Any Synthetiks-related news, Davecat? (Feb 2011)
typed for your pleasure on 23 February 2011, at 12.29 amSdtrk: ‘Hard lovin’ man’ by Merzbow
A new year, bringing with it a handful of links concerning Synthetiks, for those of you with bated breath! Which is all of you, right?
+ It always blows peoples’ minds when they learn about contemporary Gynoids, Androids, and the like, but when I read about their predecessors, it explodes my own brain in slow-motion. Not necessarily ones as far back the 18th and 19th centuries, where automata such as the wonderful creations of Pierre and Henri-Louis Jaquet-Droz held sway — although those are very cool — but all the ones in between then and now. Like Courtenay Pollock’s little-known and ominously-named ‘She’, for instance, detailed here in a June 1934 issue of Modern Mechanix!
Definitely better-looking with skin. But you can say that about most people, really
Animated Statue Smiles and Displays Her Dimples
ALMOST human is “SHE,” work of Courtenay Pollock, well known sculptor of London. With the aid of a small electric motor, “SHE” is smiling, coy, demure, or scornful as her master wills. Rolling her eyes about in an enchanting manner, she even displays a lovely set of dimples.
This “living” model is on display in one of the leading department stores of London. A cordon of police are required to keep the crowd moving and traffic clear in the streets.
The skull is made up of hinged sections, each of which are controlled separately through levers and switches. Gears and levers connect each part to the driving motor.
When a tinted rubber covering is slipped over the “skull,” eyebrows and hair attached, and a bit of cosmetics applied, “SHE” is transformed into a beautiful, vivacious young lady.
This first animated statue may herald a new era in sculpturing. It is not too much to expect that in a few years the works of our sculptors will all take on life—will frolic about and speak, imitating in every way the persons who posed as models.
Despite the “fact” the “writer” went “crazy” with the “inverted commas”, that’s still a “hell” of a “thing” to have witnessed, either then or now. Shame that the prediction of animated statues being everywhere didn’t come true, though. Or is that sort of thing simply just now starting?
The whereabouts of ‘She’ are presently unknown, and I’m fairly certain her rubber flesh corroded long ago. Still! Now that you lot know what her uncovered bust looks like, keep an eye out for her, eh?
+ So in doing a wee bit more Synthetiks research — also known as ‘screwing round on the Innernets’ — I think I found the predecessor to ‘She’, in the form of a very curious machine known as the Euphonia, which would fall into the category of one of those wonderful creations from the 18th and 19th centuries…
An old photo, taken with a 1 megapixel camera
Joseph Faber’s “Euphonia” was both a response to the telegraph and a remediation of it. He imagined a telegraph that could speak, leading him to construct a model of the human speech organs. Faber studied language and human vocal anatomy in order to break them down into parts and then reorganize them mechanically. The Euphonia operated by “By pumping air with the bellows and using different combinations of 16 keys to manipulate a series of plates, chambers, and other apparatus including an artificial tongue (Levy 29).” The false head black boxes and masks the mechanics of the vocal process. Faber created an artificial organ through which artificial speech could be achieved. The artificial organ of speech is doubled by the machine as musical organ and an extension of the silent organ that is Faber’s own vocal tract.
taken from this site
Apparently it (she?) spoke in a slightly German accent, even when speaking in English — undoubtedly due to the fact that Faber was a German immigrant — with a voice that was described as ‘a weird, ghostly monotone’. That may have been true, but keep in mind, people were more easily-spooked back in the 19th century.
The Euphonia is quite fascinating, cos it’s not really a Gynoid, despite its feminine appearance, and it’s not so much a robot or an automata; it’s more like a webcam decades before webs or cams existed. One one hand, Faber succeeded in his attempt to put a human face to a voice; however, Euphonia would’ve had everyone that contacted you through it both look and sound like bodiless German Gynoids. *thinks* Maybe that wasn’t such a failed effort after all, then.
