Chuck Bednar Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck
In addition to running its Robotics Challenge to help find the next-generation of first-responder robots, DARPA recently conducted a contest for high-school students in which they were asked to submit videos discussing their hopes and fears about the future of such machines.
However, as Engadget explained, it turns out that the teenagers that submitted entries seemingly welcomed their new robot overlords. Instead of “the dystopian narrative that usually accompanies robotics,” the website said that each of the students “envisioned a collaborative space for robots and humans to coexist,” showing that they aren’t “robotphobic” after all.
According to the event’s website, five lucky student teams were selected as winners and chosen to attend the Robotics Challenge. The lucky winners were Kristina Argao and Riezzalyn Viray from Barrigada, Guam; Ben Chrepta and Alden Giedraitis from Rochester, Minnesota; Hector Cruz from Cedar City, Utah; Shiloh Curtis from Santa Cruz, California; and the team of Atticus Jones, Kentaro Jones and Jigme Tinley from New York City, New York.
More about the Robots4Us Student Video Contest
Known as the Robots4US Student Video Contest, the competition challenged students to make and submit a two- to three-minute long video focusing on how they believed robots would have a positive impact on human lives. Each of the videos were to consider how current and anticipated advances in technology could affect society.
The contest was open only to teenagers currently enrolled in high schools or home-schooled at the ninth through twelfth grade levels in the US and its territories. Teams of up to three students were allowed to collaborate on a submission, but each entry was required to designate one team representative to attend award ceremonies and winner events, and each participant was limited to one entry (either as an individual or as a member of a team).
Entries were judged on the following criteria, DARPA said: the clarity with which the individual or team communicated their vision of how robots could improve society in the future, creativity, thoughtfulness, originality and appeal in expressing the vision, and technical quality of the video. Five winners and one guardian each were selected to travel to the Robotic Challenge finals.
The winning videos can be viewed on the contest’s website.
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