My daily robot is a chess-playing (false) automaton called The Turk invented in 1770 to whoop ass in chess against the likes of even the best of the world's chess players. What shocked me initially was its ethnicist (if that's even a word) name and presentation- it appears to be garbed in traditional Turkish dress and holds several/various generalized physical Turkish features. Come to find out, the Hungarian inventor Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen called it "The Turk" and crafted it to fit his imagination of what Turks look like because of the of the world-renowned clout that Turkish chess players held at the time. Kang discusses the object a little bit on pages 174—183, referring to it as a "false" automaton because it was an illusion- appearing to be a chess playing machine or "computer" to its audience while a human inside moved the pieces using an elaborate series of levers.
Here's a short video on The Turk I found interesting. Enjoy :)
-Lexi
Here's a short video on The Turk I found interesting. Enjoy :)
-Lexi