would you help a bot?

Kacie Kinzer created Tweenbots to examine human empathy. She designed tiny smiling cardboard robots that rely on the help of pedestrians to get to their destination. The Tweenbots roll at a constant speed, in a straight line and are dependent on humans to steer them in the right direction to reach their final location (which is printed on a flag attached to the robot’s body).

Suprrisingly, people actually lended a helping hand on the many occasions that the Tweenbot went off course. Strangely enough, these are the same New Yorkers famous for watching people get mugged on the other side off the street and offering no assistance. The entire final episode of Seinfeld was based on this New York ambivalence alone. But perhaps, people have a greater capacity for kindness when it comes to cute little WallEsque creatures.