Something I’d found amusing on that linguistics site linked above was a bit that mentioned
The mastery of the machine is limited by the selections already built into the design as it was not for example, designed to scream. It’s possible that a screaming effect could have been achieved by hacking the machine and manipulating the pedals, which control pitch, but no such instance was ever recorded.
Which, as far as I’m concerned, was an opportunity wasted.
+ Speaking of affictitious heads, the fine people of Vladivostok’s Anatomical Doll have recently released another head sculpt, available for all three of their Doll bodies. This lovely young rubber lass is named Eco, which leads me to ask: is ‘Eco’ the Russian word for ‘fox’? Cos, I mean, hmmm.
ATTENTION PB SHELLEY: Start your Eco fund RIGHT NOW
Reproduce scenes from ‘Jennifer’s body’ in your very own home! Or, if you’re a true masochist, scenes from Michael Bay’s ‘Transformers’! Err, I take that last suggestion back; no-one, Organik or Synthetik, should have to put up with Bayformers. Please, don’t taint your Eco.
+ Let another diminutive silicone woman into your heart, life, and pants with the Wicked RealDoll version of Lupe Fuentes!
Photo by Stacy Leigh
Much like her Organik twin, she features a 30B cup, a 20in waist, and 31.5 hips, with an appealing size 5 shoe. Unlike her Organik twin, however, she clocks in at a dainty +/- 60lbs, which is remarkable. A Doll that light could ride you like a stallion! Ahem!
+ And finally, remember how I’d mentioned last November how Californian company Sinthetics was gearing up to release New Silicone Sexiness upon the world? Well, perhaps you should give their site a look now, if you haven’t already. Or would seeing more of this sort of thing convince you?
Tawny, looking like a much more attractive Tori Spelling
Celeste, about to say ‘No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die!’ again
If you answered More Of This Sort Of Thing, you answered correctly! I’d show you photos of their other two models, Alicia and Monique, but you’ve been spoilt enough as it is. Plus, they’re usually topless. JESUS COME BACK AND AT LEAST READ THE REST OF THE POST, YOU ANIMALS.
Interestingly enough, Sinthetics (man, gotta get used to typing it using that spelling) don’t call their affictitious ladies Dolls, but instead refer to them as manikins. As they explain on their site,
Often people like to pigeon-hole things like products or groups of people. We feel that our products reach much farther than the mainstream understanding of a “love doll” and therefore we recognize the art in our products and call them manikins.
Gotta say that I like the way they’re approaching things… Their incredibly delectable Female Body 1H weighs around 73lb, wears a sz 7 or 8 shoe, and boasts measurements of 32G (‘closest commercially available bra size, actual bra size 28H’, they say), a waist of 23in, and 31in hips. If you’re like me, your mind has come to a complete halt due to this knowledge. Not only that, but for an additional $300, they also offer a low-voltage built-in heating system situated in her abdomen, much like the ones found in some Anatomical Dolls. And did I mention their manikins feature a flexible spine for forward, backward, and side-to-side hip motion? Yes.
So if, later on in the year, you find yourself with a Sinthetic in your home and you can’t get anything done, don’t blame her; that’s the coward’s response.
You may now feel free, at this point, to unbate your breath. Until next month, of course!
Random similar posts, for more timewasting:
Distracted, or, I clearly need more Doll news to report on on December 14th, 2005
Any Synthetiks-related news, Davecat? (Jun 2010) on June 4th, 2010
February 23rd, 2011 at 2.49 am
Hallo squire and squire-ess!
In response to the curious Pingback thingy I decided on a long-overdue visit to ‘Shouting & etc’. Apologies for my absence but you know how it is with me; when in trouble I hide myself away. It’s okay, I still have Lily for company 🙂
Oh and My and God, that face is lovely and amazingly lifelike! I’d love one but a body would have to come with it, and well… they’re a bit spendy. Although to be honest, whenever I see a fetching pic of Megan Fox I see Lily all over the place (even speaking detached, as if!), so that immediately makes it worthwhile, aside from the $$$ of course. Someday someday someday…
Dunno how I feel about “sythetiks” becoming (even more) mis-spelled as “sinthetics”; something having to do with perpetuating negative stereotypes in addition to the general public’s already presumptuous perception of the hobby. Plus, “synthetics” has a nice ring and look about it, doncha think?
