The Lantern, February 18th edition

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Thursday February 18, 2010 year: 130 No. 66 the student voice of

The Ohio State University

www.thelantern.com campus

Med Center CABS route changes

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sports

Purdue 60, OSU 57

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thelantern Prof’s bots make Olympic visit Self-controlled ‘paparazzi bots’ take photos of strangers; three comissioned for Games RICK SCHANZ Lantern reporter schanz.5@osu.edu The robotic creations of an Ohio State instructor landed him an invitation to the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Ken Rinaldo, an associate professor in the College of Arts and Humanities, was selected as a cultural Olympiad at the Games. His invitation included a pass for a few robotic guests. Rinaldo is the inventor of the Paparazzi Bot, a robot on wheels that ÿnds people, takes photos of them — and then makes them happy. “The robots manipulate you to be happy, or appear happy,” Rinaldo said. Curator for the Olympics, Malcolm Levy, liked Rinaldo’s work enough that he commissioned Rinaldo to build three bots for an interactive exhibit in Vancouver. Rinaldo was unable to attend the Olympic preparation last week because he was setting up two bots in Berlin at the Transmediale festival. Joshua Penrose, an OSU graduate student in the Art and Technology program, set up the three bots in Vancouver in place of Rinaldo. “Being there was a great international experience,” Penrose said. “I got a lot of good vibes from people I met checking out our exhibit.” In Vancouver, the bots were set up in an area where curious people can check out the bots. Once people enter the area, the bots, rolling on four wheels, ÿnd a smiling person and snap a picture. The bots display the altered “happy” photo of the person. KEN RINALDO The autonomous bots are comprised of multiple cameras, infrared sensors to seek out humans, robotic actuators and a custom-built rolling platform. The goal of the bots is to research emerging human and robotic interactions and to explore our culture’s obsession with self-image and promotion, Rinaldo said. Rinaldo thinks his bots foreshadow a day when human paparazzi will become obsolete as smaller paparazzi robots, such as smart dust and ° ying insects imbedded with cameras, are successfully developed. Rinaldo would not divulge how much the bots cost to make, but Penrose said the 50-pound bots cost a considerable amount of money. “The base and supports are laser-cut aluminum and polished,” Penrose said. “They looked really good.” Other artists Rinaldo admires, such as Laurie Anderson and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, were also invited as cultural Olympiads. Rinaldo’s bots will be in Vancouver for about two more weeks, dovetailing into the beginning days of the Olympic games. To see photos of the paparazzi bots in action go to paparazzibot. com.

“Surveillance technologies straddle a delicate balance we have in contemporary culture, where we are often photographed without our knowledge by cell phones, hidden cameras and sometimes ‘celebritized’. This is a kind of modern baptism with the camera flash and the spectacle of being the focus of the camera becoming a kind of techno anointing.

For more on Ken Rinaldo’s work, visit kenrinaldo.com

The Paparazzi Bots, www.paparazzibot.com, are a series of five autonomous robots each standing at the height of the average human. Comprised of multiple cameras, sensors and robotic actuators on a custom-built rolling platform, they move at the speed of a walking human, avoiding walls and obstacles while using infrared sensors to move toward humans. They seek one thing, which is to capture photos of people and to make these images available to the press and the world wide web as a statement of culture’s obsession with the ‘celebrity image’ and especially our own images. The flash autonomously goes off, capturing people’s photos and elevating them to ‘celebrity’ in a kind of momentary anointing by the robots. The robots also become celebrities through their association to the ‘famous people’ at the exhibition that are captured by the Paparazzi Bots.” —KenRinaldo

Watch a slideshow from the game at thelantern.com

campus

Speed dating grad student style

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thelantern.com

Photos courtesy of Ken Rinaldo

Crazy for cocoa class: Students eat up info in chocolate course KATHY CUBERT Lantern reporter cubert.1@osu.edu

Students form groups to produce both an idea and a marketing strategy for a chocolate product, and they design packaging or labeling for their idea. In addition, Anthony-Thomas Candy Co. donates 10-pound chocolate bars for a molding activity every quarter, and the class takes a tour of an Anthony-Thomas production facility. Tasting the bacon chocolate is one of his favorite parts of the class, said Alex Suter, a second-year graduate student and teaching assistant. Mary Kay Folk, a lecturer for Food Science and Technology, purchases a variety of chocolate with different amounts of cocoa and with all types of ingredients for the tastings.

Check out The Lantern online edition, every Friday Behind the guise of OSU’s Buck-I-Guy For those who love chocolate, there is a two-credit class offered at Ohio State that teaches everything from the history of chocolate to how it is manufactured and marketed. Chocolate Science, Food Science and Technology 101, held at the Parker Food Science Building, has weekly chocolate tastings as part of the class instruction, and students are taught to use all their senses to evaluate what they are eating.

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KIRK MCELROY For The Lantern mcelroy.41@osu.edu

high 31 low 24 flurries

FR 29/20 mostly cloudy SA 32/28 snow showers SU 32/23 cloudy MO 32/22 snow showers

Behind the 10-gallon hat, 6-foot-cape, paintedred mustache, under-eye stickers, sunglasses, gloves and custom Ohio State outÿt is a family man who has used his opportunity for fame to give back to the community. John Chubb, also known as Buck-I-Guy, has become one of the most recognizable faces in the crowd at OSU games. In addition, his picture has been featured in national publications. Chubb’s notoriety has led him to speak at fundraisers and draw attention to some of the area’s less fortunate people. A lifelong fan of the Buckeyes, Chubb, 49, grew up in Columbus’ North End. He is married with three children and has a career as a computer supply salesman. Although Chubb has been going to OSU football games for years, he has not always been in the

www.weather.com

AUSTIN OWENS / Lantern photographer

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Buck-I-Guy cheering on Ohio State during the Oct. 10, 2009, football game against Wisconsin.

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