Roboexotica (sometimes spelled: ''Roböxotica'') is an annual festival and conference where scientists, researchers, computer experts and artists from all over the world build ''cocktail robots'' and discuss technological

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or service (economics), services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a n ...

futurology Futures studies, futures research or futurology is the systematic, interdisciplinary and holistic study of social and technological advancement, and other environmental trends, often for the purpose of exploring how people will live and wor ...

and

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

. Roboexotica is also an ironic attempt to criticize techno-triumphalism and to dissect technological hypes. The festival is currently produced by art collective

monochrom Monochrom (stylised as monochrom) is an international art-technology-philosophy group, publishing house and film production company. It was founded in 1993, and defines itself as "an unpeculiar mixture of proto-aesthetic fringe work, pop att ...

. Until 2018, the festival was a cooperation of monochrom, Shifz, and the 'Bureau for Philosophy' (of the Department of Philosophy,

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

). The festival is usually held in the end of November or early December.

Overview

The annual international festival consists of an exhibition, a conference, social events, and the ACRA (Annual Cocktail Robot Award). The exhibition presents

robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

s that can mix cocktails, serve cocktails, consume cocktails, have bar conversations, light or smoke

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into Rolling paper, thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhale ...

s or manage to impress the jury with (quote Roboexotica website) "other achievements in the sector of cocktail culture".

History

Starting in 1993, art and technology group

(

Johannes Grenzfurthner Johannes Grenzfurthner (; born 1975 in Vienna) is an Austrian artist, filmmaker, writer, actor, curator, theatre director, performer and lecturer. Grenzfurthner is the founder, conceiver and artistic director of ''monochrom'', an international ar ...

, Franz Ablinger) published an alternative magazine and online bulletin that featured blueprints for interesting DIY projects (like creating a DIY

isolation tank An isolation tank, sensory deprivation tank, float tank, float pod, float cabin, flotation tank, or sensory attenuation tank is a water filled, pitch-black, light-proof, soundproof environment heated to the same temperature as the skin. Method ...

or building a rocket out of an office water cooler) and released articles and pamphlets that criticized the "uninspired and martial" machine culture (e.g. poking fun at Survival Research Labs and

etoy Etoy is a European digital art group formed in 1994. It has won several international awards including the Prix Ars Electronica in 1996. Their main slogan is: "leaving reality behind." Etoy has routinely experimented with the boundaries of art, s ...

) and supported a more playful way to create robots, specifically demanding that robots should "party with us, not work for us." In 1999, Magnus Wurzer and Chris Veigl (of Shifz) presented a self-made bar robot at the small independent Viennese culture and art space VEKKS. monochrom took interest and participated with performances and presented machines, and soon teamed up with Shifz as organizers and the small event became a big international festival presented at Vienna's Museumsquartier and several other locations in the Vienna metro area. Roboexotica presents around 20 machines every year and draws around 3000 guests per event. The event is attracting robot builders from all over the world. Roboexotica was presented at Cyberpipe (

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) in 2006, at

Maker Faire Maker Faire is a convention of do it yourself (DIY) enthusiasts established by '' Make'' magazine in 2006. Participants come from a wide variety of interests, such as robotics, 3D printing, computers, arts and crafts, and hacker culture. Hist ...

(

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

) and

RoboGames RoboGames (previously ROBOlympics) is an annual robot contest held in San Mateo, California. The last RoboGames was held April 6-9, 2023 in Pleasanton, California, having been on hiatus since the previous event in April 2018. Competitions typica ...

(

) in 2007.

Bre Pettis Bre Pettis (born July 14, 1972) is an American entrepreneur, video blogger, and creative artist. Pettis is best known as the co-founder and former CEO of MakerBot Industries, a 3D printer company now owned by Stratasys. Early life and education ...

got inspired during an art residency in Vienna with

in 2007, when he wanted to create a robot that could print shot glasses for Roboexotica and did research about the

RepRap RepRap (a contraction of ''replicating rapid prototyper'') is a project to develop low-cost 3D printers that can print most of their own components. As open designs, all of the designs produced by the project are released under a free software l ...

project at the Vienna

hackerspace A hackerspace (also referred to as a hacklab, hackspace, or makerspace) is a community-operated, often "not for profit" (501(c)(3) in the United States), workspace where people with common interests, such as computers, machining, technology, sci ...

