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I was willing to accept the video you’re about to watch as something that I would never know or understand the meaning of, and present it only as scary art/maybe porn. Because sometimes it’s better to just not know about certain things and to leave them alone and try to forget about them as quickly as you can because oh my goodness. But then I got very curious about what it actually was and curiosity kills the cat as we all know and so, well, ok here is the answer:
As part of his graduate thesis, German designer Stefan Ulrich worked with electroactive polymers (EPAs), a type of synthetic material — similar to everyday plastic — that changes shape in response to an electric current. Ulrich, however, decided to take advantage of the material’s unique properties to create a shape-shifting robot of marshmallow texture and color. Ulrich claims the project, which he calls Funktionide, provides its user “with an atmosphere of presence, thus counteracting the feeling of loneliness.”
Oh! Ooohhh my goodness. And now we’re all dead. Dead from curiosity about what this thing in the video is. So now that you’re dead why not join me in watching this video on an infinite loop forever and ever because I guess oops aw dangit we ended up in hell:
Oh, gross. Oh wow that is gross. That guy. The way he touches it? THE MUSIC? The way it’s…on his lap? And you? Well, just, how he puts his head on it then? JESUS, GUY. With that said, though, I a little bit really would like to touch one of these. Marshmallow texture sounds great. And I would like to feel what it feels like when it moves. Does it just move towards you on its own? How does it know where you are? How much does it weigh? Is it warm or cold to the touch? Does it keep “breathing” all night when you sleep with it? Can you make it into the shape of Britt Daniel? Other normal questions? (Via BuzzFeed.)
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So is there gonna be a version with holes in it or what?
Al Capp joke?
Like not even joking. They Rule 34′d a Shmoo
I’m worried about James Franco, you guys.
We should all be so lucky to f–JAMES FRANCO STOP FUCKING MY PILLOW
Sorry, I’d rather have a real doll because they are at least fashioned after the human form. It’s called Lars and The Real Girl, not Lars and The White Pulsating Blob.
To be fair, it says nothing about sex in Asmiov’s Three Laws.
If this guy wants an “atmosphere of presence” to “counteract the feeling of loneliness” he should just start commenting on Videogum, like I did.
Commenting on Videogum is like boning a shapeless white mass, in that I comment on Videogum.
^—-this is the greatest.
Uwe Boll presents A Boy And His Blob
It looks like he got Sofia Coppola to collaborate on this one.
“What if all the jellybeans were sadness-flavored?”
yes!
Can it smother you at night, and then stretch out really thin and cover your body with a transparent layer of itself, and then walk around with your body, acting like it’s you? No? Okay, cool.
I’d hit that.
Both the pillow and the hipster dude.
worth the effort
COUNTERPOINT:
I’ll concede that, but have you considered
The disturbing part of this video is that you can tell by the guy’s movements that they slowed the video way down, which kind of implies that this thing must just be going nuts in real time. Like, relax, amorphous companion pillow. Sometimes I just want to cuddle.
I’m intrigued, but not completely sold yet. Will this robot also bake cookies for me? If so, that’s a pretty tough combo to pass up.
i didn’t fall for it when they tried to sell me a lamp, and I’m not gunna fall for it when Ikea tries to sell me an inflatable boyfriend pillow.
IKEA: selling furniture for college kids and divorced men.
Especially this divorced guy:
that new Peter Gabriel song is the BEST!
It’s ibecoming clear that Videogum is no longer the place for trampoline accidents and rather the go to resource for all things robot. I’m not complaining.
The real question is how my eight cats are going to react to this loneliness robot pillow.
I don’t like learning about creepy robots. I miss pony day.
When you think about it, he’s really a very sweet robot designer. “With my robot building brain I am going to create a robot that that comforts loneliness and maybe might just make you feel a little less sad throughout the day. And it will look like a harmless marshmallow. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww robot guy!
Britt Daniel. Yes! When they get that done, I’ll take two. And I’ll spend every night in a dreamy, Britt, marshmallow, robot sandwich.
FAKE.
No, but seriously, fake. None of this is video footage. These are photographs pulled and stretched about in After Effects. Blecch.
I went to log in, just to say “Best use of FAKE ever.” and was going to be totally genuine. I think this is an actual appropriate use of the FAKE flag. This video is way less enjoyable if not real.
But then I was INCEPTED. I saw that I was already logged in…as Matt Elmer, who I most definitely am not. Matt looks like a fun guy to be based on his rather large grill and multiple grilling burgers, but I’m Natures Candy. No Grill, No Burgers, just little old me in old New York.
So it was I who was FAKE. FAKE Matt Elmer. Sorry Matt. I didn’t hack you. The great tubes of net were crossed most heinously. Videogum (correct me if I’m wrong…) is run on a wordpress platform, I offer no blame to it’s fine proprietors, of course. and the nightmare ended as soon as I looked at “my” profile. But anyway, just an interesting Synechdoanecdote.
Last night I dreamed I ate a giant marshmallow. When I woke up this morning my pillow was subjugating mankind.
Last Night I Dreamt That Some Pillow Loved Me
A+++ for the Spoon/spooning joke, whether intentional or not, Kelly. Crossed out in the article, but starred all over the place in my heart!
Federico Fellini has still got it!