Student project takes the world stage
19 May 2014
Pinokio, the Victoria University-designed animatronic lamp that has become an internet sensation, is on show in Russia this month.
Its co-creator, Victoria University student Adam Ben-Dror, has taken Pinokio with him on a trip to Russia where he will speak at the Robo-Forum Conference.
Pinokio, collaboratively designed by Adam and Shanshan Zhou from the School of Design, Victoria University, has already clocked almost one million views on Vimeo. Adam was invited to speak about the lamp and his explorations into interaction design and robotics after the Robo-Forum organisers got in touch with him.
Robo-Forum brings together experts from vastly different fields to weigh in on the future of robotics and the robots market. Pinokio will feature in the associated exhibition, and Adam is looking forward to stepping back and watching people enjoy the project.
“It will be rewarding to set Pinokio up and let people see his new behaviours and movements—he is a real delight,” says Adam.
The four day conference is held in Russia’s capital Moscow, and features more than 50 speakers. As well as offering opportunities for networking and putting Pinokio on a global stage, Adam hopes to come away with new ideas and potential for collaborations.
The interdisciplinary style of the conference is reflected in Pinokio’s origins. Not only was the project completed by students across disciplines within the School of Design, most notably Media Design graduate Shanshan Zhou who programmed Pinokio's interaction model, but it was inspired by principles in three separate fields: design, animation and artificial intelligence.
Pinokio is based on the iconic Anglepoise Lamp designed by George Carwardine in 1932. “The style is instantly recognisable, though Carwadine’s lamp was described as being ‘flexible, obedient and practical’, whereas Pinokio is the most disobedient lamp imaginable,” says Adam.
In terms of animation, Pinokio is closely related to Disney’s famous short film Luxo Jr. from 1986, where the potential for the angle poise lamp to be animated was realised. Inspiration from the field of Artificial Intelligence has Pinokio switch himself back on if he is turned off—a reference of Marvin Minsky’s Ultimate Machine that’s only purpose was to switch off when turned on.
“I think it is these ideas that come together and make Pinokio compelling. He is a mash-up, a collage of ideas and works from the past century,” says Adam.
The Robo-Forum programme and speakers list is available online at http://mosroboforum.ru/eng/index.shtml
Adam’s work, including Pinokio, can be found on his website http://ben-dror.com/