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Chris Eckert's 'Gimme' Robot Begs for Change

by Matthew Zuras on September 27, 2010 at 12:05 PM

'gimme' by chris eckertIs it not enough that robots are taking our jobs? Now they need to take our unemployment, too? Chris Eckert's 'Gimme' 'bot is a panhandling droid that relentlessly demands spare change from a roomful of viewers. Controlled by an Arduino Pro Mini (a favorite of amateur electronics geeks) and a sensor that searches for possible donors, 'Gimme' rolls about the room with the help of two stepper motors in the quest for alms.

Eckert says that he was inspired by the beggars he meets during his morning runs, and the resulting "sympathy, fear [and] anger" he feels towards them. He wanted to replicate these emotions in the viewer with his robot, attempting some kind of reflection of humanity in its lone eyeball. Of course, the sympathy, fear and anger we feel toward the homeless is an abstract demand to recognize their difference. (We're thinking here of Emmanuel Lévinas's whole ethical philosophy on face-to-face transactions.) Would a robot beggar inspire anything more than coos of awe? That being said, it's an adorable robot.

Tags: arduino, art, ChrisEckert, gimme, homeless, panhandling, robot, robots

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