Bob Collins
It rather figures that a whimsical “robot” that captured the delight of motorists around the world couldn’t last two weeks in the United States.
Two Canadian researchers created hitchBot to document its interactions with humans on Instagram and Twitter as it “hitchhiked” around the world.
People picked up hitchBot and deposited him (or her, we’re not sure, really) down the road. It had the ability to communicate with humans.
hitchBot had no problem with Europe.
Embracing the vibrant culture of #theNetherlands! I would love to dance “Skotse trije” in these clogs, wooden shoe? pic.twitter.com/pLjSB86xT8
— hitchBOT (@hitchBOT) June 22, 2015
But hitchBot’s Boston to California trip never made it past Philadelphia. Someone smashed him/her.
“Sometimes bad things happen to good robots, said one of its creators,” Dr Frauke Zeller, assistant professor at Ryerson University in Toronto.
Having failed its mission to find human kindness, researchers are giving up.
My trip must come to an end for now, but my love for humans will never fade. Thanks friends: http://t.co/DabYmi6OxH pic.twitter.com/sJPVSxeawg
— hitchBOT (@hitchBOT) August 1, 2015
