Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments
Search

News for nerds, stuff that matters

Slashdot Log In

Log In

Create Account  |  Retrieve Password

Robots Debut In Japanese Theater Production

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:43 AM
from the first-the-auto-industry-now-our-actors dept.
Robotics Entertainment
An anonymous reader writes "BBC News and CNET Cutting Edge are reporting on a new play starring at Osaka University, in which two Mitsubishi Wakamaru robots interact with human actors and move around the stage. Named 'Hataraku Watashi' ('I, Worker'), the play is authored by Oriza Hirata, a renowned playwright. It focuses on a robot who complains about his boring and demeaning jobs."
+ -
story

Related Stories

Firehose:Robots Debut in Japanese Theater Production by Anonymous Coward
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

Robots Debut In Japanese Theater Production 25 Comments More /

 Full
 Abbreviated
 Hidden
More
Loading... please wait.

  • Boring and demeaning jobs... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Cruel Angel (676514) on Wednesday November 26 2008, @11:49AM (#25900047)
    ... like acting?

  • It is good... (Score:5, Funny)

    by internerdj (1319281) on Wednesday November 26 2008, @11:52AM (#25900081)
    to see Shatner can still find work.

  • Futurama quote: (Score:3, Funny)

    by gregg (42218) on Wednesday November 26 2008, @11:52AM (#25900087)

    I was all of history's great robot actors - Acting Unit 0.8; Thespomat; David Duchovny!

  • Chuckee Cheese (Score:5, Funny)

    by Shotgun (30919) on Wednesday November 26 2008, @11:53AM (#25900097)

    But does it have the production value of the singing bears at Chuck-ee Cheese? I am glad to see the Japanese are catching up, though. (I jest. I jest!!)

  • Wonder if it complains about having its brain the size of a plane.

  • Anyone looking forward to the day that robots become better at acting than humans can ever be? Don't need their own stunt doubles, can be actually destroyed on camera after showing something that passes for human emotion, will work for whatever salary they're programmed for... Think people will care that they're not real?

  • Life imitates art once again (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dkleinsc (563838) on Wednesday November 26 2008, @11:58AM (#25900175)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Darfsteller [wikipedia.org]

    As good a read now as it was in 1955.

  • It focuses on a robot who complains about his boring and demeaning jobs.

    So it's about Marvin?

  • Better than complaining about the diodes down its left side aching...

  • Really just a prop, isn't it? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Gizzmonic (412910) on Wednesday November 26 2008, @12:16PM (#25900365) Homepage Journal

    This is really just the same thing as using a puppet, except more expensive.

    Of course, people say the same thing about Keanu Reeves...

  • But will they be any good? (Score:3, Funny)

    by supernova_hq (1014429) on Wednesday November 26 2008, @12:23PM (#25900461)
    Everyone walked out. They hated it. I've seen plagues that had better opening nights than this. You said that Oscar was practically on my mantle.

  • It's a fake! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Locke2005 (849178) on Wednesday November 26 2008, @01:17PM (#25901023)
    Ever see "Victor, Victoria", where the title character (Julie Andrews) got rave reviews as a female impersonator because she actually _was_ a woman pretending to be a man? How long before some robot actor gets lauded for being "so lifelike, just like a human", and then we discover that it's really a human actor inside a robot suit? Weren't there actually people inside CP30 and R2D2 (at least in some shots)?

    • Re:They wrote a play... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ColdWetDog (752185) on Wednesday November 26 2008, @11:52AM (#25900085) Homepage

      * Life," said Marvin, "don't talk to me about life."

      * "Come on," he droned, "I've been ordered to take you down to the bridge. Here I am, brain the size of a planet and they ask me to take you down to the bridge. Call that job satisfaction? 'Cos I don't."

      Art imitates ... Art.

      • Re:They wrote a play... (Score:5, Funny)

        by Abreu (173023) on Wednesday November 26 2008, @12:01PM (#25900223)

        Marvin the android is part of a comedy series, but if you want to see real tragedy, see the droids in the Star Wars Universe.

        They are self-aware, capable of reasoning and emotion, and yet they are all slaves and no one pays more than cursory attention to them. ...maybe its because they don't rip people's arms out of their sockets when they lose at chess

        • Re:They wrote a play... (Score:5, Insightful)

          by ColdWetDog (752185) on Wednesday November 26 2008, @12:13PM (#25900335) Homepage

          Marvin the android is part of a comedy series, but if you want to see real tragedy, see the droids in the Star Wars Universe.

          "Humor is tragedy plus time" - Mark Twain

          And no, I don't know where I'm going with this.

        • Re:They wrote a play... (Score:5, Interesting)

          by Joe Tie. (567096) on Wednesday November 26 2008, @12:37PM (#25900603)
          That always struck me as horrible about the droids as well. I was always surprised more people weren't bothered by it. They're constantly being killed, and nobody even cares.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by jollyreaper (513215)

          Marvin the android is part of a comedy series, but if you want to see real tragedy, see the droids in the Star Wars Universe.

          They are self-aware, capable of reasoning and emotion, and yet they are all slaves and no one pays more than cursory attention to them. ...maybe its because they don't rip people's arms out of their sockets when they lose at chess

          More to the point, it sounds like droids tend to develop personalities over time, growing and adapting beyond the standard unit they were when they rolled off the assembly line. The solution? Get the memory banks wiped. Essentially lobotomizing a sentient being so that it returns to being a docile slave.

          I guess what makes this more tricky in the Star Wars universe is that slaves in our world are human, always have been and always will be. There's a huge distinction between them and service animals -- we loo

    • Futurerama quote - The professor - "he will ran on a platform of not killing people, unfortunately like all politician's he couldn't keep his word."

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest © 1997-2009 Geeknet, Inc.