From the November 2024 issue of Apollo. Preview and subscribe here. On 17 September 1979, officials from the Austrian city of Linz, including its mayor, congregated at the local airport. A red carpet had been rolled out in honour of a ‘special guest’ arriving from New Jersey to speak at the launch of Ars Electronica Festival the following day. His name was SPA-12, a robot with an orb-like head…
