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[The] science fiction writer ... has been dead since 1982. Last year an admiring doctoral student and evident computer whiz, David Hanson, built a life-size facsimile of Dick, using the latest artificial intelligence technology, robotics and a skinlike substance he calls "frubber." The android, which looked just like the author and was able to conduct rudimentary conversations about Dick's work and ideas, was at the cutting edge of robotic technology, able to make eye contact and believable facial expressions.
The robot made several public appearances last year, including at the Comic Con, one of the largest comic book and popular arts conventions, in San Diego, where he (it?) was on a panel for the upcoming movie, "A Scanner Darkly," which is based on a Dick novel.
Indeed, Warner Independent Pictures, which on July 7 is releasing the film, an experimental, animated thriller directed by Richard Linklater, had intended to send the robot on a tour to promote the film.
That is, until its head went missing.
"We thought we might have him do a junket, we would have pitched him to Letterman," said Laura Kim, a senior executive at Warner Independent, the art-house arm of Warner Brothers. "I don't know if they would have had him on, but it would have been fun and interesting and perfect for the film."
What happened to the android is a mystery, one that is more than mildly intriguing to fans who knew Dick as a futurist who advocated freedom and compassion for robots in an evolving world, and that has been debated in the technology industry news media.
Less intrigued, rather more like depressed, is Hanson, the robot maker who left the head on an America West flight from Dallas to Las Vegas in December. En route to San Francisco, Hanson, 36, had to change planes in Las Vegas, something he had not expected. ...
"They woke me up, I got my laptop from under my seat, and being dazed, I just forgot that I had the robot in there," said Hanson, referring to the head in a black luggage bag, left in the overhead compartment.
After landing in San Francisco, he notified the airline, whose officials apparently found the head in Las Vegas, packed it in a box and sent it on the next flight to San Francisco. Mysteriously, it never arrived. ...
The rest of the android's body was traveling separately, and arrived at San Francisco without incident. ...
Over time, Dick - who himself struggled with drug abuse - has become a cultural hero in science fiction circles, known for futuristic novels and stories that pose many of the moral and philosophical dilemmas that come with advancing technology.
And Hollywood has had its own love affair with the writer, successfully basing huge franchise movies on his work, including "Blade Runner," with Harrison Ford, and "Total Recall" with Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as smaller films like "Impostor" and "Paycheck."
For Hanson, the missing android is an open sore, straining his relations with Dick's foundation and the author's two surviving daughters, who provided access to much of Dick's nonpublished materials, which were downloaded into the android's brain. (Sorry, database.) ...
The film's promotion might have been an opportunity to educate a wider public about Hanson's - and Dick's - preoccupations regarding the limits of technology, and the dangers. The robot, Hanson said, referring to the author by his initials, "realizes science fiction, it transitions it from fiction to reality, to some extent."
"It implies that transition," he continued. "And it's supposed to provoke one to consider issues that PKD was considering." ...
"It's almost like it has some free spirit to it," he said. "A lot of people have said that it's almost like a PKD narrative, like one of those absurd twists that would occur in a PKD novel. But emotionally it doesn't feel that way to me."
In Hollywood, though, executives have found a way to turn the loss to their advantage. Noting the oddity of the story, Kim said of the android: "He was perfect for the film. Now he's disappeared - and that's perfect for the film too."
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posted 28 June 2006 12:21 PM
