Theo Jansen's Beasts

Dutch artist Theo Jansen has been selling miniature 3D printed reproductions of his work online from Shapeways. I got one last week. It's the only 3D printed plastic thing I own and strangely probably most futuristic thing I own. 3D printing is part of the future means of production and simply owning a piece of that is interesting enough.

http://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/822-Theo-Jansens-3D-Printed-Strandbeests.html

The most interesting thing is how people react to it. People can't help but think of it as some kinda of animal-spider-pet. I've had several people demand to know what its name is. The object can't even move on its own and has no face or eyes, so this really surprised me. People seem to somehow relate to the object more than a robotic vacuum or one of those terrible robot puppies they sell at Christmastime.  Often people are just kinda freaked out about it. Its motion is pretty spider-like.