Six legged (hexapod) autonomous mini lawn-mower robot.

I came across this video, which explains itself, and found it a wonderful idea well presented. And to add my own ideas and make a link to gestures: Imagine that this robot automatically comes up with patterns or ‘crop circles’ under the influence of his environment.

Perhaps it can be moody on a rainy day, like Hall Object (here) and express this in a ‘moody’ pattern. Or perhaps it can first sense the shape of your lawn and use aesthetic guidelines or Gestalt principles to come up with a beautiful pattern. Maybe it could test the quality of the grass and the soil in each area of the lawn and provide his feedback in his pattern.

I would argue that Figaro would then be ‘gesturing’, because I feel that all types of sketching can be considered forms of gesture (here). It’s just that the result of the action transmits the message instead of the action itself. In a very real way, Figaro would be communicating and his patterns would be gestures, intended to communicate.

Behold, (the idea of) an imaginary lawn artist!