Roboexotica (sometimes spelled: ''Roböxotica'') is an annual festival and conference where scientists, researchers, computer experts and artists from all over the world build ''cocktail robots'' and discuss technological

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entit ...

futurology Futures studies, futures research, futurism or futurology is the systematic, interdisciplinary and holistic study of social and technological advancement, and other environmental trends, often for the purpose of exploring how people will li ...

and

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

. Roboexotica is also an ironic attempt to criticize techno-triumphalism and to dissect technological hypes. The festival is currently produced by art collective

monochrom Monochrom (stylised as monochrom) is an international art-technology-philosophy group, publishing house and film production company. It was founded in 1993, and defines itself as "an unpeculiar mixture of proto-aesthetic fringe work, pop att ...

. Until 2018, the festival was a cooperation of monochrom, Shifz, and the 'Bureau for Philosophy' (of the Department of Philosophy,

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

). The festival is usually held in the end of November or early December.

Overview

The annual international festival consists of an exhibition, a conference, social events, and the ACRA (Annual Cocktail Robot Award). The exhibition presents

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may ...

s that can mix cocktails, serve cocktails, consume cocktails, have bar conversations, light or smoke cigarettes or manage to impress the jury with (quote Roboexotica website) "other achievements in the sector of cocktail culture". Cocktail robot at Roboexotica 2007 in Vienna, Austria

Cocktail robot at Roboexotica 2007 in Vienna, Austria

History

Starting in 1993, art and technology group

(

Johannes Grenzfurthner Johannes Grenzfurthner (; born 1975 in Vienna) is an Austrian artist, filmmaker, writer, actor, curator, theatre director, performer and lecturer. Grenzfurthner is the founder, conceiver and artistic director of ''monochrom'', an international art ...

, Franz Ablinger) published an alternative magazine and online bulletin that featured blueprints for interesting DIY projects (like creating a DIY

isolation tank An isolation tank, sensory deprivation tank, float tank, float pod, float cabin, flotation tank, or sensory attenuation tank is a water filled, pitch-black, light-proof, soundproof environment heated to the same temperature as the skin, developed ...

or building rocket out of an office water cooler) and released articles and pamphlets that criticized the "uninspired and martial" machine culture (e.g. poking fun at Survival Research Labs and etoy) and supported a more playful way to create robots, specifically demanding that robots should "party with us, not work for us." In 1999, Magnus Wurzer and Chris Veigl (of Shifz) presented a self-made bar robot at the small independent Viennese culture and art space VEKKS. monochrom took interest and participated with performances and presented machines, and soon teamed up with Shifz as organizers and the small event became a big international festival presented at Vienna's Museumsquartier and several other locations in the Vienna metro area. Roboexotica presents around 20 machines every year and draws around 3000 guests per event. The event is attracting robot builders from all over the world. Roboexotica was presented at Cyberpipe (

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

) in 2006, at Maker Faire (

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

) and RoboGames (

) in 2007. Bre Pettis and his first 3D printer (2007)

Bre Pettis Bre Pettis (born 1972/1973) is an American entrepreneur, video blogger and creative artist. Pettis is best known as the co-founder and former CEO of MakerBot Industries, a 3D printer company now owned by Stratasys. Early life and education Pe ...

got inspired during an art residency in Vienna with

in 2007, when he wanted to create a robot that could print shot glasses for Roboexotica and did research about the

RepRap The RepRap project started in England in 2005 as a University of Bath initiative to develop a low-cost 3D printer that can print most of its own components, but it is now made up of hundreds of collaborators worldwide. RepRap is short for rep''li ...

project at the Vienna

hackerspace A hackerspace (also referred to as a hacklab, hackspace, or makerspace) is a community-operated, often "not for profit" ( 501(c)(3) in the United States), workspace where people with common interests, such as computers, machining, technology, ...

Metalab The Metalab is a hackerspace in Vienna's central first district.

. Shot glasses remained a theme throughout the history of MakerBot. In 2008 a catalogue titled Roboexotica was published, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the festival. The book features reflections on the festival and presents statements by former participants including

Cory Doctorow Cory Efram Doctorow (; born July 17, 1971) is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog '' Boing Boing''. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of ...

Dorkbot Dorkbot is a group of affiliated organizations worldwide that sponsor grassroots meetings of artists, engineers, designers, scientists, inventors, and anyone else working under the very broad umbrella of electronic art. The dorkbot motto is "peop ...

's Doueglas Repetto,

V. Vale V. "Valhalla" Vale (born February 4, 1944) is an American editor, writer, interviewer, musician and, as Vale Hamanaka, was keyboardist for the initial configuration of Blue Cheer, before it became famous as a power trio. He is the publisher and p ...

, Karen Marcelo of Survival Research Laboratories or RoboGames' David Calkins and Simone Davalos. A smaller show called "Roboexotica USA" was held in San Francisco in 2008 and 2009. It was organized by

and ''Shifz'' and was well received by the press. In 2010 it was decided to rename the San Francisco-based cocktail robot event "Barbot," and Barbot events were held in San Francisco in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Johannes Grenzfurthner and Chase Masterson at Roboexotica 2018

Johannes Grenzfurthner and Chase Masterson at Roboexotica 2018

Chase Masterson Chase Masterson (born Christianne Carafano on February 26, 1963) is an American actress and singer. Early life Chase Masterson was born Christianne Carafano in Colorado Springs, Colorado. As her father was in the Army,Fantastic Fest Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse, Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, and Tim McCanlies, writer of ''The Iron Giant'' and ''Secondhand ...

Reception

Roboexotica has been featured in

Slashdot ''Slashdot'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''/.'') is a social news website that originally advertised itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters". It features news stories concerning science, technology, and politics that are submitted and eval ...

Wired News ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fran ...

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, CNet and blogs like

Boing Boing ''Boing Boing'' is a website, first established as a zine in 1988, later becoming a group blog. Common topics and themes include technology, futurism, science fiction, gadgets, intellectual property, Disney, and left-wing politics. It twic ...

and

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publish ...

References

External links

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Speaking in Vienna this weekend at Roboexotica: the cocktail robotics festival
{spaced ndasharticle from BoingBoing 1999 in robotics Annual events Art festivals in Austria Festival organizations in Europe Festivals in Vienna Futures studies media Innovation Monochrom New media art festivals New media art Recurring events established in 1999 Robotic art Robotics events Science fiction Technology conferences Technology conventions