Metalab The Metalab is a hackerspace in Vienna's central Innere Stadt, first district. Founded in 2006, it is a meeting place of the Viennese tech community, hosting events from cultural festivals to user groups. It has played a catalyst role in the ...

. Shot glasses remained a theme throughout the history of MakerBot. In 2008 a catalogue titled Roboexotica was published, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the festival. The book features reflections on the festival and presents statements by former participants including

Cory Doctorow Cory Efram Doctorow (; born 17 July 1971) is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog ''Boing Boing''. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of th ...

Dorkbot Dorkbot is a group of affiliated organizations worldwide that sponsor grassroots meetings of artists, engineers, designers, scientists, inventors, and anyone else working under the very broad umbrella of electronic art. The dorkbot motto is "peop ...

's Doueglas Repetto,

, V. Vale, Karen Marcelo of

Survival Research Laboratories Survival Research Laboratories (SRL) is an American performance art group which pioneered the genre of large-scale machine performance. Founded in 1978 by Mark Pauline in San Francisco the group is known in particular for performances where custo ...

' David Calkins and Simone Davalos. A smaller show called "Roboexotica USA" was held in San Francisco in 2008 and 2009. It was organized by

and ''Shifz'' and was well received by the press. In 2010 it was decided to rename the San Francisco-based cocktail robot event "Barbot," and Barbot events were held in San Francisco in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Johannes Grenzfurthner and Chase Masterson at Roboexotica 2018

Johannes Grenzfurthner and Chase Masterson at Roboexotica 2018

Chase Masterson Chase Masterson (born Christianne Carafano on February 26, 1963) is an American actress, singer and producer best known for her role as Leeta on ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''. She has appeared in the TV shows ''General Hospital'', ''Sliders'', ...

was special guest star at the 20th anniversary edition of the cocktail robot festival, and performed a live jazz set for "robots and humans". In 2020 and 2021 the festival was adapted into a delivery service. monochrom offered to bring cocktail robots in a van to customers in the greater Vienna area and mix cocktails for them. The whole event was live-streamed as a videocast and hosted by Johannes Grenzfurthner, who also interviewed artists and technologists from all around the globe. In 2022, Roboexotica was invited to host the opening night party at

Fantastic Fest Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas, focused on fantasy, horror, sci-fi, action and cult films, the largest genre festival in the United States. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse. Lisa Dreyer ...

Reception

Roboexotica has been featured in

Slashdot ''Slashdot'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''/.'') is a social news website that originally billed itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters". It features news stories on science, technology, and politics that are submitted and evaluated by site ...

Wired News ''Wired'' is a bi-monthly American magazine that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. It is published in both print and online editions by Condé Nast. The magazine has been in publication since its l ...

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

, CNet and blogs like

Boing Boing ''Boing Boing'' is a website, first established as a zine in 1988, later becoming a group blog. Common topics and themes include technology, futurism, science fiction, gadgets, intellectual property, Disney, and left-wing politics. It twice wo ...

and

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...

Publications

* ''Roboexotica: Beautiful Failure'' (edited by Günther Friesinger, Johannes Grenzfurthner, Franz Ablinger; edition mono/monochrom, Vienna 2025)

References

External links

*
Speaking in Vienna this weekend at Roboexotica: the cocktail robotics festival
{spaced ndasharticle from BoingBoing 1999 in robotics Annual events Art festivals in Austria Festival organizations in Europe Festivals in Vienna Futures studies media Innovation Monochrom New media art festivals New media art Recurring events established in 1999 Robotic art Robotics events Science fiction conventions in Europe Technology conferences Technology conventions