animatron

Do you remember these famous last words? "Look, stick! Stick, stupid -- fetch the stick. You don't want the stick? No wonder you're extinct. I'm going to run you over when I come back down."

In the movie "Jurassic Park," shortly before his demise, computer technician Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) mutters those lines to a peculiar-looking dinosaur. A behind-the-scenes video by the legendary Stan Winston special-effects company reveals how a small team built the Dilophosaurus (known as the Spitter in pop culture) for the dinosaur thriller.… Read more

I'm fascinated by old animatronics, especially ones that purport to tell your fortune. Zoltar, made famous by a cameo in the Tom Hanks movie "Big," isn't some musty old machine from the back of a forgotten arcade. He's real and he can be yours for $9,000 from Hammacher Schlemmer.

The fortune-telling machine revels in the details, from Zoltar's paisley vest to the black-and-gold-painted trim on the oak and birch cabinet.

Zoltar will shake you down for a quarter before spilling his secrets. He'll move, pass his hand over an illuminated crystal ball, and speak one of 16 audio fortunes. He then dispenses one of 23 different printed fortunes on a paper card.… Read more

Halloween is coming up. If your Superman Underoos aren't going to cut it for the eighth year in a row, then consider an animatronic life-size baby Tyrannosaurus rex costume from Wizart Studio instead.

The company crafts creatures for museums, but the T. rex was born to roam. It can be worn and operated by one person. Cable mechanisms trigger the detailed movements.

The 16-foot-long costume weighs just over 50 pounds. It's made from rubber, high-density foam, aluminum, and fiberglass. The textured outside makes it look wonderfully realistic. Holes in the body let the wearer see what's going on around it, such as people screaming and running away.… Read more

SANDIA PARK, N.M.--It's a good idea to raid your piggy bank for quarters before you go to Tinkertown. You'll need them to trigger the fortune teller machine, play the automated one-man band, and turn on some of the homemade animatronic displays.

Ross Ward's legacy Tinkertown is a testament to the vision, determination, and craftiness of tinkerer Ross Ward, a carnival painter who spent 40 years of his life carving figures and building miniature towns and circuses for them to live in.

One highlight of a Tinkertown visit is the Old West town. It spans a long room. Buttons along the way trigger a figure that chases a chicken, a flying Mary Poppins, and carpenters hammering away. Most of it is hand-built and hand-carved, with layers upon layers of tiny Western details recreated in miniature.

The result of all that work and creativity is Tinkertown. Tucked away in the Sandia Mountains, Tinkertown pulls in thousands of visitors every year. Ward passed away in 2002, but his widow and partner-in-tinkering Carla Ward still runs the place.… Read more

Donald and Eric discuss the latest innovations in head-mounted technology, including animatronic cat heads.

Also, the future has your organic-honey needs taken care of, and Eric runs through Geek News highlights, including the 3D technology behind "The Hobbit" and a Victoria's Secret nod to comic book geeks.

Subscribe in iTunes SD Video | Subscribe in RSS SD Video … Read more

The short list of awesome robot bands has a new addition called The Trons. Straight outta' New Zealand, this four piece, all-robot band fits somewhere between the garage rock of the Zombies and the driving guitar and synth rhythm of early instrumental Stereolab.

Ham, Wiggy, Swamp, and Fifi handle The Tron's rhythm guitar, lead guitar, drums, and keyboard, respectively. Lucky attendants of the Ignition Fringe Festival in Hamilton Central, New Zealand will be able to check out the rest of The Trons' robotic repertoire on June 21. The rest of us will have to content ourselves with domestic robot rock. … Read more

Apparently a Chuck E. Cheese/Showbiz Pizza Place animatronic band has found new life singing modern hits like "Lithium" from Evanescence, "London Bridge" from Fergie, "Dani California" from RHCP, and my favorite, "Ms. New Booty" by Bubba Sparxxx (shown after the break).

If you've never experienced the delicious trauma of seeing the Chuck E. Cheese furry robot band as a kid, then these videos will probably be more funny than creepy. For the rest of us who remember crying under the table while holding back pizza vomit, these videos tap into an especially dark place populated by H.R. Pufnstuf episodes and David Bowie's musical interludes in Labyrinth.… Read more

If animatronic heads like the "WowWee Alive Elvis" freaked you out, we don't recommend reading on with this post. As if the turban-wearing mannequin in Big weren't bad enough, "Zultan"--an "animated speaking fortune teller"--brings carnival creepiness to an entirely new level.

The baritone-voiced Zultan's head, which bears a remarkable resemblance to Linda Blair's possessed noggin in The Exorcist when it wasn't doing 360-degree pirouettes, remains hidden behind a curtain until it detects sound or senses someone approaching. Then the fortune teller emerges from the shadows as its &… Read more

Matsushita Electric Industrial has unveiled a bodysuit to assist those recuperating from partial paralysis. The inflatable "power jacket" sells for about $17,000, according to Ubergizmo. The 4-pound exoskeleton has sensors at the joints and can control up to eight artificial muscles.

CNET News.com reported on the robotic jacket in late September when it debuted at the Home Care Rehabilitation Exhibition in Tokyo. This popular item, however, seems to be making the rounds this month on the blog circuit, so why deprive you of photos?

(Photo: Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images)