This morning, I was CBC Saint John’s “official Saint Johner Away” as part of their Information Morning program to talk about my Robot Emotional Control project.
From the CBC web site:
Paul Saulnier is originally from Millidgeville and is now living in Calgary working on his masters degree in computer science.
Listen (7 minutes): MP3 – RealPlayer
Before leaving to go home from school today, I looked out the window, saw clear skies and thought all was OK. Apparently I was looking in the wrong direction because in the other direction (and above us), there was nothing but heavy rain!
A major puddle forms on this busy road. Sounds like an ideal location for Calgary’s next sewer drain!
And now, I continue with the second half of my Kyoto visit. After visiting the Golden Pavilion, my hosts took me to the Kiyomizu Temple area.
The entrance from the street is very eye catching and bright.
Other sightseers are all dressed up!
A deva gate, with other spectacular architecture in the background.
The main hall of the temple comprises a verdana with very tall pillars that offer a spectacular view of Kyoto. An old Edo period tradition was that anyone who could survive the 13m plunge from the edge of the veranda would have their wish granted. 234 jumps were recorded during the Edo period, 85% of which survived (albeit many with likely serious injuries). It’s now prohibited to jump off now, so unless you want prison, you won’t have your wish granted now.
This view of the city of Kyoto is one of the things that distinctly identify the temple. Sticking out from the centre of it all is the Kyoto Tower. It’s real clear here that there’s no absolutely no super tall buildings which allows an uncluttered view of the mountains in the distance.
This huge, dramatic statue is in the same area. Unfortunately, I don’t remember its significance and the web sites I consulted when preparing this post do not seem to mention this.
Hello, Kitty!
Check my gallery for the rest of the photos from the Kiyomizu Temple area of Kyoto!
While in Osaka, students from the lab hosting me took me to see Kyoto. I have separated my photos into two sections: the Temple of the Golden Pavilion which I will talk about in this post, and the Kiyomizu Temple in my next post.
This is downtown Kyoto. This is about as tall as the buildings get, because although the city is very large, it has laws regulating the height of its buildings. Osaka, which I’ll talk about in later posts, has no such laws, so building height is a free-for-all there.
In this area, you can find many buildings constructed in the old style. It is expensive to build them like this now, so the style is preserved in the older architecture.
Here is the Golden Pavilion itself. It is the most popular tourist attraction in Kyoto. Its shingles on the second and third floors are entirely gilded with gold leaf.
The pavillion was originally built as a retirement villa by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in the 14th century. This explains the beautiful gardens and scenery surrounding the area. It was later converted into a temple by Yoshimitsu’s son.
Ahh finally, a use for those small Japanese coins that don’t actually buy anything unless you have a truckload of them. If you manage to get a coin in the cup, it’s good luck. Judging by the sight here, lots of unlucky people had walked by before me!
I bought my fortune, in Japanese, at a machine similar to these. Although I couldn’t read it myself, I was told it said “very good” luck, which is the best you can get!
It is best to arrive early, to have any chance at beating the crowds of school children. Virtually all of the elementary school children in the nearby cities go on field trips to this area at some point.
After a morning at the Golden Pavilion, it was time for lunch. We went to a restaurant that specializes in creating these pancakes which are cooked right on the table where you sit. The ingredients are mixed right in front of you!
That’s all for now. Check my gallery for the rest of the photos from my first part of Kyoto.
And now some pictures from the main event, my reason for going to Japan. I attended the ICRA 2009 Robotics conference in Kobe, where I presented my Robot Emotional Control project.
At the conference, various booths were set up demonstrating the latest in robot technology.
This is Paro, the seal robot. It responds to touches, moves its fins, head, and eyebrows, and makes cute sounds. It has an advanced program that changes its “mood” over time depending on how you interact with it. Jumping on top of it probably makes it unhappy, so it may not be as playful. This robot was tested in a nursing home and ended up having a positive therapeutic effect. The elderly responded well to it and enjoyed their time playing with it.
This is Nao, produced by Aldebaran Robotics. It can walk around, dance, and speak a dozen different languages, though it would hopefully stick to just the one I’m used to when interacting with me.
Outside the conference centre, a planetary exploration robot competiton was set up. Here, you see a robot navigating the foreign terrain.
This guy got a bit too pushy. I was taking pictures and it started to roll towards me pushing me towards a wall!
Even robots like to quench their thirst somehow. This is a robotic hand that can be controlled remotely, duplicating the controller’s hand movements, mostly, once you get used to it. I actually had no problem with the robot taking this green tea. This type in the bottle did not appeal to me at all!
Here’s a bunch of us posing as we sat together at the banquet. Most of us met at an attendee social event near the beginning. In Japan, it is apparently very common to make the peace sign in pictures.
In a time of energy conservation, such as that consumed by washing dishes, I really could with just one knife, maybe two. I could’ve used two spoons though. One for eating and one for flinging stuff.
That’s all for now. See the rest of my ICRA 2009 photos in my Gallery.
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