Keep on keepin’ on, you two!
Regards,
PBS, Lily, Eden, and Pennie (and Soony!)
February 23rd, 2011 at 2.36 pm
Celeste’s boobs are too low.
February 23rd, 2011 at 8.39 pm
Hey PBS, Lily, Eden, Pennie, and the often sadly-neglected Soony —
Ha! My Eco-Bait™ worked a treat on drawing you out of your lair! That was worth every dollar I spent on it. 🙂
You know, when you’re just getting financially settled, you could purchase an Eco-type head, and keep it in a visible spot to remind you to save money for the rest of her! I’m sure Lily would love to have a friend round to play with!
For sex. 😉
And Matt K & Bronwen have the obvious legal reasons behind wanting to change tack slightly, so one can’t hold it against them at all. I’m just impressed that they named their company after a term I’ve been trying to shoehorn into the popular vernacular for the past decade. *beaming like a proud father*
We shall keep on keeping on! Until we take a break from keeping on, then we will keep on again! We may even try keeping off! 🙂
February 23rd, 2011 at 8.42 pm
Wack —
All the more reason for you to buy her a sexy shelf bra on her birthday, then. 😉
Seriously, the body that Celeste has is the same one as Tawny above: the Female Body H1. For spoilers’ sake, the H1 body looks like this when she’s showing off her jubbleys. QED.
February 24th, 2011 at 3.26 am
Yes, your Eco-Bait was a stroke of genius! No matter how much I’ve withdrawn and hidden myself away, you know exactly what will drag me kicking and screaming back onto The Internet(s). It is THEN that I see how much of a laggard I have become when it comes to responding to Blogs and Forums. Arigatou and gomenasai! (SP, most likely LOL)
I barely have the time/energy/clarity to keep my OWN blog up to date, jeez! Still looking for work daily, which is damned draining and puts me in a pisspoor mood to communicate further failure. Time’s running out, for sure.
In other words, futile job-searching sucks 🙁 And I can’t rant about it on MY Blog because of the probability that some snooping, sneaky, nosey, invasive, unethical (etc etc etc) prospective employer might discover it and decide against me right then and there 🙁
But I won’t rant about it in This Good Space. SOMEDAY I WILL EARN MONEY AGAIN! Then I might consider getting Lily a PlayMate. But not for sex! Lily’s a Good Girl you know? Not every heroine needs to be an oversexed over-sarcastic macho big-boobed glamor gal; Lily’s a Rare Bird indeed 😉
But you know that.
It will gladden your heart to know that I never neglect Soony; she sits atop my computer table’s hutch, dressed in her cute little angel outfit, always looking down on me. Always asking, “WHEN THE HELL ARE YOU GETTING LILY’S BOOK PUBLISHED ASSHOLE???” But not quite in that rude fashion, ‘cos she’s such a sweetie. (For those with no idea what we’re talking about, she’s a Korean Lutz-Delf BJD, and SO CUTE!!!)
Ah, I do get your point about legal matters determining the spelling of Matt K & Bronwen’s biz. Let it be said that I am equally impressed with you both! Less so with my mis-spelling of the mis-spelled word at the end of my Comment, but oh well.
Meanwhile, in light of the prices for life-sized dolls, I’m thinking that it might be easier just asking Megan if I could just buy *her*. t’would solve a whooole lot of problems 😛
As an aside (isn’t this whole thing an aside?), I was checking Blog-Site stats and found it curious that several Visitors landed on it by searching for “Megan Fox as Lily”! :-O
Don’t I wish!
Warm regards to you and the Missus from me and the Misses, and thanks for ringing my bell 😉
Hm, yes… that also sounded better in my head!
