Robots Through the Years, by Jacob Haase

6 Responses to "Robots Through the Years, by Jacob Haase"

Vinay Ghai says:

April 25, 2014 at 9:02 pm

I thought this was an excellent presentation. I didn’t expect the sudden transition to the automaton 500 years ago to see how the idea of a robot came to be in the 1900’s, and then onward to today, but I have to say it was very effective. Similarly, I really enjoyed the portrayal of the item being a product of its time in the form of a robot being looked at as a domestic worker that could provide spare leisure time, because that’s what people in the 1950’s were concerned about. Going off of this point, I thought it was a great idea to relate the well-being of the family (upper/middle/lower class) to how much leisure time the family would have, and therefore how society would grow to perceive the robot as the futuristic version of a maid. I did not realize how much of an impact the culture of the time, especially World War II-era thinking when men were at war and women were working in factories, had on the portrayal of the future visions of objects, especially robots. The only critical thing have to say was that the audio spiked at times, but it’s one of the more insignificant details. Overall, I thought it was really well done.

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Eric Martocci says:

April 27, 2014 at 3:21 pm

The jump back to the automaton was an excellent starting point to show that the idea of a robot has been around for hundreds of years. One thing I did not realize, and you brought out in this presentation was how much emphasis was put on leisure time in the 1950s. The whole notion of how well off you were by how much leisure time you had seems ridiculous. Based on this leisure time mindset, I can see the importance of the maid or housekeeper and how society would perceive the robot as the future of the housekeeper. I thought you did a great job of tying together the robotic housekeeper and what it meant to women in the workforce with extra family income and the birth of consumerism.
The only criticism that I would have would be the Robert the Robot video. Although it was entertaining and did seem to flow in your presentation I am not sure it would be considered correct pechakucha format since it did take about 70 seconds of the presentation. Overall I thought the presentation was very informative and that you did a great job.

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Jesse Greenfield says:

April 27, 2014 at 6:12 pm

I really liked your opening slide about automatons. I never knew that it was a status symbol with the rich who could afford them and in most people’s opinion were practically useless. I also liked your point about robots weren’t anything really new but more like very efficient servants. You need to check your audio levels when recording because sometimes the level got too high and the audio was distorted. I like the Robert the robot clip but it broke the Pecha Kucha format as it was about a minute long though I thought it was a good portrayal of what people thought robots would be like in the future. I thought your connection with women and robots was very good as you definitely showed that robots would do the housewife’s jobs and change womens’ lives and their role in society.

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Brandon Smith says:

April 27, 2014 at 10:35 pm

The point about stereotypical maid attire was surprising to me. I had honestly never thought about why robots are so often depicted as wearing an apron or something similar. I liked that you started all the back in the Renaissance to talk about automatons, it played well with the idea you presented at the end about how many ideas about what “the future” will be like are often a function performed by current technology but more “futuristic.” The idea of leisure time correlating to wealth was another interesting point, and one that still seems to be in effect today. The Robert the Robot video was quite amusing, but it would have been nice to hear your point of view on it. The narration had occasional audio spikes, but they seem to have become less frequent and less painful over the course of the slidecast. Overall, the slidecast was very well done, and raised several interesting points.

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Mike Fogarty says:

April 27, 2014 at 11:16 pm

To start, I really, really like watching your slidecast. During some of the slides, the narration was a bit crackly on some words, but it was a very minor nuisance. You did a stellar job of describing each image and how robots were viewed, and what their functions would be, at the time. You had strong background knowledge of your topic, and by your narration, it was clear. Giving a bit of background information on robots, such as the earliest forms of robots and their functions as well as their purpose was extremely informative. I found it very interesting that, although it was common at the time, that people thought that robots would act and do the same exact functions as the one in the Jetsons. In addition, the video added a nice break from narration and further emphasized your topic. From the video to the final slide where you showed the progress of robots over the decades, it was cool to see how technological advancements made robots possible and in smaller forms instead of big, clunky pieces of metal.

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Zack Benedetto says:

April 28, 2014 at 11:37 pm

The presentation factor of this slidecast was really nice. The background and the ambience were set nicely. The content was very interesting as well. Its strange to think about all of the visions that present humans have for robots, and then think about how in the 1950s all people cared about was having robots as maids and servants. The only advantage of it being a robot was that it wouldn’t have feelings or talk. Although, it is cool that having a robot for household chores would allow moms to go out and work and be empowered during the world war 2 era. It also seems like a lot of the technologies that people from the mid 1900s envisioned were all ones that tried to increase leisure time, which was that uch more enjoyable after the suffering in the war.

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