I could make some inane comment about Godzilla, poorly dubbed video, and thousands of city dwellers running madly through the streets in sheer terror. I could, but I’m not going to do that. Feel free to make a bad Godzilla joke on your own.
Last year, I caught a live demo of the Mondo Spider outside the Vancouver Art Gallery. The giant mechanical spider was quite the creation to behold, especially with all the scary squeaks and creaks that the robotic arachnid emits. I thought that spider was big. I was wrong. Not compared to this thing.
While I didn’t see anything when I was in Tokyo, it seems that Japan has been invaded by not one, but two giant mechanical spiders! The irony is that the spider isn’t homegrown. Instead, a performance art group called La Machine from France is in Yokohama to take part in Expo Y150, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the city port’s opening.
These monstrous spiders are no joke. They’re 40 feet (12 meters) tall, weigh 37 tons, and are fully mobile. Check out the demonstration video below courtesy of PinkTentacle.com.
I’d be more impressed if it could walk on its own legs. 😉
You know, like this one.
Just wait until advances in AI are more developed and put into these things…
I for one welcome our new mechanical arachnid overlords. 😉
Michael,
Years ago I saw a robot demonstration in front of Sony’s Headquarters in San Jose CA.
Everything had a large diesel-powered engine to run the hydraulics. This spider looks like it had steam-power, with all the hissing noises. I did see a lot of hoses under the belly, perhaps it was hydraulic after all?
Respectfully,
Nicholas Chase