*They're not weird... we are.
http://www.airspacemag.com/space-exploration/Our-Favorite-Martians.html?c=y&page=1
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“It’s hard for us to understand the experience of these robots that are so far away from us,” says Vertesi. “ So the scientists and engineers do the ‘rover dance.’ It’s a series of gestures that imitate the rover actions: unfurling of arms and rotating of wrists; splaying of arms behind them like solar panels. Always very aware of where the sun is. These people have a semi physical presence on Mars. One scientist got up and was talking about an observation and he began to shuffle backward…and then he said, ‘Janet, get your camera. I’m turning into the rover!’ ”
Driver John Wright confesses to some of it. “The thing I always notice is that I have to mentally visualize what the [rover] arm is doing. And I have to use my left arm. When I’m talking about it, I start with my right arm, and then I say, Wait, I have to use my left arm, because the shoulder joint’s on the left front side of the rover, and the elbow sticks out to the left. So you’re sticking your thumb out, wrapping the arm around. And turning the wheels. There’s definitely a lot of hand-waving.”
The Pancams are the eyes, says Vertesi, and they’re often talked about as such. “The rover team says, ‘We’ll look around a bit.’ When they look down, they say, ‘We’re looking between our feet.’ It pulls that rover down into the human space.” ...
