Automatons are mechanical toys made of a complex network of cogs and spindles. They move using a perpetual mechanical motion and don't use any electricity.
Automaton construction[]
At the heart of a mechanical automaton is its motor. A series of spindles are set in motion to music via set of cogs. Attached to the spindles are cams that are shaped in the image of the music. In turn they command a series of rods, which control the gestures of the toy at their tips.
Automaton construction takes place in three stages - modeling, mechanics and casing. The proces requires the participation of twenty different specialised trades.
Voralberg Automatons[]
For 800 years, the Voralberg family has passed its knowlege from generation to generation, prefecting the art of that particular branch of clock making that breathes life into the complex network of cogs and spindles that make up automatons. Despite competition form Asia, the Voralbergs never gave in to the temptation to produce electrical robots and chose to continue their exploration of the mysteries of perpetual mechanical motion.
Voralberg Key
The Voralberg creations are so life-like one has the impression that they can think for themselves. Voralberg automatons all have two distinguishing features in common - their high precision mechanisms and the characteristic Voralberg windup key. After many years the Voralberg automatons became rare collector's items with highly innovative mechanisms of unequaled ingeniousness even to this day.
One of the most talented members of the Voralberg family was Hans, whose creations were of a godlike precision and innovativness. He made many automatons in many different cities during his travel to find The Isle of Syberia.
Trivia[]
- Almost all automatons we see in the Syberia series are Voralberg Automatons and the majority of them were made by Hans.
Gallery[]