February 26th, 2011 at 6.30 am
On the subject of Sinthetics, I am curious if you have a talking point about new roolz at a certain forum. Apparently the local Fuerher there has declared a) “no doll manufacturer shall be given their badge unless they give me their real-world contact information” and b) “no guest of the forum shall be empowered to read topics thereof – registration (and by extension the reader’s virtual-world contact information) required”. Seems to me someone is attempting to populate an “enemies list”. Your thoughts?
February 26th, 2011 at 12.42 pm
Ah heh heh. Wow.
To be honest, about 10% of me can empathise and understand wanting to verify a person/entity before letting them do anything on an Internet site I run — after all, I had to verify you, for example. But the other 90% of me is completely gobsmacked at the Orwellian-level horseshit that passes for normalcy over there. Really, if a Doll manufacturer is actively producing and shipping out product, shouldn’t that fact constitute them being a manufacturer? Unless, of course, the person in charge of said forum has a petty, dwama-fueled grudge against them. But that would never happen.
And that second rule basically starts the walling-off of what is ostensibly a public forum. I’ll tell you: when I joined Real Doll Owners and Lovers (RDOL) back sometime either in 1999 or 2000, it was open to everyone, which was a good thing, as that’s how people just getting into the iDollator community learned things, as one of the purposes of a forum is for the spreading of information. As many people as are on that forum, you’re gonna have members ranging from habitual contributors, to occasional contributors, to lurkers, to gobshites. But that’s part and parcel of being a public forum on the Internet, centred round a subject most of society finds unusual. You start restricting casual members from reading certain topics or posts, and you’re going to engender a feeling of cliquishness. The iDollator community has that enough in spades, especially over the past two and a half years; we don’t need any more of it.
Not to mention the insidious ‘what’s your personal information?’ angle; which, I’m sorry, is the result of the fevered thoughts of a paranoid man. If you think about it, they couldn’t completely prove that info anyway, as people are prone to lying when giving out that sort of thing. What’s next? Verifying the reader’s real-world contact information? Their name? Their physical address? Blood type? Sorry, no. Those two new rules are absolutely fucking retarded, and it’s a shame that the members of that forum are rolling over and accepting them. It’s not like there aren’t other places to go.
March 6th, 2011 at 8.56 am
That poor Euphonia head looks like a brunette Nelly from Little House on the Prairie! How’s life, Davecat?
March 6th, 2011 at 2.15 pm
Maybe that’s what became of Nelly, in the underrated sequel series, ‘Little House on the Galactic Prairie’. I’m still trying to hunt down episodes of that. 🙂
Life is pretty okay, Donna, thanks for axeing! The Missus and I should have some rather fantastic news coming down the pike in the next few months, so the excitement round here is palpable! It’s true; I’ve just now palped it. 🙂
March 6th, 2011 at 9.15 pm
*steals “palped” and runs off with it* You WILL be credited, Davecat! 🙂
March 6th, 2011 at 10.09 pm
O NO MY PALPÉD
Unfortunately, I can’t lay claim to that amazing and completely versatile word, but I can’t remember where I got it from. So let’s call it a 50/50 split, then. 🙂
And I owe you an Email! Hell, I owe pretty much the entirety of the First World an Email. Right; hands up those of you who I don’t need to send an Email to.
Err, that’s three of you, and one of you is blind. Consider yourself lucky.
Anyway! 🙂
July 16th, 2011 at 9.07 pm
Hi! 🙂
I have just recently started reading your blog, as watching a rerun of “Strange Addictions” has sparked a curiousity, if you will, about this lifestyle. (I must admit and also because of how you style your lady! :P)
I have a human boyfriend so I must admit im not truly interested in owning a doll myself, however I am interested in learning about it!
