March 25, 2008
Absolut AI
ABSOLUT MACHINES is an Absolut-sponsored project in art and technology design, producing a choir of speech-synthesizing characters and a quartet playing xylophone by throwing balls. These can be controlled using a web interface.
While the site talks about machine creativity it doesn't seem to be that much AI going on; the creativity comes more from the human designers and their indirect interaction with the online users. Which is good enough (although I find the retro 1987 interface a bit ugly). Who can resist bizarre self-playing instruments?
What really led me to the site was the adverts I found on Scaryideas:
Now that expresses something I desire. A cyborg modular existence, where our wills influence distant systems, floating in a weightless sea of possibility we can shape into anything we imagine or evolve.
[ As for alcohol and creativity, I often mention Norlander's data on alcohol helping the incubation phase, although much of the normal effects are likely due to the placebo effect and romanticism. And now a recent paper suggests beer consumption correlates with low scientific output. Moderation in all things, I guess. ]