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ASIMO the Robot Conducts the Detroit Symphony
Can you imagine a robot telling you what to do? The musicians of the Detroit Symphony don't have to imagine it anymore. Last week a robot called ASIMO conducted a performance there. The 4 foot 3 inch tall robot walked onto the stage and led the orchestra through a performance, just like a human conductor.
A conductor's job is to direct the musicians by moving his arms in time to the music. He sets the tempo, which means he tells the musicians how fast to play. Most conductors have a stick called a baton to help musicians know what beat to play, and they also tell a section of musicians when to start playing.
ASIMO the robot conductor used gestures copied from a human conductor to lead the musicians. Even though they played according to his direction, he wasn't as good as a human. Some musicians said his gestures were stiff. Also, ASIMO can't really respond to musicians. A good conductor can tell what the musicians are doing and adjust to their performance. ASIMO could not change the way it was programmed. Still, it was impressive to have a robot do something as complicated as conduct an entire symphony. Research and development on robots makes them better and better at performing complex tasks. Who knows what robots might be able to do in the future?
I'm Isaac and that's what happened in technology this week. Test your robot savvy in Match It.
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