It’s the trash can Terminator.
Two trash cans with robotic alterations were recently tasked with cleaning up New York City, but the machines had another purpose: Cornell University researchers wanted to examine how humans interact with autonomous objects.
The robots, powered by recycled hoverboards and equipped with cameras, were deployed in Astor Place. The two robots went their own way to collect both landfill and recycling.
Reactions from New Yorkers were mixed. Some thought they were cute, some thought they were creepy.
One woman was seen being a Good Samaritan, as she was helping a robot after it became stuck. Another clip showed a man (somewhat awkwardly) rewarding one of the trash cans for moving toward him, calling him “good boy” after dropping his garbage inside.
According to the researchers from Cornell, the robots generally “encouraged social interaction among strangers.” They said the robots pressured people to generate rubbish for the robots.
