Tag: CREEPY

Which ones are the humans and which are the robots? We're not even sure the participants in this terrifying photo op know the answer to that question. Three nightmarish Geminoids were brought together with the flesh bags they were modeled after, presumably so the 'bots could learn a bit more about their human counterparts before murdering them and taking their place in life. ...

Ever wonder how easy it would be for someone to track your every move? You can now find out with a new app called 'Creepy.' Created by 26-year-old Yiannis Kakavas, 'Creepy' is a software package that allows users to pinpoint anyone's location, using geographic data embedded within shared photos. All you have to do is type in a person's Twitter or Flickr username, and hit the 'Geolocate ...

FindYourFacemate.com is a new dating site that is sure to raise some eyebrows when it launches later this month. After you upload a picture of yourself, the site uses facial recognition software to analyze your visage and find you a mate based on how similar you look. The software tracks key points on the face (eyes, nose, mouth, etc.) and finds individuals with similar placement and spacing. ...

This is the latest iterationn of the Geminoid-F, a successor to the original Geminoid 'bot designed by Hiroshi Ishiguro of ATR, the man behind the Telenoid and Elfoid robotic nightmares. This model, however, was created outside of Japan, a first for the series. This Geminoid-F, which comes from Aalborg University in Denmark, is in some respects simpler than the original version -- but ...

Remember the Telenoid, the creepy humanoid bot that transmitted both the voice and the head movements of its operator? Imagine having that nightmare-inducing creation in your pocket at all times. The Elfoid P1 is essentially that: a ghostly robot effigy, shrunk down to handheld proportions and made into a cell phone. The outer coating is specially designed to feel like human skin (eww!), and ...

Here are a couple factoids for you to munch on this Friday. Last February, the world's most expensive camel sold for £1.6 million, or about $2.5 million. This camel was an international racing camel, and, yes, that exists. If the fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled world of camel racing doesn't excite you, the absurd wealth of the socialite Arab participants (or at least the brightly colored nose ...

Google CEO Eric Schmidt continues in his brazen creepiness whenever he opens his mouth in public. On CNN's 'Parker Spitzer' program last week, Schmidt said that anyone concerned about their home appearing on Street View "can just move." (This follows Google's damage control regarding the revelation that its Street View cars had captured personal data.) As for his comment, Schmidt merely laughed, ...

When separate groups of university scientists recently demonstrated the frightening capabilities of elusive, deceptive robots, the expected nerdly and ominous hyperbole immediately followed. Well, get ready for even more apocalyptic 'Terminator' doomsday references (particularly the "My CPU is a neural-net processor -- a learning computer" line). According to the New York Times, researchers from ...

What's a great way to tear your child away from his PlayStation and get him outside? Why, with a giant robotic toy that will walk for him, of course! At a little over 5-feet tall and weighing over 400 lbs., the new 'Kid's Walker' 'Avatar'-esque robo suit isn't so much a toy as it is a recipe for carnage. Just plop your kid in the bot's seat, let him spend hours cruising around the neighborhood ...

Why is Eric Schmidt so in love with the Singularity, and so determined to make Google the company that initiates our complete subservience to The Machines? We guess he just doesn't see it that way. Because, according to Schmidt, we have so many computers in our lives, "you're never lonely, you're never bored." At the Washington Ideas Forum presented by The Atlantic, the Google CEO talked ...

Hackers are, by definition, a strange breed. But few are quite as disturbing as 31-year-old Luis Mijangos, who has been charged with extorting sexually explicit images and videos from a women he targeted with malware. According to federal prosecutors, Mijangos scoured peer-to-peer networks for his targets, to whom he sent malicious software disguised as MP3s. Once opened, the file would infect his ...

You may spend your spare time surfing the Web, hanging out with friends, or playing ultimate frisbee. Mark Zuckerberg spends his down time predicting who you're gonna hook up with next. That's right. Your romantic life is Zuckerberg's leisure. In the forthcoming book 'The Facebook Effect,' Fortune columnist David Kirkpatrick delves into the psyche of the Facebook CEO. And based on early ...

Robot designer Hiroshi Ishiguro has a flair for creepy, wax-figure verisimilitude. Ishiguro has invented an entirely new distribution curve for the Uncanny Valley, hanging steadily in the middle of both the appealing/unappealing and endearing/frightening axes. A couple years back, Ishiguro created a robot version of himself (well, more of an evil twin), and now he's come up with an uncanny ...

We've seen tons of terrifying bots here at Switched: the tiny goose-stepping, vaguely racist Ropid; a convulsing, swine flu simulating, artificial cadaver; and most recently, a robotic school girl that dances like a marionette possessed. But all of these horrors pale in comparison to the $75,000 piece of art by Nathaniel Mellor on display at Art Basel Miami Beach 2009. The work features three ...

Dancing robots have definitely become passé. No matter how awkward or disturbing they may appear, the gyrating automatons just don't seem quite so terrifying or creepy anymore. But, one (hopefully last) horrifying entry in the ROBO-ONE GATE dancing robot competition has managed to transcend that boogie-bot cliche. The Doka Harumi robot, whose blank, schoolgirl face and wig look like ...