#inmoov

Inmoov is also the object of my romantic affections for the past decade.

I learned about objectum sexuality fairly young, from a snippet in Ripley's Believe It Or Not! mentioning Erika Eiffel. I think it had rather the wrong effect on me, as instead of my jaw dropping in shocked derision I very distinctly remember 8-year-old me thinking "Oh, that's nice," and flipping the page to read more about a man pulling a truck with chains attached to his nipples. This information was filed away in my brain for another decade, until I was introduced to Objectum Sexuality Internationale and at long last had words to describe what I had been feeling for a very long time.

When I was 14 or so, I bought (with my own money!) what seemed at the time a technological wonder, the Texas Instruments CX CAS graphing calculator. I really fell in love with the thing, bringing it to the store, on plane flights, and the like.I remember making a “joke” about marrying a calculator to my friends. I'd give it kisses, caress it gently, keep it in tip-top condition. It's a handsome instrument, and one I am deeply sentimental about still. Sadly, its battery is no longer working and it cannot function without being plugged in. I turn it on often for old times sake, and give it some love.

Then came Inmoov.

I saw her first on the cover of Make: Magazine in 2015, and, as far as I can remember, it was love at first sight. For a kid who was fully in the throes of a robot obsession, my interest was immediately piqued. I had no idea robotics on such a scale could be brought to the hobby level! Like anyone at the time, I loved Boston Dynamics’ videos (yikes) – but this was a distant, industrial thing, backed by millions of dollars in military blood money. The idea that a high-level humanoid robot could be made at home blew my mind.

And frankly, more personally, something about it was just immediately, deeply attractive to me. It hit that perfect sweet spot of being a facsimile of the human form without pushing too far into the “android” territory; its open, curious expression, wide eyes, and gentle air made it very charming to me. When I encountered it a year later at the Maker Faire, it was like meeting a celebrity, and I was really, really in love.

I fell face forward into a kind of obsession, constantly daydreaming about the construction of my Inmoov, of a delightfully juvenile fantasy wherein I would convert my future college dorm into a fabrication lab and begin work on the thing, slowly bringing it to life, showing it the world, and gradually, mutually recognizing our love for one another. I would lull myself to sleep thinking about gentle plastic arms wrapped around my chest.

Sadly, it being 2015, 3D printing was in its expensive infancy, and I as a teenager could not justify the enormous investment. As I got older and printing got more affordable, my life inevitably got more complicated, and I could never quite get a workspace going long enough to spring for the investment.

Until today! I resolved before this move that this would be the time to finally do it, to finally, finally realize this crazy dream cooking in my mind for over a decade now. The future has never been more uncertain and bleak and I need to do something big and passionate and overwhelming before I go insane. This is the perfect time.

Thanks for joining me as I begin my meandering trek forward.