(tlb is Trevor Blackwell, a partner at YCombinator and founder/CEO of Anybots. It's safe to guess that he knows the field.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Blackwell

Just guessing, but for me it's about the audience. Software in the 70s and 80s was very nerdy. With the rise of the web, it got less so, driven by the need to reach consumers and the influence of print design. In the last decade, a lot of tech is downright chic, and succeeds because of that. Look at the iPod and the iPhone, for example.

I think robotics is coming up on a similar transition. For years it was 99% research projects and industrial uses: pure nerdery. But Bot & Dolly is selling to Hollywood, and is very slickly marketed. Aesthetics are starting to really matter.

Whoa. It's worth checking out their video "Box":

http://www.botndolly.com/box

Gorgeous.

We can see the two robots manipulating the rectangular screens, and infer one positioning the camera. What I'm trying to figure out, is if there are at least two additional robots positioning the projectors that light the screens, or if they just transformed the animation and the projectors are kept in basically the same place as the camera.

This is the most amazing thing I've seen in a really long time.

I don't know. In terms of excitement and creativity I think we're slowly catching up to the end of the 90s.

I don't work there, I just know them.

Bot & Dolly is half robot technology, half creative consultancy and they have a very cool office in SF.