Who is magic’s first robot assistant?
His name is Baxter, and yes, he’s an illusionist’s extremely competent assistant.
Tempest, a cyber-illusionist, is already renowned for taking technology to new prestidigitation heights. He’s now working with one of the latest and most affordable androids, Rethink Robotics’ Baxter.
As reported by Mashable, Baxter is a human-sized robot, who can be plugged into a standard wall outlet, and with time, be trained to do repetitive tasks in 30 minutes. He’s also equipped with enough smarts and sensors to make sure that he does not collide with or injure humans working alongside.
Currently, Baxter has no legs and Tempest has no idea of dressing up his trunk or four casters though he is working on other areas of Baxter’s appearance. Tempest is also adding a hat and has changed Baxter’s default on-screen face, giving it a more endearing persona. The robot is also designed to interact with the audience!
Tempest is no novice at combining magic and technology. While living in Switzerland in the 1990s, the young magician wrote to Steve Jobs’s NeXt Computer company, asking for a NeXt box, stating he could write the next wave of magic. Several years later, Tempest learned that Steve Jobs had actually seen the letter and authorised sending him a NeXt box.
Post new comment