Robot conductor EveR 6 at the National Theater of Korea, Jongno-gu, Seoul (Official Photographer: Kim Sunjoo)|Republic of Korea|CC BY SA 2.0
A two-armed android robot, EveR 6, took the stage to conduct more than 60 musicians from South Korea’s national orchestra in Seoul on Friday for the first time, wowing the audience with a flawless performance.
The robot, developed by the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, is five-foot-ten-inch-tall with a humanoid face.
Concert attendees were awed by EveR 6’s flawless arm movements to control the tempo of the show, but even some in the audience felt it lacked “breath” as the robot cannot hear.
Robot music conductors are not a new phenomenon.
- In May 2008, Honda’s humanoid robot Asimo opened for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra concert featuring cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
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In 2015, YuMi, a dual-armed robot with no face, body or legs conducted three musical pieces for an Italian orchestra with the renowned tenor Andrea Bocelli.
But those weren’t the years of rapid AI development. Some believe AI integration into robot conductors will enable them to perform independently.