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High tech met high art late Tuesday when a robot
conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
It was the first time an
orchestra was handed over to a robot and the diminutive,
spaceman-like machine got rave reviews.
Both the audience and performers
burst into applause after Honda's ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative
Mobility) robot led the symphony in a performance of "The
Impossible Dream" ahead of a sold-out concert featuring cellist
Yo-Yo Ma.
"It's exciting to see. The
technology is mind boggling," said bass trombone player Randall
Hawes, who has played with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for 22
years.
"I was struck by how fluid
the walk was when it came out and how still it was."
But Hawes doesn't think the
diminutive white robot will replace human conductors any time soon.
"We react to it. It doesn't
react to us," he said. "That's the only thing that's
missing. We knew when it was going to stop so we stopped."
The symphony extended the
invitation to ASIMO earlier this year after Honda donated one
million dollars to establish The Power of Dreams Music Education
Fund, which will support music education to underserved children
around Detroit.
Honda has 25 ASIMO-type robots
serving as ambassadors around the world and hopes to one day use the
robots to help people confined to wheelchairs.
Commercialization of an ASIMO-like
machine "is closer than you think," said Honda spokesman
Jeffrey Smith.
"It's an incredibly
sophisticated and complex machine."
-- AFP
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