We are greeted by a robot king who, it appears, has had a stroke and cannot co-ordinate his speech or upper body movements. Unable to rise from his chair he welcomes us to his kingdom, Dinosaur World.
This is not a science fiction movie or a cartoon, but a touring exhibition that is a brave attempt to entertain and educate young children through the use of robotic animation.
Backed by the Japanese company Kokoro, the exhibition at New York New York in Taipei is the last leg of a comprehensive tour of Taiwan. The organizers say the collection has already been to seven other countries and will visit Germany and England next, where the star exhibit, an Apatosaurus named Annie will take up residence in the British Museum.
She could be the lucky one, as some of the rest of the exhibits -- including the mortally wounded robot king, the dancing vegetables and nodding asparaguses, even the lifelike pandas -- could be heading to wherever robots go when their useful life is over, even if they cost upwards of NT$8 million each.
On the other hand, an exoskeleton based on Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator character provides some entertainment value with his fully moveable jaw, clacking teeth and some wicked eye-rolling gyrations, which held one group of kids transfixed in morbid fascination.
The Ancient Sea World section of the exhibition has a number of brightly colored wormlike fish that rhythmically fibrillate in a sea of palms and potted plants. The creatures' names are given on a placard, written in Chinese and bopomofo, which is helpful not just for little children but also for those learning Mandarin. There is no English translation of the names and the free brochure is unfortunately only in Chinese.
For children, this will not detract from the primary experience of the exhibition, which are the dinosaurs. They are reasonably impressive and obviously owe some of their lifelike qualities to the art of animatronics, as displayed in popular films like Jurassic Park and Godzilla.
Triceratops and Iguanodon peacefully move their necks up and around, halt, move their mouths and make primitive mooing noises, while Tyrannosaurus Rex gnashes his teeth, chews his gums, roars and fixes his eyes in a cold stare.
A favorite with one class of children was a family of Maiasaura and Corythosaura, who moved their little arms around, while their robotic progeny wiggled ferociously in their eggs every few seconds as if they had experienced light and air for the first time.
The other star of the show is AIBO, Sony's artificial intelligence dog-like friend, which can chase balls, lie down, respond to commands (in Japanese) and will display signs of anger or enchantment with flashing red or green eyes, depending on their mood. The organizers say AIBO costs around NT$70,000, but you have to go to Japan or order them over the Internet to buy one.
Overall the exhibition is an innocuous half hour of pleasure for children, though it is a shame that it was not more interactive and children are not allowed to touch.
There is also a booth that sells jigsaw puzzles and posters.
Exhibition Notes:
What: Dinosaur World (恐龍帝國)
When: Until April 29
Where: New York New York (紐約紐約), 12 Songshou Rd. (台北市松壽路12號)
Tickets: The exhibition is free for children under 90cm, NT$180 for kids between 90cm and 140cm and NT$220 for adults
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