Pinokio, Animated Lamp

The Pinokio lamp, inspired by Pixar logo is a creation from team: Shanshan Zhou, Adam Ben-Dror and Joss Doggett. The lamp incorporates a webcam, microphone, mechanical iris, 2 servos and halogen globe and interacts with its users and traces its movements. But it can do more than merely follow your movements, the video reveals that it recognizes sound and even situations where a person intentionally hides from its camera. Zhou, Ben-Dror, and Doggett set out to give the lamp a broad range of behavior, and that “personality” is clearly on display.

Pinokio the lamp is imbued with the ability to be aware of its environment, especially people, and to express a dynamic range of behaviors. As it negotiates its world, through the synthesis of the algorithm, electronic circuit and structural modifications; we the human audience can see that Pinokio shares many traits possessed by animals, generating a range of emotional sympathies.
Pinokio is by no means the most intelligent and self-sustaining entity. Nevertheless, we believe it is the expressive and behavioral qualities that makes Pinokio come alive. Just like Pinocchio the puppet who comes to life and confidently proclaims “I’m a real boy” – it is the irrepressible and seemingly instinctive impulse of living for its own sake in Pinokio that shines forth in poetry and magic.