Human? Doll? Robot?

In ETA Hoffman’s, “The Sandman,” it was hard to imagine how Olympia appeared to the party goers who believed she was human, but noticed something odd about her movements and behavior. Siegmund describers her as a “wax-faced wooden puppet,” foreshadowing that she is definitely not human. He says, “She seems…strangely stiff and soulless. Her figure is symmetrical, so is her face…Her step is particularly measured; all of her movements seem to stem from some kind of clock work “ (161).

When thinking about how a woman with these characteristics would really behave, I thought of a person, with robot like movements, but obviously convincing enough to possibly be human. It reminded me of the human like robots created in Japan, called “Actoid” that are so creepily life like that for a moment you believe they are human, but when looking at their movements, you can tell they are not natural. They imitate the movements of the people around them. Very creepy!

Here is a link to the youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF39Ygp53mQ

I wonder if Coppelius and Spalanzini’s “best automaton” was this realistic or if their scientific technology/supernatural forces/alchemy was not this advanced? Pay attention to the eyes--very realistic in these robots as well!