Obama Met a Giant, Talking Robot Giraffe at the White House Today
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
By
Marina Koren
The robotic animal that speaks with a British accent and can carry 30 people is just one oddity in a giraffe-centric news cycle this week.
What's 17 feet tall, weighs 2,200 pounds and has a British accent?
This robotic giraffe that President Obama met at the White House on Wednesday.
The giraffe, created by Lindsay Lawlor of San Diego, was on the South Lawn as part of the first-ever Maker Faire, an innovations gathering of more than 100 "makers" from 25 states. Obama also viewed electric guitars, a skateboard, a prosthetic foot, slippers, a toy robot, and various 3D printers, according to pool reports.
The wheeled robotic animal, whose name is Russell, is powered by a 12-horsepower hybrid fuel-engine motor.
It was operated by Russell Pinnington, Lawlor's programmer, from inside the White House. Lawlor named the giraffe after Pinnington, who is British, instead of paying him for his work. The giraffe can play music, carry up to 30 people, and speak.
"He has kind of a British accent," Obama says of robot Giraffe on the South Lawn at WH's #MakerFaire "Ha ha that tickles," giraffe responds
— lesley clark (@lesleyclark) June 18, 2014Here's video proof of their exchange, courtesy of BuzzFeed's Andrew Kaczynski:
Lawlor offered the president a ride aboard his giraffe, but Obama declined.
After owner says they could ride the giraffe, Obama says "the Secret Service would not let us do that"
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) June 18, 2014Obama did compliment Russell's ears.
Pres Obama impressed by demonstration of a 17-foot-tall, 2,200-lb robotic giraffe named Russell. "I like those ears," said the president.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) June 18, 2014This is the second news appearance for giraffes, real or robotic, this week. On Monday, Delta Air Lines tweeted a photo meant to be celebratory after Team USA's win in the World Cup, featuring a giraffe to represent Ghana, the losing country. The photo was instead a huge mistake, as there are no wild giraffes in Ghana and, more importantly, there's a lot more to Ghana than its supposed wildlife.
The giraffe news cycle could be worse, though. Remember Marius?