h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You posted elsewhere:

*…I'll imagine my own species, of the possible future, of 'alternative' parallel Earths, and of alien planets ... I'll invent completely fantastical creatures ... I'll illustrate my own fantasy stories ... all of this within the confines of 'realistic' art. I'll explore aesthetics from every angle using all of these subjects and more.*

This triggered an old memory for me. I once thought that a future fad would replace or at least usurp model trains as a hobby. That new hobby was Robotics. My take on the idea was to counter the fighting robot fad with friendly pet robots. I even went so far as to visit a local college Art teacher to ask her to select a “deserving” student I could offer to pay to design some concepts for my idea. It turned out to be a waste of money as the student artist selected did not feel the project as I did.

Your comments quoted above, cause me to ask if such a project might tickle your fancy.


AE

Hmmm ... what exactly are your concepts concerning these AE?

Since that time there have been many robots illustrated.
Some are pet-like, i.e., Dr. Who's K-9 was an early example.

Now it does not seem so hard to imagine such a thing.
Back then it was even hard to imagine a robot as a pet.

Still, today I would like to bring a clearer vision to the idea of a robot that could used as a close personal possession, emotionally similar to a pet. There would be a whole range of "personalities" to suit the different people who might adopt such a robo-pet.

When I look at human-like robots today there is some great creations to consider. But I would like to consider some better robot pets.

I'm not sure I could help you with this. There are people out there who are dedicated robot and toy designers, I think you should try and find one of those. I am a wildlife, portrait and landscape painter ... I wouldn't say I would be unable to visualize robots, but the things need to be built in a way that's practical as well as appealing, and I don't have any experience with that.

enough said, well sorta [smiles].
I am happy to respect your decision in this matter.

You posted elsewhere:

*…I'll imagine my own species, of the possible future, of 'alternative' parallel Earths, and of alien planets ... I'll invent completely fantastical creatures ... I'll illustrate my own fantasy stories ... all of this within the confines of 'realistic' art. I'll explore aesthetics from every angle using all of these subjects and more.*

and I got the idea that this might fit. sorry for any misunderstandings.

However, what engineers need is the imagination first and then it is up to them to make it work.
As I am fond of quoting Walt Disney, "...the plausible imposable" is very interesting to people.

Thank you for your consideration



AE

Hi there again AE, the thing is just, with stuff like this it's very different from imagining something and portraying it to people. Portrayed in a work of art something like that stays in the imaginary world. Making a robot or even just a toy means taking it out of the imaginary world and bringing it in some tangible form into the real world ... a very, very diffferent proposition. Take these for instance: A87748906 As an artist I only need to imagine them and then paint them. Making a robot based on them would need teams of people. Would it be practically possible to make a robot like that ... what would it do, how would it do it, what would it cost to manufacture, for how much would it be sold, what would be its target market ... lawyers need to be involved, patents, trademarks, copyright and so on, you must make sure none of the pieces or materials its made from would be dangerous to children, et cetera et cetera. Now you might say that is for other people to worry about, but if these considerations are not present right at the start of the creative process, 99% of the 'effort' would be doomed because of ultimately being impractical. As a fantasy artist I don't need to worry about anything of mine being practical because as they are they fully belong to their own fantasy worlds.

As you say, so let it be.