Chef robots, piano-playing robots, actor robots, even robots that can respond naturally to conversation, pull faces and tell jokes. 1001 Inventions brought them together from around the world for a huge robotics and artificial intelligence festival in Kuwait in February 2020.
To set the scene and wow the sold-out audience, the team wanted a live show that all visitors would attend. The idea was to present the potential and the pitfalls of a robotic future, throw the limelight onto some key robots in action, and start people thinking about the values that need to underpin technological development.
It was great to be invited to work with 1001 Inventions again, and particularly with Ahmed Salim whose vision underpins 1001 Inventions, with its creative output including exhibitions, books, films, festivals and humanitarian work.
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We developed a script showcasing TeoTronico, RoboThespian, Han – an unsettlingly lifelike AI robot – and including plenty of interaction with characters from the present (Sara, a current student at Kuwait University) and the past (Alhasan, a famous inventor from the golden age of Muslim civilisation). The terrifying nine-foot-tall SteamBuster also made an appearance, but as audiences discovered, he had a secret of his own.
The festival was commissioned by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science (KFAS) and designed to appeal to schools, universities, decision-makers, educators and family visitors.
