Mr. Future

An episode of Computer Chronicles (1983-2002) about the Tsukuba Expo 85 has some fantastic segments about mid-80s robotic visions of the future.

At 10:57 We get a good long look at Waseda University’s Wabot 2 playing the organ, with great commentary about robots and society from the late Professor Ichiro Kato.

And at 18:32, there’s a love scene from German designer / futurist Luigi Colani’s Robot Theater. A few years back I saw the robot actors on display at Nagoya’s Robot Museum. Seeing them in motion here just made my morning.

Of course there are other good clips of the Expo’s mag-lev monorail, France’s proto-web MiniTel, and Sony’s first Jumbo-Tron.Colan

“Greetings, my friend. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives.”
- Criswell, Plan 9 From Outer Space

As part of their excellent coverage of the 50th Anniversary of Sputnik, The New York Times is also running an article on the influence of the Space Age on pop culture.

The article runs the whole gamut, from Sci-Fi movies to Googie architecture, but my favorite part of the pop-culture sidebar is the inclusion of this goofy musical tribute to Sputnik clip.

Link - NYT: “When the Space Age Blasted Off, Pop Culture Followed”

Link - NYT: “With Fear and Wonder in Its Wake, Sputnik Lifted Us Into the Future”

Link - NASA: “Sputnik and the Dawn of the Space Age”

(via Paleo-Future)

Secret Fun Blog points us to a great collection of Tex Avery’s “… of Tomorrow” cartoons

While some of the humor is a little dated, the gizmo-centric picture of tomorrow, presented in glorious mid-century optimism is evergreen.

The House of Tomorrow (1949)

The Car of Tomorrow (1951), T.V. of Tomorrow (1953), and Farm of Tomorrow (1954) are here, below the fold.

Link ( to Secret Fun Blog’s collection.)

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