Covering five centuries, the "Robots" exhibition at the Science Museum in London boasts the most important collection of androids ever displayed. The show explores humanity's obsession - and unease - with them.
Image: Plastiques Photography, courtesy of the Science Museum
Advertisement
Ever creepier: 500 years of robots on show in London
The UK's Science Museum is opening its latest blockbuster exhibition, "Robots." Covering five centuries, the show features the most important collection of humanoids ever on display.
Image: Plastiques Photography, courtesy of the Science Museum
Animatronic baby
At the beginning of the "Robots" exhibition in London's Science Museum, visitors first encounter a realistic reproduction of a human baby. Just like any newborn, this robot's activity is limited to involuntary arm and leg movements; it appears to be breathing and can sneeze. Such babies are now often made for film sets; they're so life-like that some people feel strong emotions towards them.
Image: Plastiques Photography, courtesy of the Science Museum
Automaton monk
The exhibition covers humanity's 500-year-long quest to reproduce their features in mechanized forms. Although the term "robot" wasn't used until 1920, mechanical characters have been created for centuries. These automata would reenact Bible stories, for example. This monk, driven by a key-wound spring, comes from Spain and possibly dates as early as 1560.
Image: Smithsonian Institution/Jennie Hills
Cabinets of wonder
In the 16th century, extraordinary clockwork-driven automata would find a home in aristocrats' cabinets of curiosities, or "Wunderkammern." The "Marvel" section of the exhibition features among others the legendary Silver Swan from 1773. When wound up, the swan moves, preens itself and catches a fish. Novelist Mark Twain once described the swan as having "a living intelligence in its eyes."
Image: Plastiques Photography, courtesy of the Science Museum
Hand of steel
Long before humanoid-figures were created, prosthetic devices were developed to replace lost limbs. An early model was found on an Egyptian mummy dating back to between 950-710 BC. For steampunk fans, these steel and brass Victorian-era prosthetic arms shown at the "Robots" exhibition may seem beautiful; others might find them rather sinister.
Image: Plastiques Photography, courtesy of the Science Museum
Let's call them robots
In 1920, the Czech writer Karel Capek invented the word "robot" for his science fiction play "R.U.R.," which stands for "Rossum's Universal Robots." The term came from the Czech "robota," which means forced labor. The influential play was translated into 30 languages by 1923. In this picture, "Eric" (right) is a reproduction of one of the first robots in the world, originally from 1928.
Image: Plastiques Photography, courtesy of the Science Museum
Cinema's first robot was a woman
Fritz Lang's pioneering science-fiction work "Metropolis" (1927) featured one of the first robots of film history, the "Maschinenmensch" (machine-human). In this story set in 2026, the robot's creator aims to reproduce the woman he loved, Maria. A model of this iconic character is also on show at the exhibition.
Image: Plastiques Photography, courtesy of the Science Museum
'I'll be back'
Our perception of robots has been greatly influenced by art. Already in Capek's play, robots rise up to overthrow their creators. Since then, movies have also contributed to their threatening image. One of the most iconic robots in film history was created by James Cameron in his 1984 thriller, "The Terminator." The T800 Terminator from "Terminator Genisys" is also part of the exhibition.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. S. Gordon/2015 Paramount Pictures
The science behind the fiction
The London exhibition has also planned discussions and screenings of films focusing on artificial intelligence, such as Steven Spielberg's "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" (2001) and Alex Garland's "Ex Machina" (2015). The latter stars Alicia Vikander as an extremely advanced robot (picture). Increasingly becoming part of our reality, the themes of such movies are no longer surreal science fiction.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/A24 Films
Getting rid of repetition
Increasingly, robots are used to replace humans in industrial jobs. Why should people be obliged to do tasks characterized by the "four Ds" - dumb, dull, dirty or dangerous - when a robot can perform them? It only takes a few minutes for a regular worker to "teach" Baxter the robot a new task. It is sold for $25,000 (23,000 euros) - about the average annual salary of a manual laborer.
Image: Plastiques Photography, courtesy of the Science Museum
News shows are always the same, too
Sending out robots to clear dangerous landmines is clearly an advantage, but definitions of a "dull" job may vary. The Japanese Kodomoroid is a news-speaking android from 2014. She looks disturbingly human and can fluently report the news in a variety of languages, without stumbling. She is even programmed with a good sense of humor. Admittedly, she's a little stiff - for now.
Image: Plastiques Photography, courtesy of the Science Museum
Getting there soon
Rob Knight's open source android, ROSA, is the first "anthropomimetic" robot, which means that it reproduces the human body's structures. The robots shown at the exhibition at the Science Museum in London are not nearly as advanced as the androids of the TV series "Westworld," but they still provoke reflections on what it means to be human. The show runs from February 8 to September 3, 2017.
Image: Plastiques Photography, courtesy of the Science Museum
11 images1 | 11
Instead of focusing on how they're made, "Robots," the London Science Museum's new blockbuster exhibition, looks into why humans have always been obsessed with creating an automated version of themselves.
The exhibition features an extensive collection of over 100 robots, from a 16th-century mechanical monk to the most advanced models. The development of these human-machines over the last 500 years reflects religious beliefs, the industrial revolution, popular culture and visions of the future.
Androids are both figures of fascination and terror. This aspect has guided the organizers of the exhibition, which opens with an animatronic baby that manages to awake emotions in people.
"Coming face to face with a mechanical human has always been a disconcerting experience. Over the centuries, each generation has experienced this afresh as new waves of technology heralded its own curiosity-inducing robots. That sense of unease, of something you cannot quite put your finger on, goes to the heart of our long relationship with robots," said Ben Russell, lead curator of "Robots."
A growing sense of unease
With some exceptions like C-3PO and R2-D2 in "Star Wars," robots are predominantly portrayed in movies as threatening figures. Now Hollywood is not the only one to envision them taking over the world: Even the world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has warned that "the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race."
The satirical sci-fi classic "RoboCop" (1987) depicted one of the most iconic robots in film historyImage: Imago/EntertainmentPictures
Developing incredibly quickly, advanced intelligence comes with a series of social, philosophical and economic implications. Do the risks outweigh the opportunities? The exhibition also tries to answer such questions, with discussions such as "When will robots outsmart us?" and reflections on "What it means to be human."
The London show runs from February 8 to September 3, 2017 and will spend the following five years touring different museums in the UK and around the world.
Click through the gallery above to discover highlights of the "Robots" exhibition.
