Robots Have Decided Humans Taste Like Bacon
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Researchers at NEC System technologies and Mie University have
designed the cute little guy to the right: a metal man gastronomist, “an
electromechanical sommelier”, capable of identifying wines, cheeses,
meats and hors d’oeuvres.Upon being given a sample, he will speak up in
a childlike voice and identify what he has just been fed.The idea is
that wineries can tell if a wine is authentic without even opening the
bottle, amongst other more obscure uses…like “tell me what this strange
grayish lump at the back of my freezer is/was.”But when some smart aleck reporter placed his hand in the robot’s
omnivorous clanking jaw, he was identified as bacon. A cameraman then
tried and was identified as prosciutto.
WE ARE SO FUCKED
About The Author
Robert Bricken is one of the original co-founders of the site formerly known as Topless Robot, and its first editor-in-chief, serving from 2008-12. He brought the site to prominence with “nerd news, humor and self-loathing” as its motto, raising it from total internet obscurity to a readership in the millions, with help from his savage “FAQ” movie reviews and Fan Fiction Fridays. Under his tenure Topless Robot was covered by Gawker, Wired, Defamer, New York magazine, ABC News, and others, and his articles have been praised by Roger Ebert, Avengers actor Clark Gregg, comedian and The Daily Show correspondent John Hodgman, the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax, and others. He is currently the managing editor of io9.com. Despite decades as both an amateur and professional nerd, he continues to be completely unprepared for either the zombie apocalypse or the robot uprising.