Animatronics
[1] They are a modern variant of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions.
Figures are usually encased in body shells and flexible skins made of hard or soft plastic materials and finished with colors, hair, feathers and other components to make them more lifelike.
Animatronics stem from a long tradition of mechanical automata powered by hydraulics, pneumatics and clockwork.
[10] The first audio animatronic to convincingly imitate a human was Walt Disney's Abraham Lincoln attraction at the Illinois State Pavilion of the 1964 New York World's Fair.
Its main advantage over CGI and stop motion is that the simulated creature has a physical presence moving in front of the camera in real time.
[23] Directors such as Steven Spielberg and Jim Henson have been pioneers in using animatronics in the film industry; a film co-directed by the latter, The Dark Crystal, showcased groundbreaking puppets designed by Brian Froud and created by Henson's then recently established Creature Shop in London.
The 1993 film Jurassic Park, directed by Spielberg, used a combination of computer-generated imagery in conjunction with life-sized animatronic dinosaurs built by Stan Winston and his team.
[35] Some examples of animatronic toys include TJ Bearytails, Big Mouth Billy Bass, FurReal, Kota the triceratops, Pleo, WowWee Alive Chimpanzee, Microsoft Actimates, and Furby.
[47] Mimicking the often-subtle displays of humans and other living creatures, and the associated movement is a challenging task when developing animatronics.
One of the most common emotional models is the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) developed by Ekman and Friesen.
[48] FACS defines that through facial expression, humans can recognize six basic emotions: anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, and surprise.
[52] Students achieving a bachelor's degree in robotics commonly complete courses in: Animatronic characters appear in both films and games, most notably in horror genre and survival horror video games that generally features possessed animatronics as antagonists.
