If you like interactive exhibits, this may be up your alley. It’s an interactive installation from Golan Levin. The snout is an eight-foot long robotic arm, that resembles an elephant’s trunk. The idea is that you could install it on the top of your house for some really funny ‘double-takes’. Some of the themes it deals with are: trans-species eye contact, gestural choreography, subjecthood and autonomous surveillance.

When people walk near it, it moves which shows that it’s intelligent and aware that they are there. The robot uses a machine vision algorithm and appears to be surprised with each passerby’s unique qualities which it communicates without words. Commissioned by Robot250, the Double-Taker (or Snout) is an artwork displayed in Pittsburgh. The control system was built using RAPID and OpenFrameworks using OpenCV.

It’s alot like meeting an alien for the first time who has no speech.

[Flong]