An unusual bird show has opened at Nagarabhavi. It features 24 giant robotic birds that flap their wings, turn their necks, and make high-pitched sounds. You see woodpeckers drilling a tree and also penguins bobbing on the snow.
The exhibition is called International Robotic Birds World. The exhibits are not modern-day robots that work on computer programmes. They are animatronic puppets that make small movements because of mechanical, electronic and electrical engineering systems. Films like ‘Jurassic Park’, Jaws’, and ‘Aliens’ have used them.
A video from the opening day on Wednesday made it to Facebook, piquing Bengalureans’ curiosity. It has clocked 32,000 views. However, this is not the first robotics bird show in Bengaluru. Marathahalli and BEL Road have seen such shows, presented by a different group, Metrolife learnt.
People visiting the ticketed show mostly stay or work in the neighbourhood and are coming with families. A few passersby are dropping by after seeing the towering and slightly eerie installation of the white-headed golden eagle at the entrance.
Kids pose in front of the birds, some two and three times their size, and the setting is complete with lights and sounds. However, adults had more expectations. Software engineer Kiran Kamath, who lives next to the venue, says, “I expected more birds but my nephew Vihaan enjoyed it. He is only six but he loves machines.”
Hobbyist Shashidhar Achar from Yeswanthpur is making robotic birds that can fly and that are the same size as those in the wild. But this is just a theme park show, not a technical expo, he says.
The show had native birds like peacocks and parrots but also exotic species like the Northern cassowary from New Guinea, the King vulture from America, and the flightless Elephant Bird and Bullockornis from Madagascar and Australia respectively, now extinct. They have been created by a group of 100 artists from Tamil Nadu at a total cost of Rs 27 lakh.
Kadambari D, business analyst, has seen a bigger robotics animal show in Dubai. She was accompanied by a friend and her daughter to the show. The eight-year-old was happy to see two parrots perched on a log. “She just drew them in her class today,” Kadambari explained.
The exhibition also features amusement rides, food stalls, and life-sized optical illusion images, including one of the late actor Puneeth Rajkumar handing you a bouquet of red roses.
On till January 24, at 80 Feet Road, Chandra Layout, Nagarbhavi Circle. Entry fee: Rs 50. Call 81233 33299.