Philip K. Dick is missing

[Dave Monroe]

February 13, 2006 - 12:43PM

Philip K Dick is missing.

Not the American science fiction writer whose novels
spawned hit films such as Blade Runner and Total
Recall -- he died more than 20 years ago -- but a
state-of-the-art robot named after the author.

The quirky android, was lost in early January while en
route to California by commercial airliner.

"We can't find Phil," said Steve Prilliman of
Dallas-based Hanson Robotics, which created the
futuristic robot with the FedEx Institute of
Technology at the University of Memphis, the
Automation and Robotics Research Institute at the
University of Texas at Arlington and Dick's friend
Paul Williams.

"We're very worried because it's been a few weeks
now," said Prilliman. "We're pressing hard to find
Phil."

Robotics wizard and lead designer David Hanson built
the robot as a memorial to Dick, whose 1968 book Do
Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? inspired the 1982
classic Blade Runner starring Harrison Ford.

Short stories by Dick, who died in 1982, served as
inspiration for other hit films including the 1990
Total Recall, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the
2002 Minority Report, starring Tom Cruise.

In Blade Runner, set in a Los Angeles of 2019,
Harrison Ford plays Rick Deckhard, a Blade Runner or
policeman whose job is to track down and terminate
escaped human clones known as "replicants."

The irony of the situation -- a missing replica of the
very author who championed "replicant" freedom -- is
not lost on Phil's creators.

But they still want him back.

"We really need to find him soon because the
Smithsonian wants to put him in a travelling
collection in the autumn," said Prilliman referring to
Washington's Smithsonian Institute, an organisation of
museums and art galleries.

Along with an eerie likeness to the author, the robot
features award-winning artificial intelligence that
mimics the writer's mannerisms and lifelike skin
material to affect realistic expressions.

Top-of-the-line voice software loaded with data from
Dick's vast body of writing allows the robot to carry
on natural-sounding conversations, although it does
come off as a bit doddering at times.

Biometric-identification software and advanced machine
vision allows the robot to recognise people -- even in
a crowd -- read their expressions and body language
and talk to them sounding a lot like a normal, albeit
slightly senile, author who likes to quote his own
books when he gets confused.

Prilliman and others close to Phil baulked at giving
too many details about his disappearance including the
name of the airline that was transporting the robot
when he went missing.

Hanson officials said news of Phil's disappearance
could hamper the ongoing investigation and search for
the robot.

The company officials said they feared ransom demands
might be made or Phil could turn up listed for sale on
an internet auction house such as eBay.

A spokeswoman, Elaine Hanson, said the company is
considering building a new android if the original
Phil does not turn up.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/author-android-goes-missing/2006/02/13/1139679514495.html

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