iPinakothek der ModerneKunstareal, Maxvorstadt
Robotic Worlds
Design Museum survey of robots from the 1970s to today, from toy figures to functional machines in the home, industry, emergency services and research.
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On one poster, a robot dog with a human face peers up a dancer's skirt. Shigeo Fukuda put Sony's Aibo ERS-111 into Toulouse-Lautrec's Jane Avril for the painter's centenary, and three real Aibos from around 2000 are in the show too.
The show splits into robots, posters and toys. You walk in to find the machines riding yellow conveyor belts or shut in cages, as on a factory floor. There's Pepper, sold in 2014 as the world's most emotional robot, the HRP-2 humanoid styled by manga artist Yutaka Izubuchi, and a robot hand covered in TU Munich's e-Skin. The furry Lovot gets a chair designed just for it. The toy cases hold 1960s to 1980s tin rockets and wind-up walkers, shown for the first time.
Armin Scharf, for the German Design Council, found it "strangely distant": nothing moves, and there's no classic factory robot. The museum suggests about an hour. It's on the standard ticket (€10, €7 reduced, €1 on Sundays, free under 18), and Thursdays run until 8pm.
Look for
Shigeo Fukuda's Nouveau Salon des Cent poster
Look for a Sony robot dog with a human face peeking up the skirt of Toulouse-Lautrec's dancer Jane Avril.
Sony Aibo ERS-111, ERS-210 and ERS-220
Three generations of Sony's robot dog from around 2000, built to bark and wag ears and legs, each a little more lifelike than the last.
HRP-2
Look for the Japanese research humanoid styled by manga artist Yutaka Izubuchi, one of only a few made, borrowed from France and co-curator Gordon Cheng's favourite.
The e-Skin hand
A small robot arm with a Korean Allegro hand, both covered in hexagonal sensor cells that feel pressure, distance and temperature.
Mattel's Shogun robots
Look for 60-centimetre toy warriors modelled on Japanese manga figures, among cases of 1960s tin rockets and wind-up machines.
Good for
- An Hour Or Less
- Evening Visits
- Nerding Out
About 60 min
Skip if
You want robots that move: every exhibit stands still behind Plexiglas.
With kids
Under-18s get in free. Nothing switches on or can be touched: the robots stay still behind Plexiglas.
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Image credits
6
- Robotic WorldsCourtesy of Pinakothek der Moderne
- Pinakothek der ModerneRufus46, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Museum BrandhorstMartin Falbisoner, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Alte PinakothekChronox-A / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- State Museum of Egyptian ArtFred Romero / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- Munich Documentation Centre for the History of National SocialismRaimond Spekking, CC BY-SA 4.0