Expo 2000, Hanover Overview Review Interviews In the Press Links Literature

				Emancipated robots? Expo's movers and shakers do not only want to educate, but to entertain at the same time. In a subtle way these parts of the exhibition impress visitors more than dry discussions on sustainability. One of the Expo's highlights in this respect is the thematic area Knowledge, Information, Communication. It visualizes the growing influence of networks in an innovative way - as an entertaining spectacle and serious experiment in information technology. "Usually you see only a web browser in exhibitions," says Stefan Iglhaut, Expo's manager for this thematic area: "Deliberately, we didn't install touch-screens, but presented the network spatially. We hope that something will stick with this artistic treatment of networks." Indeed, it does. In the blue-shimmering hall, 150 cocoon-shaped space-capsules move at random to form a "self organizing system", something like a swarm of bees, a shoal of fish or even a herd of bison. The network buzzes, gurgles, stamps [listen to the robot sound]. People roam the mystical room as if they were searching for information on the Internet. They find it on the robots' shell: Vivid, colorful projections of data-flows. The robots slightly move when humans appear, seem to recognize the other species. For Iglhaut there isn't any doubt: Robots are "intelligent mechanisms," even single "individuals" that collectively organize. His vision: "In the future we will be surrounded by decentralized intelligence. There won't be any computer on the table, but will be built into the human body." [listen to the interview] Will robots finally emancipate themselves from humanity? "Well, we should at least start thinking about it," recommends Martin Roth, head of Thematic Area, Projects around the World and Global Dialogue. And this is also what he wants the visitor to do after the Expo visit: "If someone leaves the exhibition with a question like - will there be machines that learn so intensely from us and from themselves, that we cannot influence them anymore? - he understood a lot." [listen to the interview] >> Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7 TOP
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