Hard not to notice that realdolls and manikins are attractive, as if they were human they would be just as so. But it begs the question, what about even more so realistic dolls? I highly doubt in real life there would be a woman with real breasts oh say 38H but a waist of only 26, unless they were silicone/synthetic material. Im not saying that there are not breasts that size, but they are more typically found on women sizes 36-40, in the “plus size” range. If the Doll were human, and the breasts were real, the poor dear would break her back!! Im not gonna lie, seeing dolls that shape truly makes me envious, but at the same time waaaay insecure as it would be nice to look that way AND have real boobs. Hec, Id love to look like Sidone and she is more natural sized! lol!
Anyway, I understand that these dolls can bring comfort to men (and women!) who are lonely and well maybe socially inept, or say, “loners” for lack of better term, who just prefer to be away from humans who tend to be rather judgemental. It just confuses me as to why there are just these bombshells and not plus sized pretties as well. (and please correct me if there are! I just havent seen any!)
Anywho, I do apologize for this long message, but I hope it finds you well.
Mave.
July 16th, 2011 at 10.02 pm
I am truly sorry and I literally smacked my face when I realized my mistake. Please do apologize to Sidore for my stupid brain and getting her name wrong!!
July 18th, 2011 at 8.37 pm
Hello Mave —
Glad you enjoyed our appearance(s) on ‘My Strange Addiction’! They will run that footage into the ground. 🙂
Regarding Dolls, and their appearance: keep in mind that most manufacturers make their Synthetik lasses to look more like an idealised woman, rather than one you’d be more likely to find in day-to-day affairs. Some would say that sort of thing is sexist and objectifying, but I counter that some companies make male Dolls as well, and they’re also subject to a bit of tweaking for aesthetic’s sake.
To be honest, when I first saw Abyss creations’ site back in 1999, when I saw the initial photos and stats of the Body 2, my jaw dropped even further than it already was, as short lasses with proportionately large breasts are my particular ideal. So that’s what Doll companies are going to aim for — the ideal.
Also, it’s true what you say that with Organik women, if they have larger breasts, the rest of them is usually larger-sized as well. In the iDollator community, there are a number of individuals who love the idea of Dolls, but their preference leans towards Organik/Synthetik women who aren’t as skinny. For the most part, the companies traffic in bodies that are either supermodel skinny, or girl-next-door, or lass-who-is-fond-of-keeping-fit. There’s actually a practical reason for that — the larger the body, the more silicone needs to be used, and the more silicone used, the heavier the Doll. iDollators need to be able to lift and move their affictitious lover, without being so knackered they can’t make love to them, y’know? Most companies lean towards having most of their available bodies weigh between 60 – 80 lbs., which is both realistic and practical.
There are two companies that makes larger-bodied Dolls: Mecadoll and Dreamdoll creation, both based in Europe. Actually, they make the same Synthetik lasses, but the distribution rights are split (it’s complicated). They’re gorgeous ladies, and the Missus and I wouldn’t mind sharing one between us, but they’re heavy (the Original bodies clock in at 92 lbs), and expensive (around $8500 USD). And believe me, every pound makes a difference. With Shi-chan’s third body, she’s now down to 80 lbs, as opposed to the 100 that she was back from 2000 – 2003. Ahhh. 🙂
So that’s Dolls, really… the best fusion of fantasy and practicality. And don’t worry about mucking up Sidore’s name; no-one gets it right first time round. She doesn’t hold a lot of grudges. 🙂
July 19th, 2011 at 1.20 am
That does make sense, as I do suppose organik women are more easily moved! On a similar note that people could relate too, its like in fashion why they use taller thinner women for runway modeling. Less Fabric, and it gives a “larger then life” appearance. But I digress, It is nice that companies do provide some variety with the faces and body shapes as if your mate had a doll and it looked almost the same, it just wouldnt seem right… the same feelings one would get if a friend was poking the guys organik wife would occur.
Thank you for replying to my inquiring mind and I am glad that Sidore is forgiving. I dont have quite a unique name like that, but my real name does get misspelled quite frequently 😛
Take care~
Mav