University Researchers Unleash Robot Trash Cans in New York City
Researchers from Cornell University unleashed two robotic trash cans in New York City, to study people’s interactions with autonomous everyday objects in public spaces.
The robots were equipped with 360 cameras and were powered by recycled hoverboards. The two robots were separated to collect both landfill and recycling.
This footage shows people in Astor Place in New York City, generally being welcoming towards the robots. One woman is seen helping one after it becomes stuck. Another clip shows a man rewarding the trash can for moving towards him, calling him “good boy” after dropping rubbish into the bin.
Some people were seen negatively reacting to the robots, with one observer calling them “creepy”.
According to the researchers, the robots generally “encouraged social interaction among strangers” adding that people felt pressured to generate garbage for the robots. Credit: Cornell University via Storyful
Video transcript
- In this study, we deployed two trash barrel robots to study how people interact with autonomous everyday objects in public space. Equipped with 360 cameras, our robots were powered by recycled hoverboards, and we made two robots to separate landfill and recycling. Our study area is constrained within the trapezium-shaped traffic island called Astor Place in Manhattan, New York City. The space is set up with several metal tables and chairs for public seating. We used a Wizard of Oz deployment method to elicit natural interaction behaviors from people who perceive our robots to be autonomous.
- There you go. [INAUDIBLE]
- I need you, yeah. Go on. Yeah. Yeah. There's trash here. Yes. Yes. Oh, good boy. Oh, there you go. Good boy.
- It's recycling.
- Oh, it's recycling. Oh, you're-- you're a bad boy. You don't know what you're doing. Yeah. It's OK. They're learning, they're learning. It still helps.
- [INAUDIBLE]
- It's coming to say hello. [INAUDIBLE] someone just like, rolling away from somewhere earlier. And then I realized they're buddies. They're doing their job.
- So people just toss.
- [INAUDIBLE]
- I guess it knows I've been sitting here long enough. I should give it something. OK. Come here, buddy. Thank you. Good job!
- That's creepy. That's just freaking creepy.
- Yeah. I couldn't tell [INAUDIBLE].
- [INAUDIBLE]
- What's he want?
- The cup, bro!
- I'll give him the straw.
[CHATTER]
