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Article and Photography by Jeffrey A. Gouse (SithLord0498)
Humanization of Robotics
Moving away from the concepts behind advanced forms of transportation, the exhibit tackles the more interesting concept of robotics and attempts at humanizing them. By “humanization”, we’re not talking necessarily about androids or cybernetic organisms of the Terminator ilk. In the context of what is explored by this exhibit, “humanization” deals with the integration of human motor skills and senses within a mechanical being—walking, maintaining balance, recognizing and discriminating human faces, and so forth.
Seeing as how it is a completely fictional realm, the Star Wars universe has already overcome these vast technological hurdles and produced such humanized robots. None are as prolific as the skittish and proper protocol droid C-3PO.
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What human qualities aside from emotional responses do C-3PO and many other droids in the Star Wars universe have? They can walk and navigate uneven terrain (particularly stairs). They can maintain their balance as well as a human being can. They can recognize various forms of life and discriminate one human (or alien) from another. They can utilize vocal tone and inflection to convey emotive expressions.
But the traits we take for granted are extremely difficult for modern robots.
1965 saw the creation of the Johns Hopkins Beast, a very crude and early form of humanized robotics. Essentially, this machine’s sole purpose was to mimic the behavior of simple organisms, and it spent its time roaming hallways and recharging itself when the batteries ran low. It wasn’t much, but it was a beginning.
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Nearly 45 years later, robotics has advanced a great deal. A prime example would be the attempts by the Toyota Corporation to develop robots tasked with elderly care. And we certainly can’t leave out ASIMO by Honda, which can walk, run, react to gestural and environmental cues, and even recognize up to ten human faces.
However, modern robots are still a far cry from the droids of the Star Wars universe.
The exciting sections of this theme were the various workstations and informational displays that dealt with the complexities and challenges of humanizing robots. These were kinds of hands-on stations that made me regret not having enough time to actually participate in them, but we were running on borrowed time. After all, we still had to make the trip back to Willow Grove, congregate for a while, and then make the drive home.
There were three major stations that demonstrated the major hurdles in humanization robots. The first experimental station dealt with the problematic nature of creating walking robots. Since humans utilize an interconnected system of muscles and nerves to walk, engineers faced the daunting task of creating a synthetic facsimile in robots, a challenge only recently overcome. In this station, you used various controls to “walk” a bare-bones robot down a very short track.
The next station was an interactive display that demonstrated how a robot’s optical system and CPU work together to capture, process, and discriminate human faces. The set-up was relatively simple. The stripped down upper body of a robot was mounted to a table with a camera standing in as its right eye. A computer monitor sat next to it, displaying what the “eye” was seeing. Hanging above the display was a row of three screens that showed the stages of facial discrimination and recognition: raw data, analysis, and conclusion/recognition. Considering present-day robots need to be specifically programmed to recognize each and every item with which it is presented, it can be very easy to confuse and deceive a robot. In fact, one of the goals for visitors was to “trick” the robot.
The last of the three major robotic stations was a computer simulation where visitors used a series of buttons to manipulate the digital face of a person on the monitor. The controls were divided into the three categories of eyes, head, and mouth, and then they were sub-divided into up-and-down controls for the various movements that each part could make. For example, the three sub-controls for the head were “turn”, “nod”, and “tilt”—all standard movements. Given the relatively simple nature of merely walking up to the terminal and pressing buttons, I did find a moment to give it a spin. Suffice to say, it was no walk in the park, and I felt as though I were three hands short of being able to adequate manipulate the controls.
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Cybernetic and Mechanical Prosthetics
Another way in which Star Wars explored the relationship between man and machine was through its depiction of robotics augmenting flesh. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the form of Darth Vader and his cumbersome yet iconic life support suit.
