CHAPTER 7If It Bleeds, Can We Kill It?
The most convincing androids depicted in film are not dry, gunmetal-gray mechatronic contraptions with vinyl-covered exoskeletons. They’re warm, wet creatures perfused with “blood” that usually looks like something between Elmer’s glue and white gravy when their skin is punctured or something is ripped from their torso.
Aside from giving an android a solid, fleshy sound and feel, what’s the value of fluid-filled spaces instead of air? As we discussed in Chapter 3, there’s value in using fluid transfer of heat from the core to the periphery, where it can be dissipated. There’s also the human-interface element of realism. Distended jugular veins emphasize anger, for example. And intense muscular exertion is ...
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