I found the following website last night and, for some reason, it gave me weird dreams about anthropomorphising objects such as robots. When I get the chance, I’ll draw up the cartoon that kept haunting me and caused me to toss and turn for a good part of my sleepy time.

The premise for Tweenbots is simple: a small cardboard robot is let loose at one location and must rely on the kindness of others to reach another location. According to the creator’s site:

Tweenbots are human-dependent robots that navigate the city with the help of pedestrians they encounter. Rolling at a constant speed, in a straight line, Tweenbots have a destination displayed on a flag, and rely on people they meet to read this flag and to aim them in the right direction to reach their goal.

Given their extreme vulnerability, the vastness of city space, the dangers posed by traffic, suspicion of terrorism, and the possibility that no one would be interested in helping a lost little robot, I initially conceived the Tweenbots as disposable creatures which were more likely to struggle and die in the city than to reach their destination. Because I built them with minimal technology, I had no way of tracking the Tweenbot’s progress, and so I set out on the first test with a video camera hidden in my purse. I placed the Tweenbot down on the sidewalk, and walked far enough away that I would not be observed as the Tweenbot––a smiling 10-inch tall cardboard missionary––bumped along towards his inevitable fate.

Given the state of how much bitching and moaning is going on these days it is refreshing to see people help this poor, defenseless little bot scoot along to the appropriate place. I’ve been so depressed and enraged watching the far left-wing and far right-wing bitchmongers on the news that I’ve started tuning them out. Rather than complaining about things all the time, nitpicking and acting like a bunch of adult babies I’d rather find something that makes me feel good. Something that makes me feel proud to be not only an American but also just being a plain old human being.

I want feel happy. This Tweenbot project makes me feel happy. The bot motors along, smile on it’s face, just hoping to get home. And people are willing to help it – without question nor fear.
The robot reminds me of a mix between the Firefox robots, the digg logo and the reddit logo all mixed into one. I like to think that, given the opportunity, I’d help it along as well.

These feel good type projects make me…well, feel good. Like the Improv Everywhere’s ‘High Five Escalator’ video:

My favorites were the people who wouldn’t crack a smile the whole time, but still gave a high five. Other people were into it early and smiled the whole ride up. I guess it’s a pretty corporate neighborhood, so to see all of the people dressed up in suits cracking a smile was pretty great.

Seriously – life is too short. I don’t want to have to listen to all the negativity all the time. Luckily, I don’t have to 🙂