Talk:BigDog

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	BigDog is within the scope of WikiProject Robotics, an attempt to standardise coverage of Robotics. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this notice, or visit the project page, where you can join the project or contribute to the discussion.
Stub	This article has been rated as Stub-Class on the Project's quality scale. (If you rated the article please give a short summary at comments to explain the ratings and/or to identify the strengths and weaknesses.)
Low	This article has been rated as low-importance on the importance scale.

	This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see lists of open tasks and regional and topical task forces. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.
Stub	This article has been rated as Stub-Class on the quality scale.
Additional information and associated task forces: This article is not currently associated with a task force. To tag it for one or more task forces, please add the task force codes from the template instructions to the template call.

Should it be mentioned how BigDog is evoking an "uncanny valley" response in some people? Are there any studies in that regard? It'd be interesting if there were but I can't find any. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.82.92.213 (talk) 05:49, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

If there's some kind of a study of it, or even just a discussion of it in some credible publication, I absolutely think it'd be worth a mention. I don't think I quite get the "uncanny valley" response myself, but the way Big Dog's legs' movement resembles that of two pairs of human legs that have been fused with a robotic frame, facing each other... there's definitely a hint of what Warren Ellis calls the "arachnid reaction" there -- that is to say, "fear and revulsion and the disturbance of proximity to something alien", which I find quite interesting. A good reference would be an absolute requirement, though; otherwise we'll be hip-deep in original research. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 14:33, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

Most of what's been written about Big Dog (and I've looked at rather a lot of it) is just blog reaction. I haven't seen much in the way of technical analysis, published papers, or patents. If anybody finds something solid, please put it in. Thanks. --John Nagle (talk) 03:36, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

I had the fortune of meeting with one of the designers who explained Big Dog in great technical detail. I'll add the information soon (just need time), but it wont be sourced, since I received all the information at a presentation.---Zachary Cohen (talk) 14:41, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

You can cite presentations, conferences, or speeches just fine. The point of citations is not to provide a link to the original source, but to tell people where the information is from. You can use {{Cite speech}} or {{Cite conference}} or simply format it as the MLA would have you do it. I think its:

Last Name, First Name. "Title." Location including Place, City, State. Day Month, Year.

And now you know! --Falcorian ^(talk) 16:57, 20 April 2008 (UTC)