Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Whimsy's Concierge Bots: Part I: The TipBot

The Concierge Bot at Whimsy's Entry Point Wants You to Wear Your Hard Hat

In earlier years I put out an assortment of standard tip jars. They worked insofar as accepting payment, but they were uniformly ineffective at encouraging donations.

That changed when I made the first Whimsy Tipbot. People give more often now, and when they donate, they donate larger amounts. The tipbot rocks.

The tipbot was born as a greeter attached to the front door of the robot sanatorium at Whmsy Kaboom. He is happy to teleport you inside if you touch him.


The doorbot's prims were cut so he would fit onto the door without his backside protruding through the other side of the door, but it was a simply matter to round him out, adjust him, and add a means of locomotion. I opted to give him a wheel instead of legs.


He holds his top hat in his hand, with a flexible dollar bill sticking out, and he turns to face the nearest avatar--which is creepy, but not as creepy as having him follow visitors around, which I actually thought about.


When you tip him, he bows and thanks you profousely.

With his introduction, tips increased tremendously. I think he appeals to visitors.

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