Baker`s Dozen: Bossa Nova Robot Creator Sarjoun Skaff

As part my Baker's Dozen series at RevolutionSF, I chatted with Bossa Nova Robotics chief developer Sarjoun Skaff about apes, penguins, cockroaches, Pittsburgh, and of course robots.

Why were an ape and a penguin chosen for the initial releases?

Both characters were chosen to highlight each product's most important feature. Prime-8 emphasizes power and speed, and the power of a gorilla was eminently fitting. In addition, just as gorillas have large arms, Prime-8's prominent arms are a showcase of Bossa Nova's biped running technology.

As for Penbo, she is unique in the way she creates an endearing connection with the user. Penguins have always captured the imagination of the public, and Penbo is no exception. The locomotion technology makes her waddle like a cute penguin, she is cheerfully animated and interactive and even communicates with her baby.

Why Rhex?

A research robot, RHex exhibits an extraordinary set of locomotion abilities, including walking, running, pronking, bounding, jumping, flipping, climbing stairs, and even swimming and diving. RHex's design was inspired from observing the way cockroaches were able to overcome varied terrain with ease. The lesson was that mechanical compliance was more important than sensor feedback, so RHex is equipped with carefully designed legs and requires little sensing to locomote.

But RHex also moves with grace, and has been confined to the laboratory for too many years. It is this life-like motion that we seek to capture in our robots, and we aim to get the technology out of the lab and share it with as many people as possible. This means reducing the cost of the technology, designing compelling products around it, and mastering mass-distribution channels. Prime-8 is the first product that is powered by this technology, and as with RHex, he rotates his arms to move fast, does not need sensing to move, and can run over multiple surfaces.

Most creative types have some unusual idiosyncrasies when creating.(For example, I can't write with my shoes on.) Does this hold true for robot designers? What is your typical day like?

Not sure that we have had the luxury of idiosyncrasies. Until recently, there were only three of us and a handful of contractors, and we had to build both products by ourselves, so our days were full and intense. We needed to learn and execute every single aspect of product and business development, including fund raising, IP protection, product definition, design, technology development, programming, testing, problem solving, safety, certification, production in China, packaging, user manual, sales, distribution, toy fairs, etc. Juggling all this has forced us to create on the go.

This said, we have most fun when we brainstorm in groups. Our best ideas came from these sessions, and we have them as frequently as possible.

What do you think of the contemporary portrayal of robots in movies and books?

I think they are great at stimulating the public's imagination. It certainly helped create my fascination childhood with robots. The caveat is that robots are portrayed as advanced automatons with capabilities far beyond today's technology. This has raised the public's expectations of robots to unattainable heights, and this has probably slowed down the adoption of robots.

Fortunately, more and more robots are being built for the consumer market, some for entertainment and other to solve practical problems, so people are increasingly becoming familiar with real-world robots. This helps re-calibrate expectations and people learn that robots have limitations but can still be incredibly exciting.

Check it all out at RevolutionSF.

My Watchmen review

My review of the highly-anticipated, much ballyhooed Zach Snyder film adaptation of the classic Watchmen is now up at RevolutionSF.

In 1986's Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, rather than accepting the limitations of the graphic format, embodied and broadened the art form. By revitalizing and reinventing the superhero genre, the duo influenced an entire generation of writers, artists, and filmmakers. The acclaimed superhero tale garnered a Hugo Award, the only comic book to ever earn the prestigious science fiction prize, and the only graphic novel ranked on Time's 100 Greatest Novels.

Under the guidance of Zack Snyder, the director of the bombastic 300, Moore and Gibbon's groundbreaking vision makes its big screen appearance. Snyder crafts a film that rather than “revitalizing and reinventing” the genre, exemplifies the some of the worst in comic book adaptation.

A Very, Very, Very, Very Long Life

My (brief) review of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is up at Revolution SF.

