Pinokio – The Real Life PIXAR Lamp

Shanshan Zhou, Adam Ben-Dror, and Joss Doggett have created the cutest possible version of what Skynet and Judgement day might look like. Using an Arduino processor, a web cam, and six servos, they were able to take a simple lamp and bring him to life like the classic PIXAR short, Luxo Jr that inspired the lamp to become part of the company’s logo.

Official Video Description:
with Processing, Arduino, and OpenCV.
Pinokio is an exploration into the expressive and behavioural potentials of robotic computing. Customized computer code and electronic circuit design imbues Lamp with the ability to be aware of its environment, especially people, and to expresses a dynamic range of behaviour. As it negotiates its world, we the human audience can see that Lamp shares many traits possessed by animals, generating a range of emotional sympathies. In the end we may ask: Is Pinokio only a lamp? – a useful machine? Perhaps we should put the book aside and meet a new friend.
Special thanks to the open source and creative commons community.

Here’s the original PIXAR 1986 test film Luxo Jr.