cathedral by Heatherwick Studio is simply stunning, although I do have reservations about the conceptual relevance to the supposed brief. The bravery and vision of the UK team in designing a holistic experience was notable in comparison to some of the other architecturally daring pavilions whose internal exhibitions sometimes appeared to be an afterthought.



