Fincher appears to be channeling not Fitzgerald but Steven Spielberg, in particular the Spielberg of “Kick the Can” from Twilight Zone: The Movie. And that turns out to be only one of the picture’s problems.

Interview with The Damned

Creators, that is. My latest Baker's Dozen for RevolutionSF is with The Damned writer Cullen Bunn and artist Brian Hurtt.

It's been said the in order to get anything published, you must sell your soul. How much of Eddie comes from your personal and professional life experiences?

BH: The process of doing this comic has been entirely painless. We have a great relationship with Oni (I’d done several projects with them prior to this) and when they said yes to the pitch they more or less cut us loose on the book. Their input has been minimal and always put forth as questions rather than edicts. The Oni philosophy has always been to hire the creators they like and trust and then let them do what they do. It’s a great way to work.

Eddie is a bitter, tired, and pessimistic soul. He’s entirely based on Cullen.

CB: I tried to sell Brian’s soul on eBay, but the highest bidder failed to pay. I didn’t get a single bite on it when posted to Craigslist, either. I finally gave his soul away on Freecycle so it wouldn’t clutter my garage.

Working on The Damned seems a bit surreal, because it has been so easy, and I’m grateful every day for the experience. Brian and Oni Press are great to work with. My only fear is that I’ve been spoiled by how well this has gone. I can only hope that all the other projects I work on will be as rewarding.

Continued...

A Dark Forces Double Team

Peggy Hailey and I double teamed for the RevolutionSF coverage of Terry Moore's latest series Echo.

I interviewed Terry about life after the very popular Strangers in Paradise (which ended last year), his new series Echo, and science fiction.

What new themes has the science fiction setting allowed you to explore that you were unable to tackle in your previous works? Do you approach the writing of an sf concept different than a super hero or slice of life story?

The imagination is liberated, yet spawned from the practical laws of physics and life. I think it's advanced stuff to try and pull off, because you have to be good at the other genres to incorporate them into your sci fi story in order to establish setting and sense of place.

You could specialize in slice-of-life and be lousy at everything else, but you can't write good sci fi without being good at other genres as well.

Continued...

Peggy had the task of reviewing the first two issues of the new series.

A lot of this comic is vintage Moore: a female protagonist with some personal issues gets caught up in a much larger story and has to deal with the fallout. But it’s new, too.

Julie Martin isn’t Francine or Katchoo; she comes from a different background and has different issues to deal with. And while SiP could occasionally bust out into full on spy thriller mode, it was essentially the story of Francine and Katchoo: their day-to-day story was the heart of the piece, not the theatrics around them.

Echo is a science fiction comic, and while I’m sure we’ll spend a lot of time with Julie and her daily life, I suspect that the bigger outside story will have more prominence.

Continued...

Justice League: The New Frontier review

My review of the much anticipated The New Frontier animated movie based on Darwyn Cooke's award-winning graphic novel is now available at RevolutionSF.

The excellent, near-perfect graphical look creates a quality to the project that far exceeds other direct-to-dvd animated movies. As evident from the viewing and the discussions between the contributors on the commentary tracks, the staff carefully deliberated every image and shot, even going as far as bringing in Darwyn Cooke to create new bridging sequences and consult on many story elements. In the 75 minute feature, nary a shot is wasted and most are beautifully crafted, especially the iconic 1950s-style credits sequence.
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My Fantastic Fest 3 blog

I am contributing a blog about Fantastic Fest 3 over at RevolutionSF, where I will be writing reviews of the festival films and other happenings.

From the FF3 site:

Fantastic Fest is a week-long festival featuring the best in new science-fiction, fantasy, horror, animation, crime, Asian, and all around badass cinema. The event was created to offer exposure to genre films which are often overlooked by the traditional festival circuit. We strive to offer acquisition, media and exhibition opportunities for undistributed films as well as to spotlight upcoming genre theatrical releases and give audiences a chance to see 35mm prints of repertory classics.

Until the festival starts on Sept. 20, I'm previewing the Festival.