In 1993 I worked with a man who claimed that in the future we wouldn't paint our houses in the same way we did, and currently do. His opinion was that we would instead apply a layer of microscopic robots to the surface of our walls and program them to emit a color. Officially he claimed that they would have two colors and could flip in place to make your house whichever of the two colors you prefer on that day and I've since decided that these robots would be programmable to emit any color electronically reproducible. In his theory he suggested that these robots would be in the paint, which would be applied the old fashion way with brushes.
The image I often think of when I recall his theory is of three robots not unlike the three stooges, attempting to paint a room, all the while creating a mess... robots in the paint. Maybe someday one of my more artistic friends will create such an image for me to use on this page (that day has now come).
Realistically if this were going to happen (and I'm not saying it won't) the paint wouldn't be paint but probably a colorless liquid solution that allowed the electronics to remain intact and adhered to the wall. In my mind these robots would be controlled through a wireless connection. Furthermore they could be capable of turning any surface into a mural, a television screen, a computer monitior, or almost any electronic display device that you need.
Of course the video camera robot would be a natural follow up and soon we would have bedroom walls painted with camera robots displaying to the world the intimate lives we live. Basically one big all-inclusive interactive pornographic reality show.
When the original idea was presented to me I chuckled and thought... "This guy is nuts." But with what I've seen happen in our world since the early 90's I now believe that anything is possible and every idea needs to be talked about out loud before it can become reality.
With Robots in the Paint I hope to talk about ideas, not only the new and wacky ideas but the old ones that need to be revisited and maybe even changed to newer better ideas. Or perhaps I'll even talk about the dumb and silly things going on in my world that I happen to want to talk about.
In any case I hope you'll enjoy the site.
Thanks
Bil Silliker
