Carnivorous domestic entertainment robots [book section]

This paper describes a group of objects produced as a collaboration between designers and scientists/engineers. They explore an alternative approach to bringing robots into the domestic environment, exploring both the aesthetics and functionality that may elicit a symbiotic coexistence with humans in their homes. They are all based on the technology of biological fuel cells, which generate electricity by the action of micro-organisms on biological matter. The robots trap animal pests in the domestic environment and use the electricity produced by the fuel cells to lead autonomous existences.