adam, have you thought about adding some waves or ripples around the robots foot? I think it would help give the robot a sense of moment. Like the robot jumped back after seeing the tentacle.
It's uncanny valley. And the robot teacher was interesting. Hearing a black man asking if anyone wants their kids taught by a 'damn robot'. The cycle of prejudice continues. [/HalfSerious-Irony] In 50 years, the robots will be saying the same about us!
This is a robot I modeled but never finished in time for the Warriors Challenge, Trevor Claxton did the concept. The robot is 8000 faces with 3 x 2048 maps
50% Godzilla 25% Robot jox 10% Every giant robot kids cartoon/show 5% The last part of Fallout3 (wake the giant robot and help it go on a rampage) 5% Iron Giant 100% can't wait...
This is a proof of concept for a robot I want to build in real life: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5055465/robotics/pof/stickbalancer/StickBalancer_ProofOfConcept4.html Its a simple self balancing robot. It will try to stay upright if you push it around.