Member Article

Dead science fiction writer to be reincarnated for return of Maker Faire to Newcastle

The world famous Maker Faire will return to Newcastle’s Life Science Centre in April, attracting engineers, inventors crafters and artists.

Billed as ‘the greatest show on Earth,’ the event will feature a number of weird and wonderful exhibits, including a robotic version of science fiction writer Philip K Dick, who died in 1982.

Built by US firm Hanson Robotics, the likeness of Dick exhibits face perception, speech recognition, and conversational intelligence adapting Philip K Dick’s words and life history to generate new ideas during conversation with humans.

Ian Simmons, science communication director at Life said: “We’re thrilled that Hanson Robotics is bringing ‘Philip’ to Maker Faire UK.

“Not only is it one of the most advanced cognitive artificial intelligence projects in the world but this will be the first time the project has been seen in the UK. I’m sure ‘Philip’ will be a massive hit with all of our visitors.”

The event will also allow visitors to try their hand at 3D printing, bio-hacking and soldering among other things.

Tickets to this year’s event can be bought online at MakerFaireUK.com, or by calling 0191 2438223.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .