Robot conductor takes the stage for orchestral debut in South Korea | Trending
South Korea witnessed a groundbreaking moment on the evening of June 30 as a robot led a performance the country’s national orchestra. The Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) developed the two-armed legless robot named EveR 6. It made its orchestral debut at the National Theater of Korea and replicated the human maestro’s baton movements. The robot is guiding the musicians of South Korea’s national orchestra during a concert at the national theatre in Seoul.(National Theater of Korea / AFP) The robot conductor began the event bowing to the audience and waving its arms to control the tempo of the live show. “Movements a conductor are very detailed. The robot was able to present such detailed moves much better than I had imagined,” remarked Choi Soo-yeoul, who shared the stage with the robot during the performance. However, she pointed out the weakness of the robot conductor, saying that it cannot len. National Theater of Korea posted a video of the robot on their YouTube channel. When translated from Korean to English, a part of the video’s description reads, “Rediscovering the value of art through unconventional experiments. In ‘Absence’, Choi Soo-yeol, who has been conducting challenging experiments with the National Orchestra of Korea for several years, and ‘Ever 6’, an android robot developed the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, will stand on stage separately and together. A stage differentiated from robots Suyeol Choi, who leads music with commanding power based on sympathy and communication and sensuous interpretation, against the command of a robot that performs repetitive movements at high speed and accurately. Let’s imagine a world where humans and robots coex, and new possibilities opened up the combination of art and cutting-edge technology.” Watch the video shared on YouTube here: Lee Young-ju, a student of traditional Korean music and an audience member, observed that the performance lacked the human touch and the robot couldn’t keep the orchestra engaged collectively and instantly. “It seemed there was some work to be done for the robot to do the job,” Lee said.Agreeing with this sentiment, Song In-ho, another audience member, expressed that EveR 6’s conducting skills appeared to be at an elementary level. Song added, “I guess it would be able to do the conducting all itself when it’s equipped with artificial intelligence to understand and analyse the music.”Throughout the evening, the humanoid robot skillfully guided three out of the five musical pieces performed, including one jointly conducted with Choi. Reflecting on the concert, Choi remarked, “It was a recital that showed that (robots and humans) can co-ex and complement each other, rather than one replacing the other.”(With inputs from Reuters)
