It feels like a musical version of “Black Mirror."
An android robot, named “EveR 6,” took the conductor's podium in Seoul, South Korea, on the evening of Friday, July 1, to lead a performance by South Korea's national orchestra, marking the first such attempt in the country.
The robot's face is that of a humanoid. First, it bowed to the audience before it started waving its arms to control the tempo of the live show.
The two-armed robot, designed by the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, made its debut at the National Theater of Korea.
Choi Soo-Yeoul, the human conductor who led the performance alongside the robot, said of his cohort that its moves were far more precise & much better than he’d imagined.
However, Choi says the robot’s "critical weakness," is that it cannot listen.
An audience member who studies traditional Korean music admitted the robot's moves were impeccable in keeping the rhythm but lacked "breath" or the ability to keep the orchestra engaged collectively and instantly, which he said was essential.
“I guess it would be able to do the conducting all by itself when it's equipped with artificial intelligence to understand and analyze the music," said the audience member who studies traditional music.
There may be a little ways to go before we have robots conducting orchestras on their own.
