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The world's first Robot Film Festival is coming to New York and is promising love, humor and a robot cowboy.
[partner id="wireduk"]The two-day event kicks off Saturday and is the brainchild of Heather Knight, a Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotic Institute and founder of Marilyn Monrobot -- an outfit that devises socially intelligent robot performances and sensor-based electronic art. Knight also gave what must be the only TED talk to date in which a human acted as compeer for a robot comedian -- in her case one called Data after the Star Trek character.
Speaking to Wired.co.uk, Knight explains that people were asked to submit films that told a story with robots -- whether as characters or simply, as Knight told New Scientist, "just dramatically intertwined into the context of the story."
Fifty-three submissions were accepted and a panel of experts and enthusiasts will pass judgment on these during the festival. A very select few will receive an inaugural Botsker award after an Oscar-style ceremony. (Of course the awards themselves, designed by Shawn Sims, are 3-D-printed and robotically milled, adds Knight).
The weekend of robotic revelry will include a screening of Spike Jonze's film short and robotic love story I'm Here, but there will also be a human and virtual rock band performing; the aforementioned robot cowboy; and Data the Robot will be trying to excite a giggle or two from the audience.
On the second day of the festival, attendees will have the chance to make their own robot-themed film in a workshop sponsored by New York Science House before the BotBQ, a robot-themed cookout of botgers, roboribs and heaping spoonfuls of podata salad.
Knight spoke to us for this week's Wired.co.uk Podcast, explaining where she found the inspiration to launch the film festival and whether robot enthusiasts in the United Kingdom should be dusting off their director's chairs. You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes or via RSS.
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