Mortally wounded by the fires of Mustafar and the blade of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber, Anakin Skywalker was, in a single moment of blind arrogance, reduced to a burned chunk of flesh scrambling to hold on to life. Using an improved version of the technology that maintained General Grievous, Darth Sidious kept his apprentice alive but enslaved him to an existence dependant upon technology. The echoing, ominous breathing for which the character is known serves only as a reminder that each labored breath represents the fusion of man and machine. When it came time for filmmakers to unmask what remained of Anakin beneath the dark visage in Return of the Jedi, they developed a detailed three-stage removable helmet which gave audiences a glimpse of the intricate respirator system that gave the Dark Lord the pitiful existence to which he had condemned himself.
Granted, Vader’s respirator system was symbolic of how giving in to darkness could destroy the very things that make one human, but, in the real world, such concepts hold a more altruistic tone. Simple oxygen systems allow firefighters to bravely carry out their jobs, and oxygen tents (a modern real-world form of Vader’s meditation chamber) could keep patients alive and protected from harm as their bodies recovered. In the future, it is entirely conceivable that full mechanical suits could emerge to allow mortally wounded men, women, and children to survive their grave injuries. For the time being, however, such technology remains in the realm of science fiction.
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Star Wars also utilized a less crippling form of medical technology and one that is a part of modern medical science—mechanical prosthetics. The amputation of limbs in battle is no stranger to the Star Wars universe. In fact, every film in the saga features the severing of an extremity (although the limb in Return of the Jedi is Vader’s mechanical hand—not flesh and bone). For the Skywalkers, the loss of their limbs immediately segued into the installation of mechanical replacements. Anakin’s replacement was entirely robotic, concealed by a bulky leather gauntlet, whereas Luke’s mechanical hand was a truly synthetic replacement with artificial skin covering the robotics.
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Mechanical prosthetics are also quickly becoming a part of our world in the 21st century, and the exhibit dedicated an entire display to showcase examples of various devices used in modern medicine. Among the featured devices were a metal support frame used to repair serious fractures and microprocessor prosthetic legs that analyze and adjust to the environment.
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The last realm of medical science covered by the Star Wars portion of the exhibit extends the use of robotics into the concept of replacing specialized surgeons with medical droids. They have been a mainstay throughout the major medical crises of the saga, and none were as critical as the team of surgical droids charged with the resurrection of Anakin Skywalker into the living tomb of Darth Vader’s armor. In terms of the Original Trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back brought audiences two of the more recognizable medical droids in the saga—2-1B and FX-7—and both were on display.
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Biomes and Human Interaction/Adaptation
And now we come to the third and final theme of the exhibit, the one that is missing from all of the promotional material that I have seen. While minor and sorely under-represented in the exhibit, it is the theme of how humans interact with and adapt to various biomes. For the majority of the population, adapting to our environment usually comes down to the decision between “winter clothes” or “summer clothes”, but what about people living in northern Alaska. What about the tribal cultures deep within the South American and African jungles? Or perhaps residents of the Sahara?
Existing at the lowest extremes, Hoth is an excellent representation of a biome that could be found on Earth as well as being the most sufficiently explored biome in the exhibit. Existing here means a vast array of adaptations both in terms of technology and biology. Technological adaptations were suggested in Episode V with the comment that the Rebels were having a difficulty time adapting the Snowspeeders to the arctic environment. Such complications would arise in the real world as well. Think about how many times you’re advised to maintain a certain fuel level in sub-zero temperatures to prevent your vehicle’s fuel lines from freezing. These were the kinds of questions and thoughts that the exhibit forced your mind to conjure as you ventured through it.
In terms of biological adaptation to the cold, special clothing and armor is required to survive the harsh temperatures. For the Rebel Alliance, this came in the form of bulky and highly insulated clothing. Face wraps and goggles concealed their faces, and every square inch of skin was covered and protected from the frosty winds. Such clothing is routinely found in our world when people are subjected to such climates.
The militaristic nature of the Galactic Empire, on the other hand, utilized similar concepts but without the cozy look of traditional arctic gear. Snowtroopers took to the battlefield with suits of armor specifically designed to allow combat operations in the cold. The armor was designed to allow soldiers to survive for up to two weeks on the suit’s power supply, and while personal comfort was not in the forefront of the Empire’s mind, the necessary adaptations to the cold weather kept troopers quite warm.
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